Nintendo has brought Star Fox back from a long sleep. Earlier this month, the company used a Direct presentation devoted entirely to the series to announce a new game: a remake of Star Fox 64 for the Nintendo 64, with a new visual style, a cinematic upgrade to the story and expanded gameplay elements. Nintendo said the game will launch on June 25.
The return matters because the franchise has been largely dormant since Star Fox Zero on the Wii U, even though Star Fox has remained one of Nintendo’s long-running names since the SNES era and a fixture in Super Smash Bros. titles. This new version keeps the core of the series intact: an on-rails space shooter set across the Lylat System, with Fox McCloud flying alongside Falco, Peppy and Slippy on a mission to stop Dr. Andross.
That familiar setup is also what makes the new game notable. Nintendo is not changing Star Fox into something else; it is polishing a classic that already has a clear identity. The remake’s expanded gameplay and cinematic story treatment suggest the company wants to modernize the experience without losing the pace and structure that made Star Fox 64 a standout in the first place.
The timing also gives the announcement extra lift. Earlier this year, Fox McCloud appeared in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, voiced by Glen Powell, a reminder that the character still carries enough recognition to show up beyond games even as the series itself has spent years on the sidelines. For longtime fans, June 25 is less a tentative date than a restart button for a franchise that has been waiting for one.
The open question is not whether Star Fox has a place in Nintendo’s lineup. It does. The question now is whether this remake is a one-off return or the start of a longer revival after a stretch of near silence.
