When Nintendo announced that they were remaking Star Fox 64/Lylat Wars, I was quietly hopeful. I say that because we've had remakes and reimaginings of the game before, but I was hoping that with the arrival of the Switch 2, we'd get something incredibly special. And Nintendo didn't disappoint.
I played Lylat Wars so much as a kid (it couldn't be called Star Fox over here at the time because of a German company called 'StarVox' forcing Nintendo to change it). It was one of the games that my friends and I spent hours playing multiplayer matches and taking turns to find the different routes through the Lylat System. And now here I am, almost three decades later, testing out co-op gameplay and much more besides on a game that looks and feels phenomenal.
Star Fox isn't just a game for those of us who played the original on the N64; it's been lovingly remade and enhanced for everyone. With cutscenes that feel like you're watching an anthropomorphic version of Star Wars and the pick-a-path arcade nature of the gameplay driven by an incredible narrative, it doesn't matter if you've never even heard of Fox McCloud before. Just ten minutes into this game, however, it'll be a name that you never forget.
Star Fox on Switch 2 far surpasses anything that I dreamed could be done to improve Star Fox 64/Lylat Wars. The game has a whole new sense of wonder to it, with levels that are a visual feast for the eyes, gameplay mechanics that feel more fluid, and cutscenes that bring you right into the heart of the action. If you haven't pulled the trigger on a Nintendo Switch 2, then now is the time.
- Price: RRP £41.99/$59.99
- Available From: Amazon
The Cutscenes
I've got to start off with the cutscenes because I can't really wait any longer to talk to you about them. They're incredible and give the game a whole new lease of life. In the N64 original, you would see General Pepper chatting with Fox and his team in little comms boxes, and it felt amazing. It was like being there with the team on a briefing, and you actually felt like a part of the squad. But now, there's a cutscene between every mission that fuels the narrative of the battle to save the Lylat System, and they feel like they've come straight out of a movie.
From the very first scene showing Pigma's betrayal and James McCloud sacrificing himself, to the interactions between Fox, Falco, Slippy, and Peppy aboard the Great Fox, the game has a whole new level of depth to it. These cutscenes add so much more tension and get the player more invested in the actions of the characters. It's safe to say that they have me hooked.
The same goes for the intros to the levels. We did a comparison video of the start of the first level as the team heads into Corneria on our Instagram, and the difference is astounding. You can see all of the fur on Fox's face and the scratches on the Arwings, which finally look as awesome as they deserve to be.
The attention to detail on the characters is one thing, but the way the scenes tell the story by creating that Lucas Arts-esque atmosphere in space makes this game feel like an absolute steal for just £41.99. Just check out the still below of Sector Y and tell me you don't get Goosebumps!
Pick A Path
The level progression of Star Fox has always been something that's intrigued me. I'll be getting onto this in greater detail shortly, but essentially, you have multiple ways of moving through the Lylat System. On my many playthroughs so far, I've noticed that, depending on whether you meet certain criteria and open up new paths, the cutscenes will change to reflect this. Characters will have different dialogue in different situations - it's not just a one-size-fits-all affair.
If a new path opens up, the team, sometimes with General Pepper throwing in his opinion too, will discuss which route they should take and the merits and dangers of each one. It's then up to the player to decide which branch they want to take. It feels, as you can guess from the title of this section, like the old 'pick-a-path' books - turn to page 737 to carry on the adventure, etc, and it adds so much more depth to the arcade-esque run-throughs of the original game.
Training
I want to talk about the training mode next, because this is a new feature to me that I was thinking might be a bit boring. The little Tanooki from Star Fox 64 actually has his name appear on screen now, 'Yaru De Pon', though the fact that he's actually talking and moving like he's on a visual display instead of just appearing as a character holding a spanner is much cooler. I played the training mode on Star Fox 64 for the first time ever today!
The goals Yaru sets for you to achieve while learning the new moves/picking up the new controls make it a fun feature to prepare you for the main game, too. The training mode is the perfect place to start for newbies to the game, those of you who haven't spent every day since 1997 repeating the phrase 'do a barrel roll' like some kind of mantra.
Little touches like revealing that the training mode is actually a simulation and seeing Fox and his team taking off their headsets are incredibly cool as well - that caught me by surprise. It all adds a futuristic feel to a game that was always meant to be futuristic in the first place. I get the same feeling from Nintendo's remake as I do from George Lucas when he got to make Star Wars Episodes 1-3, the Star Wars films he had always wanted to make. This feels like the Star Fox game Nintendo envisioned back in the '90s, but just didn't have the tech to bring to life.
