Original Star Fox Developer Has Hope For Series Revival

One of the developers behind the original Star Fox game which released for Super Nintendo believes that the series will soon make a comeback in some capacity. At this point in time, Nintendo hasn't done anything new with the Star Fox franchise since 2016 when it let loose Star Fox Zero on Wii U. Following the middling response to that entry, Star Fox has since essentially been placed on ice, with Nintendo choosing not to do anything with one of its most popular properties. Although it remains to be seen if this changes at any point in the future, one dev with close ties to Star Fox thinks it won't be long before Nintendo creates a new installment. 

In a new conversation with VGC, Star Fox programmer Dylan Cuthbert expressed optimism about a return for the franchise. Cuthbert said that since the release of the first Star Fox game, Nintendo has continued to experiment with the series but, in his opinion, has never been able to match up to what was seen in the original. Despite this, Cuthbert says that it hasn't prevented Nintendo from continuing to try new things, which is why he believes that Star Fox will come back at some point. 

"Oh, I'm sure [it'll return]. I mean, they keep trying, don't they? They keep trying, not quite achieving the original," Cuthbert said. "But I think that's one thing – my opinion is that the original was born out of the UK Amiga-style 3D at the time, games like Star Glider or Carrier Command. It was born out of those and a bit of the Star Wars Arcade game, combined with Namco's Starblade. And then there was all the Nintendo character building, all the characters and stuff, making it very family friendly. [...] It's the combination of all those things that I suppose was what made Star Fox what it was."

Speaking more about what past Star Fox titles have gotten wrong, Cuthbert noted that despite being "great games," they haven't been able to nail every element that was found in the original entry. Still, Cuthbert also added that "Star Fox is a very complex title" which is perhaps why some of the latest games in the series have failed to meet expectations. Whether or not Nintendo can give Star Fox fans what they want in the future remains to be seen, but we'll surely see the property re-emerge one day. 

Star Fox Games on Nintendo Switch

Even though there hasn't been a wholly new Star Fox game that has come to Nintendo Switch, there still are a number of older entries in the series that are playable on the hardware. Specifically, Nintendo has made Star Fox, Star Fox 2, and Star Fox 64 all accessible via various tiers of Nintendo Switch Online. In the past, some fans have also called for Star Fox Zero to be ported from Wii U to Nintendo Switch. However, given that the Switch's life cycle seems to be winding down, this is beginning to look quite unlikely.