New Star Fox isn't hot, and I love that about him

I’m not at all surprised that last week’s announcement of Nintendo’s Star Fox 64 remake, simply titled Star Fox, was divisive. Some folks are grumpy that, provided a generous enough count, it’s the fourth remake of the original Star Fox in the series. Reasonable! And there are definitely people who prefer the hot versions of Star Fox team leader Fox McCloud and his cock-sure flyboy teammate Falco Lombardi and are sad to see a dumpier, less anthropomorphic side of them. You know what? Also valid. No one needs to be shamed for wanting hot Star Fox. But to me, and I think plenty of others, the team has never looked better. 

Early in the trailer, Fox’s Arwing starfighter dives straight for the surface of the Corneria level’s water, which splashes up below its wingtips, just like in the N64 game. When Star Fox 64 was new, my friends and I always made sure that was the first thing we did — those splashes were so cool in 1997! I took this moment’s presence in the 2026 remake trailer as a signal that the team behind the new game put some real thought into preserving the details that made us love the N64 game in the first place.

Although the levels will apparently feature the same layout as in Star Fox 64 with a new, flashy coat of paint when it’s released on June 25th, it’s more than a simple remake. Nintendo has tossed in level challenges, new control schemes, reworked multiplayer modes, and what looks like copious, fully voice-acted cutscenes. There’s even some backstory for Fox’s missing father, James McCloud! And the digital game is $50, which feels like a big deal for my wallet at a time when so many new Switch 2 games cost $60 and up.

I’ve struggled to love the Star Fox games that have come out since Star Fox 64, Star Fox Command for the Nintendo DS being the sole exception. The rest had their moments, but they all seemed to get bogged down in efforts to grow the series beyond its roots, like when Star Fox Assault tossed in clunky on-foot missions. If you only know Fox and Falco from the 2000s and beyond — including their Super Smash Bros. portrayals  — then you’ve only ever known them in their sleek cool-guy era. Their fits were always tidy and clean. Fox’s fur was neatly cropped around his cheeks and delicate little foxy snout; Falco was tall and lean, with a sharply hooked beak that seemed to flow to the tip of his backswept headfeathers. I never thought they were sexy, but a quick Google search for Star Fox fan art will absolutely show you how some others felt.