Sparky Reviews Star Fox Direct

Copyright - Nintendo. This image is from the official Nintendo website under the article "Star Fox for Nintendo Switch 2".

Star Fox Has Had a Rollercoaster of a Time

Within the Nintendo company, there are a ton of different franchises that are incredibly well within the video game industry.  Some of these franchises include The Legend of Zelda, Pokémon, Super Mario Brothers, and Kirby.  Over the years, Nintendo has made franchises that have gone through changes.  However, there’s one franchise that has gained a lot of love and support over the years. This franchise is known as Star Fox. 

For those who are unaware, Star Fox follows a group of mercenaries named Star Fox including a toad named Slippy, a Falcon named Falco, a rabbit named Peppy Hare, and the leader of Star Fox who is a fox named Fox McCloud as they protect the Lylat System from evil forces.  In 1993, Nintendo came out of a groundbreaking game called Star Fox.  Using never before used graphics, Star Fox came out to Super Nintendo consoles with raving reviews.  Years later, Star Fox released another group breaking game on the Nintendo 64 titled Star Fox 64. 

Many people regardless of video game knowledge know about Star Fox 64.  Star Fox 64 was the game that pushed a lot of people to purchase a Nintendo 64.  With its state-of-the-art graphics and the newly made rumble adaptor that made Nintendo 64 controllers vibrate to put players into the experience they were playing, Star Fox 64 was one of the definitive points of the Star Fox franchise.    

After the Nintendo 64 era, Star Fox had various games that came out. This included Star Fox Adventure, Star Fox Assault, Star Fox: Command (which many people in the Star Fox community disregard Star Fox: Command as it’s one of the worst games in the franchise), Star Fox 64 3D for the Nintendo 3DS, and Star Fox: Zero.  While the games were widely accepted by fans, Nintendo over the years has treated the Star Fox franchise with little to no thought. 

Sure, Star Fox fans have gotten collabs like in Ubisoft’s game Starlink and fighters in fighting games like in the Super Smash Brothers franchise that has included Fox, Falco, and the Smash Brothers community most popular character, Wolf.  However, the last Star Fox game was made in 2016.  In addition, not a lot of gamers had a Wii U since there wasn’t a lot that the Wii U had to offer.  However, on April 1, 2026, a certain fox came roaring back with much positive reception. 

On April 1, 2026, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie came out with audiences loving it while critics hated it to the surprise of no one.  Within the Galaxy movie, a particular Fox McCloud accidentally gets transported to the Mario universe by an accidental explosion of a booster on his spacecraft also known as an Arwing.  As such, he joins Mario and crew as they go off to fight Bowser Jr and Bowser to save Rosalina. 

One of the things that makes Fox such an enjoyable character is his laid back, adventure seeking, and has some deep character development. As a result of Fox being in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, the popularity of the Star Fox has risen significantly.  However, there were many people including myself who’ve been Star Fox fans for years who are wondering if Nintendo did this decision to promote a possible new Star Fox game/reboot? Well, our questions were answered on May 6, 2026.

On May 6, 2026, Nintendo just casually dropped without any warning, an entire Star Fox direct talking about the newest game in the franchise, Star Fox.  So, how does this game look? Will Star Fox help bring a much-needed love to an underrated franchise? Let’s talk about it.  In this episode we’re going to be thoroughly analyzing Star Fox Direct’s newest announcement Star Fox. 

The Graphics and Character Models Look Incredible

Firstly, I want to talk about the graphics and character models.  Holy god!! This game looks gorgeous! Even from the other games, Star Fox has always been a top of the line in terms of graphics.  With that in mind, Star Fox is really trying to push the Nintendo Switch 2 graphics.  Star Fox does follow the same story line as Star Fox 64 which some veteran Star Fox fans will sigh in frustration.  However, this will be talked about in another section. 

The direct really shows Star Fox’s gameplay and the character design.  One of the interesting things about the character design is that it’s incredibly similar to the promotional art style on the Super Nintendo.  During the Super Nintendo era, Nintendo used a puppet type art style to make it different. 

I’m not going to lie; the art style of the characters is a little jarring.  One of the things that makes the Star Fox series unique is the balance between realistic and cartoon animations.  This is due to the fact that the main cast of characters are animals.  So having a good balance of high-definition graphics and the animation of the characters.  However, I feel that Star Fox’s art style feels natural and the need that this franchise to be more modern.  While Star Fox does follow a formula, Nintendo does ensure that Star Fox has more to offer than its original counterparts. 

Star Fox Comes with a Campaign Mode

One of the fun things about Star Fox is the new campaign mode and new material.  This is a huge factor since cutscenes were more of a thing in games like Star Fox Adventure and Star Fox Assault.  With that, I hope that the campaign and new materials will help show some of the character development of the Star Fox team.

Since the characters lores is one of the main things that makes so many people love the Star Fox franchise. One of the things that I hope doesn’t happen is the same thing that happened in Star Fox: Command.  So, in Star Fox: Command, the player was given the opportunity to select their story.  Which if done correctly, is fine for video games.  However, Star Fox: Assault did this storytelling incorrectly since it went against what the characters stand for. 

The reason why I bring this up is because of the multiple pathways.  Like in Star Fox 64, Star Fox has multiple paths depending on what decisions the player makes at each level.  From what we see in the direct, there are full on cut scenes within the game.  So, what I’m hoping is that Star Fox will follow the path as a set in stone and will encourage more than one playthrough.  However, I do know that some veteran Star Fox players are on the fence on this game because it’s another remake of Star Fox.  However, I feel that this game will be the start of a reborn of the franchise. 

Hopefully, Star Fox Will Be the Start of New Games Within the Star Fox Franchise

So, now let’s talk about the elephant in the room.  Star Fox is a reboot and remake of Star Fox 64. Additionally, Star Fox 64 was a remake of Star Fox for the Super Nintendo. At this point, Star Fox has remade Star Fox for the Super Nintendo four times.  Which understandably, many Star Fox fans are tired of playing the same game. 

However, with the reintroduction of Fox McCloud in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie as well as the new Star Fox game coming out next month, I feel that Star Fox has the potential to have new original content.  I only hope that Nintendo is willing to put the time and effort into Star Fox in order to get newer gamers into the Star Fox franchise. 

With that, I feel that the way that Nintendo needs to do that is to reintroduce the franchise to newer players by creating the formula that fans have known for years.  Nevertheless, I do understand the frustration that veteran fans of Star Fox are facing.  I’ve loved Star Fox since 1997 when Star Fox 64 came out and have followed the franchise ever since.

Do I wish that Nintendo would make an original Star Fox game than what we’re used to? Yes, I do.  Although for Nintendo has to grow this franchise, they need to have an introduction game to get more players into the series.  Regardless, I’m incredibly excited that after ten years, Star Fox is finally getting the love it so desperately needs with Star Fox.

More Information about Star Fox and Nintendo

Thank you for reading this review. As someone who's loved Star Fox for almost thirty years, I'm so incredibly excited about this retelling and reintroduction of a franchise that is so dear to me.

If you'd like to read more about Star Fox, feel free to follow this link to the official Star Fox website. Star Fox will be coming exclusively to Nintendo Switch 2 on June 25, 2026. Additionally, if you'd like to watch the Star Fox direct to get your own perception on it, feel free to follow this link to watch the entire Star Fox Direct on Nintendo of America's YouTube page.

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