Star Fox hands-on gameplay: Switch 2 takes flight with nostalgia trip for a new generation

Last month’s surprise Star Fox announcement for the Nintendo Switch 2 sent shockwaves through the fandom for multiple reasons. First, whoa, Fox is back after making his big-screen debut in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie! And secondly, he looks like that?! And of course, wait a minute, it’s coming out THAT soon? Yeah, it’s already just a few weeks away from launch on June 25. And last week, I got to play the upcoming Switch 2 exclusive at a special event in New York City. Photo by Scott Duwe https://embeds.beehiiv.com/a8d62108-86ed-4039-bf49-44877ba62c15 To be honest, I was kind of nervous going in. I don’t really like flying games or flight gameplay, and I barely remember playing Star Fox 64 so many years ago. I tend to struggle with the controls in games like Ace Combat or even Grand Theft Auto. But with Star Fox, I’m pleased to say it felt very natural and easy. With the guidance of Nintendo Treehouse and PR staff, I played through a quick tutorial mission that shows you the ropes, and the controls are genuinely a breeze. Left stick controls the spaceship’s pitch, the triggers are for tilting and barrel rolling, A is to fire your main weapon, B is to brake, Y is for Bombs, and X is to Boost. The control scheme just feels really inherent, and way more intuitive and easy than I remember it being back in the day (that probably had more to do with the N64 controller than anything), but you can also change things up by using the JoyCon’s mouse mode in single or co-op play. With one player holding the left JoyCon to control flight and another using the right mouse to aim and fire, it introduced a new way to experience what’s otherwise a refreshed and prettier take on a classic. I’m not the biggest advocate of the Switch 2’s mouse controls, but it worked very well as another control option. We were able to play the first two levels of the campaign, Corneria and Meteo, and both are immediately familiar to veterans in this pseudo-remaster. Both levels contain boss fights and arching pathways that offer changes to gameplay and dialogue, but the main additions are some awesome cutscenes and brand new voiceovers that bring the game to a whole new audience and generation for modern times. Image via Nintendo To my pleasant surprise, the most fun I had throughout the day was with the new multiplayer Battle Mode, on which we experienced a four-vs-four capture-the-flag-like game type on the Sector Y map. The multiplayer action felt fluid and smooth thanks to maneuvers like the somersault and U-turn, allowing you to navigate the Arwing ship quickly to chase down the enemy team. Scoring kills on other players and capturing the objective through your own base’s portal piles up points, and the team with the most points at the end of the match wins the game. It’s pretty good thrilling fun, avoiding incoming fire while dodging or barrel rolling, re-positioning, and chasing down other players or objectives. This mode comes with the hilarious character avatars feature, which is basically an AR filter that superimposes Fox, Falco, Slippy, and all the rest of the gang onto your face in Switch 2 GameChat. It was almost difficult to keep playing while watching the funny faces at the bottom of the screen, but I think players will have a lot of fun with it. Other than the surprisingly fun gameplay, my biggest takeaway from the hands-on event is that I think I’m now adjusted to the controversially realistic designs of the characters. I kind of hated them at first, but got used to them pretty quickly, and now I kind of like them. I’m sure this will continue to be a point of contention for many, but after about an hour of gameplay and cutscenes, I think it’s got its own unique charm this time around to separate it from the original games. Image via Nintendo Visually, Star Fox for the Switch 2 is beautiful, boasting gorgeous vistas and environments and a smooth frame rate while in Docked mode (we did not play in handheld mode). It seems like a very fun introduction into the franchise for a new generation of players, especially younger kids who may have just met Fox McCloud for the first time at the movie theaters, and a fun way to relive a classic for veterans of the series. Star Fox launches exclusively for the Nintendo Switch 2 on June 25. 1 The post Star Fox hands-on gameplay: Switch 2 takes flight with nostalgia trip for a new generation appeared first on Destructoid.