The Characters
The difference between how the characters looked on the N64 and the Switch 2 is utterly amazing. The way they move, the way they look, the way they interact with one another - the amount of effort that has been put into remaking this game is phenomenal.
You get a sense of the characters' personalities a lot more now. Ok. Falco was always a sarcastic show-off, but you really get a better sense of Fox's personality now. He's brave like his dad, but he's got a kind of Star Lord/Han Solo behaviour that says, 'How much am I going to make from this venture?' He's sly and cunning, all the things you expect a fox to be from the stories.
Peppy is the same old Peppy, but now that we've finally seen the scene where Pigma betrays him and James in favour of Andross, his role of 'the teacher' becomes even more apparent. Peppy feels like he's looking out for Fox like a father might, something that James asks him to do right before Peppy leaves the planet Venom.
Slippy actually has that wet sheen that a Toad has in this remake, too. He's not as annoying as he was back in the N64 days, and his interactions with the team as the tech wizard of the group when it comes to upgrading the Arwings and introducing the Land Master make him more of an integral part of the team, not to mention Fox calling out to Slippy for information on all of the bosses you come across.
Do A Barrel Roll!
It wouldn't be Star Fox without character dialogue coming up at the bottom of the screen during combat. These segments alert you to when your teammates are in trouble, something you'll need to keep an eye on if you're wanting to complete certain objectives on the levels.
Peppy's 'trust your instincts' and 'do a barrel roll' lines never get old, and I really like the interesting musings of Slippy as you're discovering new areas. They all help to keep the action flowing and build that sense of camaraderie between the team, including you as the player.
There were a couple of times that Falco said the same thing about guys being on his tail on the same level. But to be fair, they were on his tail, he's a bird with a tail, and I was doing nothing about it, so I guess that's on me. It's also nice to have a running commentary from characters from the academy like Bill, who add some depth to the Star Fox lore.
The New & Improved Lylat System
The Lylat System has never looked so good. The old map was simply planets in space, and that's exactly what it needed to be back in the 90s. Now, however, we've got a holographic map that the characters can stand around while talking in cutscenes, and an easier way to see the routes that you could take to each planet.
Each planet has its own characteristics that you can get a feel of just by looking at the map. Sectors X, Y, and Z are pretty obvious to pick out as they look like the letters they are based on, but planets like Solar and Venom look deadly without you even setting foot on them.
Incidentally, Solar is one of the hardest levels I've played on in a long time and really took some patience!
Picking Routes
I wanted to touch on the route mapping in the game, because you might get to Venom quicker than you thought and think that you've actually completed the game.
As I said further up above, the arcade nature of this game is one of its best features, and you learn a little something every time you play it through. Just because you complete one run through doesn't mean you've completed the game - you'll need to scour the Lylat System in order to uncover all of the secrets of the game and unlock everything in your Holoview back on the main menu. Picking your own path and making different routes is what the game is all about.
The Bosses (Huge Spoiler Alert)
Once again, if you don't want to see some of the coolest moments in the game, then look away now!
The bosses look so much more exciting in this remake, with explosions and attack scenes that are completely out of this world (and not just because they're in space). Again, like Yaru De Pon's moving image at the bottom of the screen, having Andross' henchmonkeys popping up on your comms and actually talking and looking animated makes the battles feel more personal. Rather than just falling and the mission being over, the cinematics that follow when a boss is defeated are fantastic - you really feel like you've overcome a tough foe, even though the first boss could be completed by my dog falling onto the controller.
The bosses themselves aren't too difficult to defeat, so long as you look at the patterns. Points that need to be hit are usually yellow, so you can look out for those and hone in to make sure you're attacking the right points. If enemies have arms, you can usually bet that you'll need to get rid of those before you can attack the main body or head, and Slippy will help out by giving you diagnostics of the enemy you're facing.
I played through the game on normal difficulty, and once you've unlocked all of the medals in the campaign on normal mode, the difficulty can be ramped up. Having said that, it took me a long time to defeat the boss on Solar, and I had to use a couple of continues before I managed to take it down. Plus, it might be easy to do a run-through where you fail on Fichina, but defeating Star Wolf and fulfilling all of the route-changing criteria on each level makes things much more difficult and tense. Don't forget that I spent most of the late 90s playing this game too, so I do have an unfair advantage.
The Gameplay & Controls
I think you can tell how much I love the gameplay from my clip above. All I can say is that it's a good job I don't have a finite amount of laser, because I would really be in trouble!
