While many major Nintendo franchises and consoles celebrate big anniversaries this year, one franchise that has quietly fallen by the wayside is StarFox. Launched in 1993 on the Super Nintendo, StarFox takes place in the faraway Lylat System as anthropomorphic animals combat the villainous Andross and other threats to the futuristic prosperity they have developed. With gameplay normally sticking with a vehicle-based, rail shooter approach, the StarFox team of hotshot mercenary pilots fight to keep their home planet of Corneria and its interests around the star system safe.
Here is a comprehensive ranking of all the titles in the StarFox franchise to date, based on critical aggregate scores. Games that have not received enough of a critical consensus have been included, but without an official ranking.
StarFox 2: N/A
One of the more widely-known shelved games that Nintendo tabled even after development was mostly completed was StarFox 2 for the SNES. While most of StarFox 2 was ready for its planned 1995 launch, Nintendo reportedly was concerned that the game's 16-bit graphics couldn't compete with 32-bit graphics of the Sega Saturn and PlayStation. StarFox 2 was quietly canceled as Nintendo focused its efforts on developing titles for the Nintendo 64.
Though pirated versions of the unpolished game leaked online years later, Star Fox 2 remained functional, though incomplete. The game was eventually completed and included as an unlockable title on the Super Nintendo Classic's library in 2017 and Nintendo Switch Online in 2019, marking its official release over 20 years after its planned launch. While a critical consensus was not achieved, most viewed the game favorable for seeming to push the SNES as far as it could go, though also providing an uneven gameplay experience.
StarFox: Assault: 67/100
After StarFox Adventures was criticized for straying too far from the franchise's roots, the 2005 follow-up StarFox Assault for GameCube was something of a return to form for the series. Putting the vehicle-based combat gameplay front and center once again, the game dealt with the StarFox Team facing the monstrous Aparoids invading the Lylat System.
However, while StarFox Assault received a largely positive reception among critics, reviewers felt its multiplayer mode added little to the overall experience, and noted the ground-based combat sequences in the main game were uneven. Additional criticism was levied at the main campaign being completely linear whereas previous StarFox titles allowed players to select between different paths to encourage replayability.
StarFox Zero: 69/100
After a decade-long hiatus, StarFox returned in 2016 with StarFox Zero for the Wii U, providing fans with a reboot to the entire franchise as the villainous Andross and rival squadron the StarWolf team menaced the Lylat System. Boasting an impressive arsenal of vehicles, Wolf McCloud leads the StarFox team into daring battles across the cosmos.
Envisioned as a title that would reinvigorate the franchise AND take advantage of the Wii U's signature touchpad functionality, StarFox Zero received a fairly muted response upon its launch. Criticism was leveled at the game's controls and the franchise seemingly relying too heavily on old, formulaic tricks. However, the overall level design and return of branching paths absent in Assault were praised.
StarFox Guard: 74/100
Perhaps the most offbeat installment in the franchise is 2016's StarFox Guard for Wii U. Originally bundled as a separate disc with new copies of StarFox Zero before a subsequent digital release, StarFox Guard eschews the standard vehicle-based, rail shooter gameplay the franchise is known. Instead, StarFox Guard is a tower defense game where Slippy and his uncle Grippy defend bases from attacking robots.
While critics felt StarFox Guard was a sharp departure for the franchise, it was also widely acknowledged as a spinoff included to help promote the new StarFox Zero. The game was praised for trying something new with the franchise, though its technical presentation was criticized for coming off as uninspired at times.
StarFox Command: 76/100
StarFox's debut on a handheld console was in 2006's StarFox Command for the Nintendo DS as the high-flying mercenaries defended the Lylat System from a new, antagonistic alien race rising from Venom's ocean's known as the Anglar. Command saw changes to the cast, with Krystal joining Fox's squadron after the events of StarFox Adventures while entirely new characters would surface.
Whereas StarFox Assault was praised for being too linear, StarFox Command was lauded for presenting players with even more gameplay choices and branching paths than ever before, resulting in a myriad of resulting endings based on players' choices. The utilization of the DS' touchscreen hardware was praised, while the game's overall length was criticized as being too short.
StarFox 64 3D: 81/100
With StarFox 64 considered by many to be the high point of the franchise, Nintendo opted to craft an enhanced remake of the game for the Nintendo 3DS, alongside a 3D remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, with both games released separately during the summer of 2011.
Critics praised StarFox 64's transition to the 3DS, with particular acclaim focused on the significantly upgraded technical presentation and the game taking advantage of the 3DS hardware. There was some criticism towards the omission of an online multiplayer mode and little by way of new content which Ocarina of Time 3D possessed.
StarFox Adventures: 82/100
2002's StarFox Adventures for GameCube had a particularly storied development history, originally planned as a completely separate, standalone title before producer Shigeru Miyamoto convinced developer Rare to make it a StarFox game. This would ultimately become the final game Rare developed for Nintendo before being acquired by Microsoft and serve as a complete departure for the franchise, with limited rail shooter segments.
The overall technical presentation of StarFox Adventures was widely praised, with lush visuals and detailed environments. The third-person, exploration-based gameplay was similarly lauded, though reviewers felt StarFox Adventures was perhaps too much of a departure for the franchise, eschewing the vehicle-based gameplay that the series made it so endearing to fans in the first place.
StarFox 64: 88/100
If the original StarFox showcased just what the Super Nintendo hardware was capable of in 1993, 1997's StarFox 64 for the Nintendo 64 showcased how far home console gaming had progressed in the intervening four years. A loose reimagining and expansion of the original story, Fox McCloud and his team are hired by General Pepper to save Corneria from the forces of Andross.
The bestselling game in the franchise to date, StarFox 64 was widely hailed as one of the best games of the N64 era, featuring improved gameplay, lush level design and more variety in level progression to encourage replayability. The game was also one of the first major titles for the console that boasted Rumble Pak implementation, with force feedback on controllers becoming an industry norm soon thereafter.
StarFox: 88/100
Nearly 30 years since launching the franchise on the SNES, the original StarFox remains the most critically-acclaimed game in the entire series. The game was Nintendo's first to utilize the Super FX chip, a graphics accelerator designed by Argonaut Games to help the SNES facilitate 3D graphics, with the overall game itself designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Katsuya Eguchi.
Critics lauded the then-revolutionary 3D graphics at the time, pushing the SNES' technical capabilities and helping Nintendo keep its edge in the industry. While its difficulty was recognized, especially on alternate routes within the game, StarFox was hailed as a groundbreaking title in the industry and one that would help influence where developers would go next as 3D graphics rapidly became the next frontier for home console gaming.