Nintendo has unveiled a "cinematic" remake of Star Fox 64, simply titled Star Fox, which arrives for Switch 2 on 25th June. The 28-minute Nintendo Direct presentation contains all the details, save for the $50/£42 price point and 14.8GB file size, and we took a closer look at the reveal trailer to see what we could glean about the game's technical outlook and overall philosophy.

First, while I would have preferred an original entry in the series, I still love what Nintendo is attempting with this remake. Firstly, the character designs finally echo the original puppets used to advertise the original version of Star Fox on Super NES - and I like it. I know this has been slightly controversial but it's unique and a cool nod to the series history. Plus, the game now seems to offer proper directed cutscenes to tell the story in a way that prior entries did not.

Once in-game, however, the level design is familiar, as the Direct clearly stated, but the visual overhaul is significant. The scenery now stretches far off into the distance; the new water effects are gorgeous and modern with vibrant colours and beautiful reflections. It's exactly what I would envision for a new Star Fox game in 2026 and I'm excited to see more.

Another bonus is that, for the first time in an official capacity, the game targets 60 frames per second. Both the N64 and Nintendo 3DS versions of Star Fox 64 were capped at 30fps so this is a nice change. It'll be interesting to see how Mouse Mode affects how the game controls, too, which even extends into a two player co-op mode split between mouse and regular Joy-Con players. 4v4 multiplayer is also included.

Stylistically, it's true that the darker tone of the first stage is replaced with brighter colours, but I like the change in this case and other examples show during the stream are show deeper hues.

I'll have a lot more to say on this once we get our hands on the game but, for now, I'm feeling very positive about what Nintendo has shown and can't wait to play it.