Peppy has given his orders and Nintendo is delivering. A free demo for the new Star Fox - which, let's be real, is yet another remake of the beloved Star Fox 64 - just got confirmed during today's Nintendo Direct stream and is available to download right this very second, according to Eurogamer.
The full game is scheduled to launch on June 25th, so this is Nintendo dropping a playable teaser like an Arwing screaming out of hyperspace directly into your Switch 2. Consider it a 'try before you buy' situation for a game that, let's be honest, many of us have already bought two or three times across different Nintendo platforms.
Star Fox 64... again. And we're kind of okay with it?
Look, nobody is going to pretend this is a shocking new entry in the franchise. Star Fox 64 has been remade, remastered, and re-released more times than Andross has been defeated. But the Switch 2 demo dropping same-day as the announcement is a genuinely slick move - Nintendo basically said 'don't trust us? Go play it right now, coward.'
For the uninitiated (all three of you), Star Fox 64 is the classic on-rails shooter where you pilot Fox McCloud and his squad of anthropomorphic animal mercenaries through increasingly chaotic space combat. It gave the world the 'do a barrel roll' meme, which means it has contributed more to internet culture than most AAA franchises ever will.
Should you download the demo?
If you own a Switch 2 and have even a sliver of nostalgia for the Lylat System, the answer is an obvious yes - it's free, it's available now, and it's the fastest way to figure out whether this remake is worth your credits when the full game launches on June 25th. Nintendo is essentially letting you respawn before you commit to the full run.
Whether this remake justifies its existence beyond 'Nintendo needed a launch window title' remains to be seen - but that's exactly what demos are for. Now go see if Slippy still gets shot down in the first thirty seconds. Spoiler: he absolutely does.
