Star Fox Returns: Nintendo Reveals New Switch 2 Game in Surprise Direct

Nintendo pulled a fast one this week. With about ten minutes’ notice, the company aired a full Star Fox Direct on May 6, 2026, and confirmed a brand new Star Fox game for Switch 2 this summer. Fox McCloud is back after ten years off the roster.

The new game is simply called Star Fox, and it lands exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2 on June 25, 2026.

A Star Fox Direct Nobody Saw Coming

Nintendo Directs usually get announced days ahead. Wishlists, leaks, fan theories, the whole pre-show ritual. This one skipped that ritual. Ten minutes between the announcement and the broadcast itself, no warning shot.

Producer Yoshiaki Koizumi kicked off the presentation and confirmed what insiders like Nate the Hate had been hinting at since March. The timing isn’t a coincidence either. Fox McCloud just had a meaty cameo in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, voiced by Glen Powell, and Nintendo clearly wanted to ride that wave while the audience was still warm.

What Is the New Star Fox Game on Switch 2?

It’s a cinematic reimagining of Star Fox 64. Nintendo’s words, not mine.

Stage layouts from the 1997 N64 classic are mostly intact, but pretty much everything around them got rebuilt. According to Nintendo’s official announcement, the new Star Fox features overhauled character designs, fully voiced dialogue, an orchestral score, fresh cutscenes, and mission briefings between levels. Corneria, Zoness, Fichina, and Sector Y all come back with visual overhauls built for Switch 2 hardware.

This is technically the third crack at remaking Star Fox 64, after Star Fox 64 3D in 2011 and the divisive Star Fox Zero in 2016. If you’ve never touched an Arwing before, Nintendo is pitching this as the cleanest place to jump in.

Star Fox 2026 Gameplay and Switch 2 Features

The core gameplay is still pure rail shooter. You fly the Arwing through scripted levels, somersault and barrel roll to deflect lasers, and pick off enemies with bombs and blasters. The bones are the same. The presentation is what got the upgrade.

Three difficulty settings give the campaign actual replay value, which the N64 original never really had. A separate Challenge Mode lets you revisit cleared missions with new objectives, complete with its own Normal and Expert tiers.

Couch co-op gets a smart twist too. Two players can share a single Joy-Con 2, one in the pilot seat and the other on the guns. Old-school cockpit teamwork without needing a second controller.

Battle Mode Brings Back Star Fox Multiplayer

Battle Mode is the part of the package that justifies the Switch 2 release on its own. Team Star Fox squares off against Team Star Wolf in 4-vs-4 dogfights, eight players total.

Three stages rotate the objectives:

• Hold a designated zone on Corneria
• Collect energy crystals on Fichina
• Retrieve cargo from space pirates in Sector Y

Private matches and standard matchmaking are both supported. GameShare lets up to four players join in together, though online GameShare only works on Switch 2. Local GameShare bridges between Switch 2 and the original Switch, which is a nice touch for households running both.

Joy-Con 2 Mouse Controls and GameChat Avatars

Two Switch 2 features actually find decent use here instead of feeling like check-the-box bullet points.

In solo Campaign and Challenge modes, you can swap between buttons and Joy-Con 2 mouse aiming mid-level. Star Fox has always rewarded precise shooting, and mouse aim could shake up how veterans approach Expert runs.

The stranger addition is GameChat support. While chatting with friends, you can show up as Fox, Falco, Slippy, or Peppy via an interactive avatar that mirrors your real facial expressions. AR Filters let you slap on Star Fox-style ears or a Falco-style beak. It’s daft, but it keeps the cast on screen instead of buried in menus.

Star Fox Switch 2 Release Date and Price

Star Fox launches exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2 on June 25, 2026. US pricing has landed at $50 for the digital version and $60 for the physical edition, based on early storefront listings.

Ten years is a long stretch for any Nintendo franchise to sit on the bench. Whatever your history with the series, this looks like the most ambitious Star Fox swing Nintendo has taken in a generation. We’ll be back with full impressions when the Arwings actually fly on June 25.