Star Fox is back in the oddest way possible: loudly, beautifully, and safely. The new Switch 2 remake of Star Fox 64 has arrived with a critic score range that looks genuinely healthy. Developed by Velan Studios and published by Nintendo, it released for Switch 2 on June 25, 2026, according to Game Informer's review details. IGN gave it 8/10, Eurogamer scored it 4/5, Game Informer landed at 8.25/10, and Nintendo Life went higher with 9/10. That is not a split in the usual sense. Nobody is calling this a failure. The interesting divide is quieter than that.
Critics seem to agree that Velan Studios has made the best version of Star Fox 64. They also keep circling the same awkward question: what does it mean when the best thing to happen to Star Fox in years is another return to 1997?
That makes this a useful review moment, not just another score check. Star Fox is the kind of game people remember with their thumbs. The routes through Corneria, the feel of the Arwing, the medal chase, the old lines stuck in the back of the brain. A remake can polish that memory until it shines, but it also has to stand next to the fact that Nintendo has been unusually cautious with this series for a very long time.
Star Fox scores and review range
The critical spread is tight and positive. IGN's 8/10 frames Star Fox as a successful revival built on an old structure that still works. Eurogamer's 4/5 is just as warm, though more guarded about Nintendo leaning so heavily on nostalgia. Game Informer's 8.25/10 reads like affection with a raised eyebrow: yes, this is joyful; no, it is not the new future the series probably needs. Nintendo Life's 9/10 is the most enthusiastic of the four, calling it a strong introduction for new players and the best replay yet for returning ones.
Across those reviews, a few points keep repeating. The visual overhaul matters more than some critics expected. The new cinematics add life to a cast that has always had more implied personality than actual screen time. The campaign remains short but replayable because Star Fox 64 was built around route discovery and score chasing. The new challenge modes give veterans something cleaner to chew on. Multiplayer is the least settled part of the package, with some reviewers finding it charming and others treating it as a side dish.
That is a pretty clear consensus. The remake works. The argument is about whether working is enough.
Why IGN thinks the Arwing still has lift
IGN's review is the most straightforward celebration of the remake as a playable object. The outlet calls it "the best 20 or so hours of Star Fox" the reviewer had played, which is a big claim for a series with this much nostalgia attached to it. The praise starts with the basics: movement feels sharp, aiming feels right, and the old structure still has more depth than it first appears to have.
That last part matters. Star Fox 64 can look small if you measure it by modern campaign length. A full run can be over in an evening. But the game was never just about seeing credits. It was about learning which route opens when you do one strange little thing correctly, then improving until a familiar stage turns into a scoring exercise. IGN's review understands that rhythm. It describes finishing a level as the beginning of the challenge, not the end of it.
The new material seems to land well, too. IGN praises the cinematics for giving the crew more texture and making the campaign feel less like a museum piece. Challenge mode gets approval, although the review wishes it went further. That is a recurring note with this remake: the additions are good, but the safest version of good. Boss rush, alternate character missions, stranger scenarios, anything like that might have pushed the package from careful revival into real reinvention. IGN still ends positive, saying Nintendo has proved "the Arwing isn't out of style quite yet."
Eurogamer likes the craft and side-eyes the caution
Eurogamer's review is probably the most useful one if you want the larger cultural read. It opens with skepticism about Nintendo playing things too safe, then admits the remake made a convincing case for itself. The line that sticks is simple: "hooray for advanced graphics."
That sounds glib, but the review backs it up. Eurogamer argues that Velan Studios understands the on-rails shooter as spectacle. When the camera is controlled, the developer can pack the scene with motion, scale, and theatrical timing. The result, according to the review, is a remake that makes familiar stages feel newly exciting without breaking the old design.
Still, Eurogamer does not let the nostalgia off cleanly. It calls Star Fox "conservative but accomplished," and later lands on the idea of a "triumph of nostalgia over innovation." That is the whole tension in one phrase. The remake succeeds because it knows exactly what to preserve. It also reminds you how little Nintendo has risked with Fox McCloud in recent years.
