We previously wrote about five things we want to see from a new Star Fox game. In case you missed our list, here’s a summarized version: accessible controls, fantastic graphics, an Arwing amiibo, a new story, and a villain that isn’t Andross.

Unfortunately, we correctly predicted that a new Star Fox game would in fact feature Andross as the main antagonist once again and serve as yet another series reboot. Indeed, Star Fox on Nintendo Switch 2 is an additional retelling of Star Fox 64. Don’t we have a few of those already?

Today, we’re going through every single Star Fox reboot, what sets them apart from each other, and what Nintendo can do going forward.

The Star Fox franchise began on SNES, and although Star Fox and Star Fox 64 look very different, they follow the same plot. In this game, Andross, a scientist once affiliated with Corneria, betrays its citizens and is banished to the faraway planet Venom. From there, he commands an army focused on destroying Corneria and exacting his revenge. Fox McCloud, as the head of Star Fox, joins Falco Lombardi, Peppy Hare, and Slippy Toad in tracking down Andross and defeating him to protect Corneria.

This plot works well for a SNES game, too – Star Fox on SNES was a technical showcase first and foremost. It’s a bit difficult to go back to thanks to its low frame rate, but it’s astounding they were able to make this title with the limited hardware. Not to mention its soundtrack is excellent! As the first game in the series, then, you could say that Star Fox on SNES is the only one on this list with an all-original plot.

Star Fox 64 is different from Star Fox on SNES in many ways. The game is a huge visual and technical upgrade, boasting 3D gameplay and graphics as well as full voice acting. The difference in technology is so great, in fact, that it’s completely understandable that Star Fox 64 is a retelling of Star Fox’s general story. It adds so much to the plot by fleshing it out with additional details, plus it redesigns and adds plenty of planets and locations. And tons of new dialogue! There probably wasn’t much disappointment that Star Fox 64 was technically reusing a storyline because it added so much that the game really made that plot its own.

This one doesn’t really count as another Star Fox 64 retelling, right? It definitely made the list, but it was always going to be a remake. This released as one of the very first Nintendo 3DS games, boasting further improved graphics, clearer voice acting, optional gyro controls, and a new Battle Mode that supports four players via Download Play.

By the time Star Fox 64 3D released in 2011, there hadn’t been any retellings of Star Fox 64. The last Star Fox game was Star Fox Command in 2006, meaning the series had suddenly gone dormant for a whopping half a decade. So it made some sort of sense to return to its roots a bit, given that it had been quiet for so long.

Up until the recent announcement of Star Fox on Nintendo Switch 2, Star Fox Zero, which released in 2015 on Wii U, was the most recent entry in the series. And this is where things start to get kind of ridiculous.

Star Fox Zero made a decent amount of its own innovations, including a somewhat complex control scheme that alienated players at launch (but has a high skill ceiling if you stick to it and learn how to play). But the story was another retread of Star Fox 64, acting as though Star Fox Assault, Star Fox Adventures, and Star Fox Command had never happened. Given that Star Fox Zero was released on Wii U, not many played it, and as a result it sold rather poorly. For a long time, that was the end of the Star Fox series.

And now here we are, with another retelling of Star Fox 64?! Indeed, Star Fox is specifically confirmed to be a remake of Star Fox 64, with mostly identical level layouts but improved graphics, multiplayer, new voice acting, and additional story cutscenes. After watching the reveal live, I remember thinking “please don’t be a remake of Star Fox 64 again, please don’t be a reboot, please don’t be a new canon…”, but unfortunately those thoughts were at odds with the truth.

Many people playing Star Fox are probably in it for the gameplay, so in some ways, it’s easy to look past the recycled plot. But at the same time, there’s this sentiment from Nintendo that they only want to bring back old franchises like Star Fox or F-Zero if they find a way to innovate them. In 2013, Shigeru Miyamoto said something interesting in an interview: “I think where I struggle is that I don’t really have a good idea for what’s new that we could bring to F-Zero that would really turn it into a great game again… …I don’t know, at this point, what direction we could go in with a new F-Zero.”

And that sentiment is so interesting to me, because Star Fox has now been rebooted twice in the past ten years with two retellings of the same story. The new game on Nintendo Switch 2 definitely has impressive graphics, and the gameplay will no doubt be top-notch – but I’m not sure it’s innovative. And it seems Star Fox gets this sort of pass where it’s allowed to be brought back using the same controls, gameplay, and especially story time and time again, but the same grace that’s been offered to Star Fox multiple times has not been offered to other quiet Nintendo franchises. Now, a reused story is by no means a signal that Star Fox on Nintendo Switch 2 is going to be bad in any way, but it does remain frustrating that the series canon is presumably going to be frozen for many more years. The last time a Star Fox game advanced the canon was Star Fox Command, 20 years ago on Nintendo DS.

In any case, if the new Star Fox on Switch 2 sells well, there’s a chance we get an all-new game as a follow-up one day. Or maybe we’ll get a remake of Star Fox Assault or Adventures instead?

What do you think of all these Star Fox 64 retellings? Is it a big deal that frustrates you, or do you like the original game so much that you don’t mind seeing it brought back? Let us know in the comments.