The Wait Is Finally Over
If you've ever visited my website you'll have noticed the Arwing on the homepage. That's not an accident. Star Fox has been my favourite game franchise for as long as I can remember and it's fair to say I've been waiting a very long time for a new entry in the series.
So when the Star Fox Switch 2 demo dropped, I was on it immediately. I've now played through it and I have some thoughts. Good ones.
The Story Begins: Before Fox McCloud
The demo doesn't waste any time. Before you even touch the controls you're thrown into a cutscene that sets up the entire story and it's a great opening.
We see James McCloud, Peppy Hare and Pigma Dengar on a crucial mission to investigate Andross's activities on Venom. What follows is one of the most significant moments in the Star Fox story. Pigma's betrayal. In a shocking turn, Pigma turns on his own crew, leaving them at the mercy of Andross's forces. In the chaos, James sacrifices himself to save Peppy, allowing him to escape and bring the news back to Corneria.
It's a moment that Star Fox fans have known about for years but have never seen depicted with this level of detail and cinematic quality. Seeing it play out properly, with full cutscenes and voice acting, adds enormous weight to everything that follows. We then jump five years forward to where the real story begins.
The Tutorial: Learning to Fly Again
From there we land in a VR training simulation. It's a clever way to handle the tutorial because it flows naturally from the story rather than feeling like a menu screen you have to click through. You work through the basics of manoeuvring the Arwing, firing lasers, dropping bombs, performing a barrel roll and getting to grips with all-range mode.
What makes it work particularly well is the dialogue between the Star Fox crew throughout. Peppy, Slippy and Falco all have things to say and their personalities come through clearly. You get a real sense of who these characters are and how they interact with each other. The characterisation is noticeably stronger than it's ever been in the series and it makes you genuinely invested in the team before you've even started a proper level.
Meteo: The Asteroid Field Reimagined
Then we get to the level itself. The demo drops you into Meteo, the second stage on the easier route, and from the very first frame it's clear this is something special.
The asteroid field has been completely reimagined. If you remember the Nintendo 64 version it was dark and stoney, a grey corridor of rocks with a planet in the background. The Switch 2 version is an entirely different experience. Lush greens, vibrant nebulas, stars stretching out in every direction, asteroids of all shapes and sizes filling the space around you and a planet in the background that feels genuinely real. It's as though someone took what you always imagined the game could look like as a kid playing the N64 and actually built it. That feeling is genuinely hard to describe. You have to see it.
Whether you're playing on a 4K screen or in handheld mode, it looks incredible. I was honestly taken aback in handheld mode at how beautiful it looked on such a small screen.
Controls, Dialogue and New Secrets
The controls feel smooth and natural. Manoeuvring the Arwing glides across the screen easily and shooting down enemies feels satisfying in a way that immediately feels familiar to anyone who has played the original.
One of the first things I noticed as I played through the level was how much more dialogue there is between the characters. The crew talk to each other constantly and everything feels connected. They react to what's happening around them, they banter, they warn each other and it all adds to the sense of being part of a team rather than flying solo.
Worth mentioning is that the dialogue and voice acting has been completely redone from the ground up. This isn't a like for like remake of the Nintendo 64 or 3DS version. Most of the changes work really well and the increased interaction between the crew is a genuine improvement. I will say though that I was slightly disappointed with one particular piece of voice acting. The boss in the Meteo level felt less menacing than he did in the original. Even when he delivers the same lines, there's less anger and edge to it. In the N64 version there was a real threatening quality to his tone that I didn't quite feel here. It's still good but it's worth mentioning as a minor criticism in an otherwise impressive package.
As I pushed further into the level I picked up on something that made me smile. Slippy's dialogue contains subtle hints towards a secret warp route hidden in the level. When I was younger it took me a long time to find that warp. The Switch 2 version nudges you towards it in a way that feels natural rather than hand holdy. I managed to hit the trigger and the warp was genuinely breathtaking. The level design for the warp sequence was visually stunning and the sense of actually travelling to a new location came through beautifully.
The cutscene that triggered afterwards tied neatly into the wider storyline and presented a meaningful choice about which route to take next.
The Boss Battle: Music That Makes Your Heart Race
If you skipped the warp and took the standard route you'd arrive at the iconic three stage boss battle and this is where the demo really peaked for me.
I've always loved this fight. The back and forth dialogue between the boss and the Star Fox crew, the escalating stages, the sense of a genuine confrontation. It's one of my favourite moments in the original game.
In the Switch 2 version it's taken to another level entirely. As the battle intensified I noticed the music shift and build. The full orchestra came into its own here. The soundtrack got more dramatic, the tone darkened and the whole thing felt more impactful and intense than anything the series has delivered before. It genuinely had me leaning forward.
Graphically the boss battle is impressive too. The third stage in particular felt as difficult as ever, especially when the purple homing lasers start coming for you. And when I say purple, they look stunningly purple and pink toned in a way that makes the boss feel genuinely imposing and visually spectacular. It's the kind of detail that shows real care went into this game. It's not just functional, it's beautiful.
When the battle ended the final cutscene, the mission complete message and the overall score display all came together in a way that just felt sleek. Polished. Considered. It added to that overall feeling that this version of Star Fox has been crafted with real love and attention to detail.
And that's what sums up the demo for me. It feels sleek, polished and genuinely impressive. It takes the Nintendo 64 beloved classic and elevates it in ways that feel both faithful and fresh at the same time.
Early Verdict
It's a demo so there's still a full game to experience. But based on what I've played, Star Fox Switch 2 isn't just a nostalgia trip. It takes everything great about the original, reimagines it with stunning visuals and an incredible orchestral music soundtrack, deepens the story and characters and adds new layers of detail that reward fans who know the series well.
The minor criticism around the boss voice acting aside, this feels like the Star Fox game the franchise has deserved for a long time. I'm excited. Very excited.
I can't wait to play and review the full game when it releases in two weeks time. Until then, do a barrel roll.