Eurogamer is less convinced by multiplayer, describing it as adequate but unlikely to hold attention for long. The campaign and challenge content are where the remake earns its praise. That distinction matters for anyone looking at the scores and wondering whether this is a broad reinvention. It does not sound like one. It sounds like a brilliant restoration with a few modern rooms added to the old house.
Game Informer hears the joy and the ceiling
Game Informer's review lands in the middle emotionally. It clearly enjoys the remake. It says Star Fox 64 is still the franchise's crowning achievement and calls the Switch 2 version a "joyful, updated reminder" of why the 1997 game worked. The score, 8.25/10, fits that reading: strong, affectionate, but not blind.
The review praises the visual update, the feel of the Arwing, and the new music. It also singles out the added lore material and route-dependent cutscenes as worthwhile touches. That is the kind of addition that makes sense for Star Fox. This series has always suggested a bigger world than it actually showed. A little more texture around the team, the enemies, and the planets can go a long way.
But Game Informer's reservation is blunt: another remake of Star Fox 64 is not what the reviewer wants from the franchise. The piece says the remake expands as much as it can inside the boundaries of the original, but still feels held back by those boundaries. That is not a complaint about execution. It is a complaint about ambition.
This is where the review conversation becomes more interesting than the number. An 8.25 is not a warning sign. It is a good score. But the language around it suggests a ceiling. Velan and Nintendo have made something polished enough to remind people why they care. Now the pressure shifts to whether Nintendo treats that care as permission to make something new.
Nintendo Life is the warmest on the full package
Nintendo Life is the easiest review to recommend if you want to know whether fans should buy the game. Its 9/10 is rooted in the feeling that Star Fox on Switch 2 is "little more than 64 all over again, but man, it has never been better." That is both praise and disclaimer, cleanly stated.
The review is especially positive on the core loop. Flying the Arwing, rolling through familiar routes, chasing medals, and returning for harder challenges all sound like they survive the move to Switch 2 with real energy. Nintendo Life also seems more taken with the online modes than Eurogamer, calling them surprisingly fun rather than disposable.
The conclusion is still honest about the limitation. It calls the game a "sublime remaster" and says that being Star Fox 64 again is both its best and worst feature. For new players, the outlet struggles to imagine a better introduction. For people who already know every turn, it promises the strongest replay rather than a surprise.
That is probably the cleanest consumer advice in the whole review set. If you want Star Fox 64 made sharper, prettier, and more generous, this sounds like exactly that. If you wanted Nintendo to solve the franchise's identity problem, this is not that game.
The actual consensus
The consensus is not complicated, but it is specific. Star Fox on Switch 2 is being reviewed as a strong remake, not as a bold new chapter. Critics like the look, the feel, the music, the route structure, and the extra reasons to replay. They are more mixed on multiplayer and cautious about how much old material Nintendo can keep revisiting before the series starts to feel trapped by its own best moment.
That matters because Star Fox has always been a strange series to evaluate. Its best game is short. Its identity is narrow. Its fans want it to return, but not as a bloated open-world thing wearing the name like a costume. A faithful remake can feel like relief. It can also feel like Nintendo stopping at the exact point where the harder work begins.
The review range tells us the first half of the job is done. Velan Studios has made Star Fox 64 sing on new hardware. The Arwing still feels good. The old levels still have snap. The new presentation makes a familiar war against Andross feel bigger and brighter than memory alone could manage.
The second half is less settled. A remake this well reviewed should make Nintendo braver, not more cautious. If the lesson taken from these scores is "people want Star Fox 64 again," that would be the dull reading. The better reading is that people still want Star Fox when the flying feels precise, the stages reward replay, and the team has enough personality to be more than radio chatter.
For Perthro players tracking what to play next, Star Fox looks like a safe add to the wishlist if you own a Switch 2 and have any warmth for arcade shooters. It is also the kind of game worth journaling as a mood check. Are you playing it because you want a crisp, replayable score-chaser, or because you want to feel something old come back with less dust on it? Both are valid. The reviews suggest the remake can handle both. They just do not suggest it can answer what Star Fox should become after this.