21st February 2023 marks the 30th anniversary of the launch of Star Fox on Super Famicom in Japan. To celebrate, we’re republishing this reader-ranked list of every game in the series.
Remember, this is a dynamic ranking that changes in real time according to each game’s User Rating in our database. If you haven’t rated any of them, feel free to do so now and potentially affect the order below. Good luck!
Like any long-running group, the Star Fox team has been through some ups and downs over the years, with some incredible gaming highs serving to make any titles less than life-changingly awesome feel, well, a bit disappointing by comparison.
The sentiment that the Star Fox franchise never got better than its first sequel is relatively common — and understandable — yet the series has played host to some wonderful non-64-bit games. From the tactical nuance of Q-Games’ Star Fox Command, to Rare and Namco’s dalliances on GameCube, and Nintendo’s own experiments during the Wii U era, the series has been a test bed for interesting game design ideas and has produced some fascinating, if flawed, results. They may not be all-round, cohesive classics like Star Fox 64 but each of them offers something intriguing, often many things. There’s a reason the fandom flame still burns bright for this foxy franchise.
So, we asked Nintendo Life readers to rate every Star Fox game they’ve played in order to assemble the ultimate reader-ranked list of the best Star Fox games (and conversely, the worst ones, too), and the result can be found below.
Thanks to everyone who rated the games they’ve played. If you missed out, good news — you haven’t! You can still rate every game you’ve played in the list below — the ranking is updated in real time according to each game’s corresponding User Rating in the Nintendo Life game database. Even as you read this, it’s entirely possible to influence the order after publication. If you haven’t rated your favourites yet, simply click the ‘star’ of the game you wish to rate below and assign a score out of ten right now.
So, let’s take a look at every Star Fox game ranked from ‘worst’ to best by you, dear readers.
Note. We’ve included both the 3DS remake and the original Star Fox 64, plus Starlink: Battle For Atlas in the list below thanks to its copious amount of Star Fox content.
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Nintendo
Nintendo set out to build an experience centered around the Wii U GamePad with Star Fox Guard, and the result was a great little experiment — if a wee bit overwhelming. How much you get out of Star Fox Guard will ultimately depend on your tolerance for its particular brand of attention-splitting gameplay. Some may take to the tense onslaught of robots like an Italian plumber to a mushroom, whereas others might play a few rounds and get completely exhausted with its mix of tower defending, twitch shooting, and puzzling. Beyond that blend, there isn’t a whole lot of diversity in gameplay here, and in many ways what you see is what you get. What we see is a terrifying but satisfying game wrapped in charming Star Fox attire.
It also broadened our knowledge of Slippy Toad’s extended family. Mileage may vary and all that, then.
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: PlatinumGames
In terms of pure mechanics, content and structure, Star Fox Zero is a pretty close match for the 1997 64-bit release that remains the series’ high watermark; it follows the same non-linear branching pathways and packs each level with bonuses to collect and secrets to discover. The Walker, enhanced Landmaster and Gyrowing vehicles each bringing with them different tactics, strengths and gameplay possibilities, although these alternative modes of transport are only fun to use in short bursts — the Arwing is much more entertaining to pilot.
Some players found the controls troublesome, but perseverance is key — once you’ve mastered them, you’re faced with an outing on-par with the excellent N64 entry from which it draws so much inspiration. A solid instalment in one of Nintendo’s most underused franchises, then, and one of the last good-great Wii U exclusives.
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Q-Games
Star Fox Command is a fun, challenging entry in the series featuring controls that take time to get used to. Developed by Q-Games, those hoping for a more traditional Star Fox experience will likely be left disappointed. What Command instead offers is an experimental evolution that takes the base experience and tinkers with it in very interesting ways. If you can get past the hurdle that this isn’t your papa’s Star Fox, you’ll find an involving, robust adventure featuring charming characters that Nintendo doesn’t feature nearly enough.
Gavin loves a bit of couch co-op, especially when he gets to delegate roles, bark instructions and give much-appreciated performance feedback at the end. He lives in Spain (the plain-y bit where the rain mainly falls) and his love for Banjo-Kazooie borders on the unhealthy.