Games Like Star Fox 64
Quick Answer
The closest games to Star Fox 64 are Sin and Punishment: Star Successor, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Rez Infinite, Star Fox Zero and Rogue Squadron II. Below are 9 picks with the reason for each — what carries over from Star Fox 64, and what does not.
What Made Star Fox 64 Work
Star Fox 64 is a rail shooter with branching paths, a medal system that demands replays, and the best voice barks on the console. A run is under an hour, which is the design. The successors worth playing are on-rails or arcade-length, not open-world space sims.
Star Fox 64 is Nintendo's 1997 Nintendo 64 rail shooter and the first game to ship with the Rumble Pak. Fox McCloud, Falco, Peppy and Slippy fly Arwings across the Lylat system to reach Andross on Venom, and the route changes depending on which objectives you complete, so a single playthrough shows only part of the game. Medals for hit totals on each planet drive replays. Nintendo remade it for the 3DS as Star Fox 64 3D in 2011.
Also written as Starfox 64 — same game, same list.
9 Games Like Star Fox 64
1.Sin and Punishment: Star Successor(2009)
Treasure's rail shooter, and the closest thing to a spiritual sequel.
Why it fits: Treasure's 2009 Wii game, published by Nintendo, is the sequel to the Japan-only Nintendo 64 Sin and Punishment from 2000. It is an on-rails shooter like Star Fox 64, with the Wii Remote pointer used to aim anywhere on screen and scored runs through each stage.
What is different: Much harder, with far more bullets on screen, and you aim freely with a pointer.
Where to play it: Wii (plays on Wii U).
Games like this →2.Panzer Dragoon Orta(2002)
The other great rail shooter, and visually still remarkable.
Why it fits: Smilebit's 2002 Xbox game, published by Sega, continues the Saturn series of dragon-riding rail shooters. You fly a fixed path and lock on to targets across a 360-degree view, and it remains playable on current Xbox consoles through backward compatibility.
What is different: You ride a dragon and can rotate to shoot in any direction; no wingmen and no branching routes.
Where to play it: Xbox; plays on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.
More about this game →3.Rez Infinite(2016)
Rail shooting reduced to rhythm and light.
Why it fits: Rez was made by Tetsuya Mizuguchi's United Game Artists for Dreamcast and PS2 in 2001; Rez Infinite, from Enhance, reissued it in 2016 with VR support and a new free-flight Area X. It is a rail shooter where each lock-on and shot adds to the music.
What is different: Abstract, with no story or characters; it is a music game as much as a shooter.
Where to play it: PS4 and PS5 (with VR support), and PC.
More about this game →4.Star Fox Zero(2016)
The most recent entry, if you can get on with the controls.
Why it fits: Co-developed by Nintendo and PlatinumGames for the Wii U in 2016, it reimagines Star Fox 64's campaign — Corneria, the Lylat planets, Andross — with a cockpit view on the GamePad and new vehicles. It is the most recent full Star Fox game on a home console.
What is different: Split controls across the TV and the GamePad screen, which many people never got comfortable with.
Where to play it: Wii U.
More about this game →5.Rogue Squadron II(2001)
Arcade-length space missions with the same replay-for-medals structure.
Why it fits: Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader was made by Factor 5 as a GameCube launch game in 2001. Its missions recreate film battles, including the Death Star trench run, and bronze, silver and gold medals for accuracy, time and survivors work like Star Fox 64's medal system.
What is different: Free-roaming Star Wars missions, not rails, and no branching path.
Where to play it: GameCube.
More about this game →6.Everspace 2(2023)
If the dogfighting was the appeal and you want it open.
Why it fits: Rockfish Games' space shooter reached full release on PC in 2023 and on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S later that year. It keeps the fast arcade dogfighting of Star Fox but sets it in open star systems with loot, missions and ship upgrades.
What is different: An open looter-shooter in space; long, with loot and crafting, and no rails.
Where to play it: PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
More about this game →7.Kid Icarus: Uprising(2012)
Rail shooting on foot and in the air, with the same chatty tone.
