Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
The brand new Star Fox game is finally out for the highly anticipated Nintendo Switch 2, and I have been spending some time playing through it! If you are a long-time fan of the franchise, you will definitely feel right at home. It delivers that classic, familiar space shooter gameplay experience we have played and loved over the years. However, diving into this new installment really got me thinking about Nintendo's current approach to amiibo figures.
Back in the absolute glory days of the Nintendo Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS eras, amiibo were basically everywhere. Nintendo promoted them heavily, integrated them deeply into almost every major first-party release, and constantly released brand new waves of highly detailed figures for fans to collect. In recent years, though, it feels like Nintendo has not done nearly as much with the brand. The widespread marketing has died down, and the actual in-game integration for modern titles feels much more like an afterthought compared to previous console generations.
Since I have a pretty solid retro amiibo collection sitting on my shelf, I pulled out my classic Star Fox and Falco Lombardi figures. These are the older Super Smash Bros. series amiibo that came out many years ago—I think they originally released around 2017, 2018, or 2019. I wanted to see exactly what they do in this brand new title. So, let's test these physical figures out and see what functionality Nintendo included for this highly anticipated Switch 2 release!
First up, I scanned the classic Fox McCloud amiibo. When you tap it, a notification instantly pops up saying it unlocked "new battle banner backgrounds available" and "new battle banner emblems available." It essentially gives you some multiplayer profile cosmetics, and the game clearly shows that this is the specific character we utilized. Next, let's see what happens when we scan the Falco amiibo. Unsurprisingly, we get a very similar result on screen: "new battle banner backgrounds available" and "new battle banner emblems available." It is a nice little cosmetic touch, but not exactly game-changing.
Just for giggles, to test the limits of the game's NFC support, I grabbed my Japanese Famicom R.O.B. amiibo to see if it does anything special. Upon scanning R.O.B., the game gave me an "Unsupported amiibo" error message, stating that only the Fox, Falco, and Wolf amiibo figures are supported in this new Star Fox game. It is definitely good to know the limitations, but it is a little bit of a letdown.
This brings me to my biggest complaint: Nintendo did not release any brand new amiibo alongside this new Star Fox game! I would have absolutely loved to see beautifully updated, highly detailed Switch 2 era versions of Fox and Falco. More importantly, it feels like a massive missed opportunity to not finally give us official amiibo figures for Slippy Toad and Peppy Hare to complete the iconic team!
This situation highlights exactly why I love collecting amiibo so much. I do not really like buying digital DLC because it goes away, you cannot physically touch it, and it feels fleeting. If you give me a physical amiibo, at least I have an amazing display piece for my gaming setup. Even if I am not currently playing the game, I can look over and go, "Hey, that is pretty cool. I've got Falco, Fox McCloud, and a Japanese Famicom R.O.B. on my shelf." These figures give me something tangible and permanent, holding way more value than DLC.
I would love to hear from all of you! Let me know down in the comments below: have you tried scanning any of the three officially supported amiibo (Falco, Fox, or Wolf) into the new Star Fox game on your Nintendo Switch 2? What do you think of the in-game rewards that they unlock? For me, just getting some profile battle banners and cosmetic emblems is... well, it is something, I guess. It is better than absolutely nothing, but I definitely miss the days of substantial Amiibo unlocks!
#StarFox #NintendoSwitch2 #Amiibo #FoxMcCloud #FalcoLombardi #WolfODonnell #RetroGaming #Nintendo #Switch2Gaming #SmashBros #VideoGameCollection #GamerLife #NintendoAmiibo #GamingCommunity
The brand new Star Fox game is finally out for the highly anticipated Nintendo Switch 2, and I have been spending some time playing through it! If you are a long-time fan of the franchise, you will definitely feel right at home. It delivers that classic, familiar space shooter gameplay experience we have played and loved over the years. However, diving into this new installment really got me thinking about Nintendo's current approach to amiibo figures.
Back in the absolute glory days of the Nintendo Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS eras, amiibo were basically everywhere. Nintendo promoted them heavily, integrated them deeply into almost every major first-party release, and constantly released brand new waves of highly detailed figures for fans to collect. In recent years, though, it feels like Nintendo has not done nearly as much with the brand. The widespread marketing has died down, and the actual in-game integration for modern titles feels much more like an afterthought compared to previous console generations.
Since I have a pretty solid retro amiibo collection sitting on my shelf, I pulled out my classic Star Fox and Falco Lombardi figures. These are the older Super Smash Bros. series amiibo that came out many years ago—I think they originally released around 2017, 2018, or 2019. I wanted to see exactly what they do in this brand new title. So, let's test these physical figures out and see what functionality Nintendo included for this highly anticipated Switch 2 release!
First up, I scanned the classic Fox McCloud amiibo. When you tap it, a notification instantly pops up saying it unlocked "new battle banner backgrounds available" and "new battle banner emblems available." It essentially gives you some multiplayer profile cosmetics, and the game clearly shows that this is the specific character we utilized. Next, let's see what happens when we scan the Falco amiibo. Unsurprisingly, we get a very similar result on screen: "new battle banner backgrounds available" and "new battle banner emblems available." It is a nice little cosmetic touch, but not exactly game-changing.
Just for giggles, to test the limits of the game's NFC support, I grabbed my Japanese Famicom R.O.B. amiibo to see if it does anything special. Upon scanning R.O.B., the game gave me an "Unsupported amiibo" error message, stating that only the Fox, Falco, and Wolf amiibo figures are supported in this new Star Fox game. It is definitely good to know the limitations, but it is a little bit of a letdown.
This brings me to my biggest complaint: Nintendo did not release any brand new amiibo alongside this new Star Fox game! I would have absolutely loved to see beautifully updated, highly detailed Switch 2 era versions of Fox and Falco. More importantly, it feels like a massive missed opportunity to not finally give us official amiibo figures for Slippy Toad and Peppy Hare to complete the iconic team!
This situation highlights exactly why I love collecting amiibo so much. I do not really like buying digital DLC because it goes away, you cannot physically touch it, and it feels fleeting. If you give me a physical amiibo, at least I have an amazing display piece for my gaming setup. Even if I am not currently playing the game, I can look over and go, "Hey, that is pretty cool. I've got Falco, Fox McCloud, and a Japanese Famicom R.O.B. on my shelf." These figures give me something tangible and permanent, holding way more value than DLC.
I would love to hear from all of you! Let me know down in the comments below: have you tried scanning any of the three officially supported amiibo (Falco, Fox, or Wolf) into the new Star Fox game on your Nintendo Switch 2? What do you think of the in-game rewards that they unlock? For me, just getting some profile battle banners and cosmetic emblems is... well, it is something, I guess. It is better than absolutely nothing, but I definitely miss the days of substantial Amiibo unlocks!
#StarFox #NintendoSwitch2 #Amiibo #FoxMcCloud #FalcoLombardi #WolfODonnell #RetroGaming #Nintendo #Switch2Gaming #SmashBros #VideoGameCollection #GamerLife #NintendoAmiibo #GamingCommunity
