When Fox and crew aren’t ready to soar the skies, Wild Blue Skies is ready to take on the mission. Announced in 2025, Chuhai Labs and Humble Games revealed this Star Fox successor with an impressive animated trailer. Part of the Steam Next Fest, I played through the short demo and can’t wait to join the Blue Bombers on their new adventure.
What is Wild Blue Skies
A new generation of Blue Bombers, led by Bowie Stray, is tasked with defeating Grimclaw and his army. They accomplish this through flying awesome spaceships in on-rails levels with branching paths and baddies to shoot down.
The game does not hide its Star Fox inspirations, proudly wearing them on their sleeve. And as a fan of Star Fox 64 and other titles in the series, it felt like coming home seeing Bowie and his team act like the misfit family Fox and his crew were.
But the game stands on its own, with a decidedly more anime visual style. It’s hard to see the full character and nuances of Bowey and his crew, but the demo left a strong first impression, leaving me wanting more.
Familiar Assaults – Gameplay
Wild Blue Skies plays similarly to Star Fox 64. Bowey has normal laser fire (X), charged blasts (A), and powerful bombs (B). In addition, he can tilt his ship by holding the left or right bumper, and even deflect incoming shots by doing a barrel roll (double-tapping either bumper).
Breaking and boosting are also mapped to the triggers, rounding out a strong modernized control scheme. Nailing my shots, boosting through incoming dangers, and fighting the demo’s end-boss felt great.
The best way to describe the gameplay of Wild Blue Skies is everything I loved about the best Star Fox games, but with modernized controls and that same arcade fun they offered. I look forward to seeing if the full experience expands the core Star Fox formula.
Looking Sharp – Presentation
Visually, the game is very impressive. Right away, it leaves a powerful first impression with a beautifully animated intro, and once in-game, the voice acting for Bowey and his friends sounds great. They are well-acted and are delightfully cheesy when the writing calls for it.
The music stood out, evoking memories of the best Star Fox music on the N64 and GameCube. Overall, the presentation for Wild Blue Skies is impressive, and I can’t wait to see other locations the game has Bowey and crew fly through.
Closing Thoughts
Wild Blue Skies is one of those dream games. It’s been decades since Nintendo offered fans a new Star Fox adventure, with the closest being the lackluster Star Fox Zero and Ubisoft’s valiant efforts with the Switch version of Starlink.
As a fan of this genre, Wild Blue Skies is a title to keep an eye on.
