Star Fox’s original artist reckons Fox McCloud’s design is better in The Super Mario Galaxy movie than it is in the Switch 2 game

The original designer of Star Fox has publicly expressed a preference for the character’s appearance in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie over the newly-revealed Switch 2 game design.

Takaya Imamura, who designed the Star Fox cast in the early 1990s and served as art director on Star Fox 64, left Nintendo in 2021 after a 32-year tenure. Despite his departure, Imamura remains an enthusiastic supporter of the franchise he helped create.

In comments shared on social media, Imamura stated that he prefers Fox McCloud’s design in the recent Super Mario Galaxy film, which features a “cute-ish Nintendo vibe” aesthetic. The new Switch 2 game, by contrast, appears to be adopting a more realistic visual direction. Imamura jokingly suggested that this divergence is “what happens when I’m not overseeing it.”

The distinction marks an interesting moment in the Star Fox franchise’s evolution. This new game represents the character’s first entirely new adventure since Star Fox Zero, making it a significant release for the series. Imamura’s original character designs proved influential—he also created other iconic Nintendo characters including Captain Falcon and The Legend of Zelda’s Tingle, and reportedly used Shigeru Miyamoto as inspiration when designing Fox McCloud himself.

Imamura’s comments reflect broader fan reception, with viewers of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie generally praising its character designs while the Switch 2 game’s more realistic approach has generated mixed responses. The observation from the franchise’s original designer adds another perspective to ongoing discussions about how classic Nintendo characters should be visually represented across different media.

Star Fox’s original artist reckons Fox McCloud’s design is better in The Super Mario Galaxy movie than it is in the Switch 2 game

Sources