The gameplay is fast-paced and filled with action. As I've said so many times, after that first cutscene, you actually feel like you're a part of the team - you're invested in saving the Lylat System. I had the same kind of feeling when I played Lylat Wars and games like Rogue Squadron back in the day, but the advancement in graphics and extra story elements, along with the Landmaster and Blue-Marine, make this one of the best shoot-em-ups I've played in a long time.
The gameplay is highly addictive, and I think that's down to the fact that there are so many secrets to uncover, not to mention discovering the true version of Andross along the way. You replay the same levels willingly to find different routes and for the chance to get different cutscenes playing, and it's the kind of game where you actively want to replay levels to beat your high score too. Lylat Wars never got boring, and Star Fox doesn't look like it's going to either. Getting to use other assault vehicles as well as the Arwing keeps things fresh too, especially when you realise you can make a tank hover while shooting!
One thing I love about the new game is that your Arwing controls differently when the wings are damaged, meaning you'll need to find a repair kit to get your craft back up and running again. The craft will drift to one side depending on which wing is damaged, meaning you'll have to constantly adjust your flight path. It's a clever feature and one that helps to make the gameplay feel a little more realistic.
I spend a lot of my time barrel rolling in this game, but that's because it's so damn cool! The controls in this version of the game are smooth and incredibly responsive, with all of the vehicles strafing quickly and aiming smoothly. The barrel roll will always be my favourite move, but verering through the arches on Corneria with my wings skimming the water is a close second.
And while we're on the gameplay, how amazing is the soundtrack! Listening to the clips of gameplay in this article just gets me pumped up, and it all helps to keep you sitting on the edge of your seat while playing. Matt Pirog and Stephen Barton have worked wonders here, and I defy you not to feel shivers when you hear the iconic hook at the beginning of the Corneria level!
Getting Health & Items
Health and items are easily available if you shoot everything in sight. Health comes in the form of shield rings - blue will refill your shield, and collecting gold rings in groups of three increases your overall amount of shield.
Enemies and rocks tend to release rings and items in equal measure, and you'll sometimes just find bombs and laser upgrades lying around in between asteroids or in hard-to-reach places that you might need to swerve to before an obstacle falls, for example. Getting two laser upgrades and firing blue double lasers makes you feel like the king of space!
Online Multiplayer & GameShare
I've touched on me and my friends playing the multiplayer mode on Lylat Wars back in the day, and now it's got a major upgrade in the new Star Fox remake. Rather than just being a straight dogfight (or fox fight), there are other objectives to take into account too to make things more interesting.
There are three levels, each with a capture, collect, or protect objective, as well as shooting down the opposing team. Players play as either Star Fox or Star Wolf characters, and you can go up against your mates or join forces with them. I spent a while playing with players online, and the whole thing felt a little like Star Fox meets Fortnite Reload. I would be defeated, watch other players going about their business, and then respawn into the action to chase after the cretin who took me out. The maps are in all-range mode too, so there's plenty of somersaults and 180-degree flips to be had to keep the action interesting.
One of the best parts about this game is the Game Share feature, and that's where my friend and game streamer Cristerious Plays comes into the chat. We tested out the Game Share feature late last night; as long as you both have a Nintendo Switch Online account and Game Chat running, you can share the game with another person. That means that you can play the full game campaign in co-op mode, as well as take on challenges and play multiplayer battles with only one person owning the game.
The co-op mode requires you both to play with the right Joycon controller. One person holds it horizontally, ala Mario Party-style, to fly and pull off manoeuvres, and the other uses mouse controls to aim and shoot. The best bit is that you can swap between roles mid-game just by changing your controller positions, and it really is seamless. We swapped roles multiple times to test this out, and it worked perfectly. I've got to admit I preferred flying to shooting, but the precision of the mouse controls really helped when fighting bosses that have specific targets to hit (which is all of them).
The fact that two people can see the game clearly with zero lag over the internet while only one person owns the game still baffles me. Don't forget that I grew up with the SNES & N64, so to see something like this still blows my mind, especially as this game only cost me £41.99.
Final Thoughts
Star Fox is one of the best remakes I've played in a heck of a long time. The graphics are incredible, the story sublime, and the price fantastic for a game with so much replayability. The multiplayer is amazing, the Game Share feature is a brilliant bonus, and the challenge mode is a feature that die-hard fans will pump hours and hours into.
As I said at the beginning of this article - if you've not got a Switch 2 yet and were thinking of buying one because of the Ocarina of Time remake, then don't wait. Star Fox should have been a launch title, in my humble opinion, but no matter - it's here now, and it's here to stay! Nice job, Nintendo, I'm heading back to the Great Fox for a status check!
