Star Fox‘s original creator says the characters’ design in the newly-announced game is “exactly what [he] had in mind” when he was making the Nintendo 64 version.
Last week, Nintendo announced a remake of the 90s classic, with much more realistic character models for our four heroes Fox McCloud, Falco Lombardi, Slippy Toad and Peppy Hare. However, some were put off by the upcoming game’s visuals, and even Star Fox’s original creator Takaya Imamura said he preferred the recent Super Mario Galaxy Movie’s design of Fox McCloud to the newly-announced game’s.
The former Nintendo game designer has now made further comments about the upcoming Star Fox 64 remake – known simply as Star Fox – on his X account, affirming he is a fan of the new-look character designs. In fact, the new game “exactly” what he had in mind when he was creating the original, and he “absolutely [loves] the incredibly realistic character designs” it has (translated by DeepL).
As for why he still prefers Fox McCloud’s design in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie though, well, “Fox in the film is just too cute”, he said. In an additional post, Imamura praised the expression on Fox’s face when he meets Mario in the film, calling it “just brilliant”.
“The way he seems hostile for a split second but then they immediately show understanding for one another is brilliant,” Imamura enthused. When then further questioned about the new game’s decision to give its characters “real feet as opposed to the past cybernetic leg designs”, Imamura said he admires “the designers’ spirit of adventure”, and that he believes “this is an expression they arrived at after thoroughly researching and reflecting” on the Star Fox series as a whole.
At the end of the day, though, “no matter what style or arrangement they take on, the moment these four come together, they’re instantly recognised as Star Fox,” Imamura said. “It really makes me reflect once again on the incredible power of symbolism in character design…” He did not elaborate further.
Star Fox is set to release later this year, on 25th June. The game will include new cutscenes in the form of pre-mission briefings to give us more context about the characters and the world, as well as a multiplayer element and more.
We first got wind that a new Star Fox game was in the works when its existence was leaked in March. At this time, it was also reported that Nintendo was also developing a Switch 2 Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake, which is said to be planned for some time around the festive season.