Jun 2, 2026 - 22:17

Star Fox hands-on gameplay: Switch 2 takes flight with nostalgia trip for a new generation

Last month’s surprise Star Fox announcement for the Nintendo Switch 2 sent shockwaves through the fandom for multiple reasons.

First, whoa, Fox is back after making his big-screen debut in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie! And secondly, he looks like that?! And of course, wait a minute, it’s coming out THAT soon? Yeah, it’s already just a few weeks away from launch on June 25. And last week, I got to play the upcoming Switch 2 exclusive at a special event in New York City.

Photo by Scott Duwe https://embeds.beehiiv.com/a8d62108-86ed-4039-bf49-44877ba62c15 To be honest, I was kind of nervous going in. I don’t really like flying games or flight gameplay, and I barely remember playing Star Fox 64 so many years ago. I tend to struggle with the controls in games like Ace Combat or even Grand Theft Auto. But with Star Fox, I’m pleased to say it felt very natural and easy.

With the guidance of Nintendo Treehouse and PR staff, I played through a quick tutorial mission that shows you the ropes, and the controls are genuinely a breeze. Left stick controls the spaceship’s pitch, the triggers are for tilting and barrel rolling, A is to fire your main weapon, B is to brake, Y is for Bombs, and X is to Boost.

The control scheme just feels really inherent, and way more intuitive and easy than I remember it being back in the day (that probably had more to do with the N64 controller than anything), but you can also change things up by using the JoyCon’s mouse mode in single or co-op play.

With one player holding the left JoyCon to control flight and another using the right mouse to aim and fire, it introduced a new way to experience what’s otherwise a refreshed and prettier take on a classic. I’m not the biggest advocate of the Switch 2’s mouse controls, but it worked very well as another control option.

We were able to play the first two levels of the campaign, Corneria and Meteo, and both are immediately familiar to veterans in this pseudo-remaster. Both levels contain boss fights and arching pathways that offer changes to gameplay and dialogue, but the main additions are some awesome cutscenes and brand new voiceovers that bring the game to a whole new audience and generation for modern times.

Image via Nintendo To my pleasant surprise, the most fun I had throughout the day was with the new multiplayer Battle Mode, on which we experienced a four-vs-four capture-the-flag-like game type on the Sector Y map.

The multiplayer action felt fluid and smooth thanks to maneuvers like the somersault and U-turn, allowing you to navigate the Arwing ship quickly to chase down the enemy team. Scoring kills on other players and capturing the objective through your own base’s portal piles up points, and the team with the most points at the end of the match wins the game. It’s pretty good thrilling fun, avoiding incoming fire while dodging or barrel rolling, re-positioning, and chasing down other players or objectives.

This mode comes with the hilarious character avatars feature, which is basically an AR filter that superimposes Fox, Falco, Slippy, and all the rest of the gang onto your face in Switch 2 GameChat. It was almost difficult to keep playing while watching the funny faces at the bottom of the screen, but I think players will have a lot of fun with it.

Other than the surprisingly fun gameplay, my biggest takeaway from the hands-on event is that I think I’m now adjusted to the controversially realistic designs of the characters. I kind of hated them at first, but got used to them pretty quickly, and now I kind of like them. I’m sure this will continue to be a point of contention for many, but after about an hour of gameplay and cutscenes, I think it’s got its own unique charm this time around to separate it from the original games.

Image via Nintendo Visually, Star Fox for the Switch 2 is beautiful, boasting gorgeous vistas and environments and a smooth frame rate while in Docked mode (we did not play in handheld mode). It seems like a very fun introduction into the franchise for a new generation of players, especially younger kids who may have just met Fox McCloud for the first time at the movie theaters, and a fun way to relive a classic for veterans of the series.

Star Fox launches exclusively for the Nintendo Switch 2 on June 25.

1 The post Star Fox hands-on gameplay: Switch 2 takes flight with nostalgia trip for a new generation appeared first on Destructoid.

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