Star Fox Adds 4-Player Split-Screen This Month, and Star Fox Adventures Joins Nintendo Classics

The headline is multiplayer. The update adds a four-player split-screen Battle Mode, and Nintendo says the whole group can take that split-screen session online rather than being limited to one couch. It also brings three new Battle Mode stages: Katina, Sector X, and Venom, names longtime fans will recognize from across the series. All of it is free for owners of the game.

Separately, Star Fox Adventures, the 2002 GameCube action-adventure originally made by Rare, is coming to the GameCube - Nintendo Classics library for Nintendo Switch Online plus Expansion Pack members. It is one of the more unusual entries in the series, closer to an action-adventure than a rail shooter, and its return gives subscribers a way to revisit it without tracking down old hardware.

A free multiplayer expansion is a straightforward win for anyone already playing the new Star Fox, and online four-player split-screen is a genuinely social addition rather than a token one. Pairing it with the Adventures re-release is a smart bit of anniversary-season goodwill. We have not tested the new Battle Mode online, so how well four-player split-screen holds up over the internet is the open question. The date, September 29, and the free price are confirmed.