Why it fits: Project Sora's 2012 Nintendo 3DS game, directed by Masahiro Sakurai, opens each chapter with an on-rails flight section and runs constant spoken banter between Pit, Palutena and the villains — the closest thing on a Nintendo system to Star Fox 64's radio chatter.
What is different: Half the game is on foot, and the handheld controls are notoriously uncomfortable.
Where to play it: 3DS.
More about this game →8.F-Zero(1990)
Same era, same short-run arcade structure, same Nintendo speed.
Why it fits: Nintendo's 1990 Super NES launch game used Mode 7 scaling for its tracks and was followed by F-Zero X on the N64 in 1998. It shares Star Fox 64's Nintendo arcade structure of short, repeatable runs where a clean run is the goal.
What is different: A racer, not a shooter.
Where to play it: SNES; Nintendo Switch Online.
Games like this →9.Star Fox(1993)
The 1993 original: the same team, the same Corneria-to-Venom route, in polygons made possible by the Super FX chip.
Why it fits: Nintendo with Argonaut Software, Super NES, 1993. Star Fox 64 is a reimagining of this game, and the branching route map, Fox's team and Andross all start here.
What is different: Short and blocky by today's standards, and the Super FX chip's frame rate shows; play it for history rather than polish.
Where to play it: SNES; Nintendo Switch Online.
More about this game →
Where to Start
If you want the rail-shooter feel on a modern system, Sin and Punishment: Star Successor is the best of the Nintendo-adjacent options and Rez Infinite is the most beautiful. The SNES Star Fox, on Nintendo Switch Online, is where the route map and the team began.
How We Picked These Games
Picks had to deliver a short, replayable run built on flying and shooting — ideally on rails, with scoring or route choices that reward replaying. We allowed a few freer flight games where the mission length and medal-chasing match, and one racer, F-Zero, for players who came to Star Fox for Nintendo's 1990s arcade speed rather than the shooting.
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Games Like Star Fox 64 Compared
Year is each game's first release anywhere, on the platform in the next column. "Play it now" is where it can be bought or played today.
| Game | Year | First released on | Play it now | Closest to Star Fox 64 in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sin and Punishment: Star Successor | 2009 | Wii | Wii (plays on Wii U). | On-rails shooting and scored runs |
| Panzer Dragoon Orta | 2002 | Xbox | Xbox; plays on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. | Rail shooting with lock-on across 360 degrees |
| Rez Infinite | 2016 | PS4 | PS4 and PS5 (with VR support), and PC. | Lock-on rail shooter (Rez itself: 2001) |
| Star Fox Zero | 2016 | Wii U | Wii U. | Star Fox 64's campaign reimagined |
| Rogue Squadron II | 2001 | GameCube | GameCube. | Medals per mission, like Star Fox's |
| Everspace 2 | 2023 | PC | PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. | All-range-mode dogfighting, expanded |
| Kid Icarus: Uprising | 2012 | Nintendo 3DS | 3DS. | On-rails flight and constant radio banter |
| F-Zero | 1990 | Super NES | SNES; Nintendo Switch Online. | Nintendo arcade structure, short repeatable runs |
| Star Fox | 1993 | Super NES | SNES; Nintendo Switch Online. | The original Lylat route |
Which One to Play, by What You Liked
If you liked Star Fox 64 for the branching routes and medals, try Rogue Squadron II and Star Fox Zero. Rogue Squadron's bronze, silver and gold targets work like Star Fox medals; Zero replays the same planets with new routes.
If you liked Star Fox 64 for pure rail-shooter rush, try Sin and Punishment: Star Successor, Panzer Dragoon Orta and Rez Infinite. Three of the best on-rails shooters ever made, each a different take on aiming while the game flies for you.
If you liked Star Fox 64 for Slippy, Peppy and Falco on the radio, try Kid Icarus: Uprising. Nothing else has as much in-flight chatter, and it is written to be funny.
If you liked Star Fox 64 for all-range-mode dogfights, try Everspace 2. Free-flying space combat with arcade handling, if the open arenas were your favourite part.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Related Lists
- Games like F-Zero — Nintendo's two speed showcases, both built on short runs you replay for a cleaner line.
- Games like Crimson Skies — Arcade flying with wingmen on the radio and missions with set goals.
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