JCrit

(8.7/10) This is just about the best a Star Fox 64 remake could be. The graphics, orchestration, aesthetic (albeit a bit of uncanny valley on Falco and Fox), and UI are all crisp and engaging. The controls are the same, but the responsiveness is a bit more organic, so there is additional fluidity in maneuvering an Arwing, Landmaster, or Blue-Marine. The score, in particular, gets the emphasis it deserves with a full complement of re-recorded instruments. The narrative is more immersive because of the mid-mission cutscenes, which help contextualize the choices you make in veering from one planet to another as well as making the banter more integrated into the ongoing camaraderie. I don't think the voice acting is superb, but nevertheless good enough that you get a reasonable feel for the characters. I think they lost a bit of Falco's begrudging respect for Fox and made him more of a flat out jerk. This really does feel like a full-blown space opera, where the stakes are salient and the political tensions are palpable; when I played the Nintendo 64 predecessor, I didn't really have a sense of that urgency. With the remake, you do get the sense that the Lylat System is actually on the brink and the balance of power is on the line--where Star Fox just might be able to eek out a win. The new prologue adds a lot of narrative momentum, and helps introduce you to the convincing cinematic production value. The already great Koji Kondo and Hajime Hirasawa music is to this game what John Williams was to Star Wars, and goes extremely hard in its remastered high fidelity. The levels look like actual places and the paths into them are plausibly emergent as opposed to an arbitrary artifice for the sake of a video game. By modern standards, the game is way too short--while it has very good replayability due to branching paths and succinct objectives, the game can be beaten wholesale in a few hours and the challenges are mainly for enthusiasts. The multiplayer is a nice diversion I can see a bunch of people keeping up with, though it is relatively limited in scale and may become repetitive. I like that Nintendo went with the lower end of variable pricing here and the price lends itself to an easy win for a largely mismanaged franchise. The biggest weakness of the game is that it effectively adds nothing other than optimization. Nevertheless, I think it is an excellent foundation for what will hopefully turn into a more ambitious and expansive original sequel down the road in the campaign and the multiplayer. There's so much potential for epic boss battles, co-op, and fragile alliances in remote sectors of the galaxy with unforeseen enemies and iniquitous conspiracies. If you were a fan of Star Fox 64, this is a no-brainer. If you're new to Fox through the Super Mario Galaxy Movie, this is easily worth checking out. If you're into rail shooters, this is one of the best (even though it is relatively simple and obviously abbreviated). If you're looking for a fully-featured 2026 experience, this is not even attempting to offer that kind of value. Ultimately, this is a really good sign for future remakes, like Ocarina of Time, though I hope they are a little less conservative with the scope of the latter.

(8.5/10) I had a great time with this game. I think your enjoyment will scale with how long you can put up with its idiosyncrasies: - The fairy voice is incessant and annoying, though I was able to tune it out despite the repetition. - It becomes kind of tiresome working through the same, relatively small area over and over, where the changes to the map over the various periods aren't especially meaningful (or even existent). - The magicite system is undercooked and levelling it up is tedious. While there are unique weapons, there isn't a ton of incentive to swap among them once you find one you like. - The enemy variety is notably lacking. - There is only one town and you'll find yourself ping ponging back and forth frequently just to speak to an NPC alongside slightly inconvenient load times. - As a result of there only being one town, the world feels a little hollow - The game doesn't always give you any indication of where to go and progressing can be like a finding a needle in a haystack at times (though most objectives are explicitly spelled out and geolocated) - The difficulty toggle can range from making no difference to making a fight very cumbersome - Elliot has effectively no personality other than being a serial do-gooder - It doesn't bring a whole lot new to the table, and is essentially modernization of 2D Legend of Zelda games - The areas aren't particularly distinctive or interesting - Some of the shrines are incredibly easy - The fast travel waypoints are not always intuitively situated to make traversal accessible - Caves often don't have easy ways out, so you end up backtracking a lot - Similarly, you can't jump over much so you are frequently circumnavigating things that would be easier vaulted - The only way to heal is buying more potions - The rewards for exploration are often insubstantial All that being said, I love this genre, and anything in the Golden Sun, Dragon Quest, Octopath Traveler, Final Fantasy, Elementallis, Mina the Hollower, Chained Echoes, Sea of Stars, Crosscode, Secret of Mana vicinity goes a long way for me. This is decidedly a Zelda clone, not an RPG, but it evokes the tone of those games, with a smattering of Chrono Trigger time travelling. I tend to gauge my enjoyment of entertainment in terms of how much I want to watch, play, or listen to it (as opposed to the sheer accomplishment or craft of the content), and for me, I haven't really been able to put it down. The game has a lot of heart, the exploration is largely engaging despite its occasional tedium (and wildly uneven rewards), and ultimately I kept wanting to move forward with the narrative even though it's relatively brief and unremarkable unless you go for the 'true ending,' which I recommend inasmuch as it adds a lot of additional story/gameplay value. This was about an 8.5 for me (rounded up since Metacritic only allows for whole numbers). I can see someone who is less passionate about the aesthetic and sub-genre rating it lower (hence the 80 for PS5), but I also think the 79/78 (S2/PC) undersells how much enjoyment you can potentially have here. On the other hand, as I lead with, if you are irritated by the list of inconveniences I mentioned before, you may not even get close to finishing it and think this is a mediocre experience, which is why you see some lower scores. It is unquestionably clumsy in many areas, written rather lazily, and certainly not a fully-realized system of mechanics; the powers are interesting but not well-utilized. And yet despite all that, despite itself, I enjoyed my time with the game a good deal. If you're a fan of the genre you will probably have a good time--if not, Millennium Tales is not a game that is going to break the mold. I hope the game does well enough, selfishly, for a sequel that improves on the myriad flaws and realizes the potential of the game as one that everyone can agree is great rather than one that might be hit or miss accounting for taste and tolerance.