Grab your goggles, leg it to the airfield and strap yourself in for the best flight combat games on Nintendo Switch. Don't worry, we'll be back home in time for tea and medals. Tally bally-ho!
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Known as Lylat Wars in Europe, Star Fox 64 originally came in a whopping great box containing a Rumble Pak and was many a gamer's introduction to force feedback on console. It paired beautifully with the cinematic battles and derring-do of Fox McCloud and his team's cinematic dogfighting in this on-rails shooter. It's still an excellent game all these years later, with thrilling action, delicate and precise controls, stirring music, humour, spectacle, and edge-of-your-seat excitement. Sure, it's got a surplus of Slippy Toad, but you can't have everything.
You'll need the higher-tier Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack subscription for this one, but a quick blast through this and it's clear to see why so many people think the Star Fox series peaked with its first sequel. It's not just the nostalgia talking — it really holds up beautifully decades later. (And there's always the 16-bit original to enjoy for Mode 7 fans.)
While it lacks any storyline and the randomised nature of the missions may strike some as lazy, arcade-style dogfighter Sky Rogue has plenty of gameplay where it counts. The jet combat action is superb, aided by excellent controls, a wide range of weapons, and plenty of stuff to unlock. The 12-stage campaign mode will keep you coming back for quite some time – thanks largely to the unique roguelike approach where death means losing everything, but the experience gained means a better chance of success next time around – and the ability to rope in a friend in co-op adds even more longevity. Granted, when you do eventually complete the game there's not a great deal to bring you back, but it will take quite some time and effort to reach that point – and you'll have had such a blast you won't feel short-changed.
Despite that glaring lack of online multiplayer — and a slightly awkward off-screen targeting system — Skies Of Fury DX brings a slice of fun, fast, and furious dogfighting to Switch. Whether you’re playing on your own through its 100 campaign missions or shooting your friend’s biplane to smithereens in local multiplayer, it’s one addition to Switch’s digital library of plane-based battlers.
Manticore: Galaxy on Fire is an outstanding example of mobile-to-Switch done right. A gorgeous looking, content-heavy slice of space shooting action with a deep plot, set in a lore-filled universe that has matured over years since the Galaxy on Fire series premiered in the mobile market. It has niche appeal, but if this itches your trigger finger, jump right in and be prepared for some great space antics ahead, hunting down alien criminals we're fairly sure were named when the developer’s cat ran over their keyboards. See you, space cowboys.
With its exclusive use of some substantial Star Fox content that gets you in the cockpit of an Arwing on Switch, you’re getting the best version of Starlink: Battle for Atlas on Nintendo's console. And with a more accessible and ultimately enjoyable version of No Man’s Sky's gameplay mechanics and Mass Effect’s original vision, you’re getting one of the best dogfighting/space exploration games you can buy outside of Elite: Dangerous. Its gameplay loop does run out of steam after a while thanks to the required grind, but with a surprisingly ungreedy approach to content access and toys-to-life integration, Starlink makes you think there might be some life in the genre yet. What's more, you can pick it up for a pittance now — it's certainly worth investigation.
While we're on the subject, Star Fox 2 was previously exclusive to the Super Nintendo Classic Mini console but is now also part of the SNES catalogue available to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. This game was fully developed for the Super Nintendo but shelved at the last minute when Nintendo saw the writing on the wall for 16-bit 3D graphics.
The original game is a classic, and its use of the Super FX chip resulted in an experience that felt awe-inspiring to anybody who witnessed it on their SNES back in 1993. Its unreleased sequel is a fascinating curio and fans of the series will enjoy seeing the ideas that began here and eventually saw the light of day in other games. This includes sections where you're able to move freely in every direction as you would in the 'All-Range mode' in later games.
If you're not one to forgive frame rates in the single digits, you may want to look elsewhere. However, having this museum piece in your hands is an utter treat and anyone with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription and an interest in space combat should set aside a couple of hours for Star Fox 2.
Despite its unyielding nature and curiously juxtaposing approach to its characters, Bomber Crew is a sometimes thrilling and constantly rewarding title. It's a half-flight/half-management sim title, so be prepared for more than just dogfighting. Favouring roguelite progression, strategy, and resource management over frantic arcade-style combat, if you can get past the simple, cute visuals and steep learning curve you’ll find a rich, intense, and satisfying experience here.
Space Crew, Runner Duck Games' space-based follow-up, is also pretty good.
While reminding us just how much we’d love to see FTL on Switch, Everspace manages to carve out an impressive identity for itself as you warp between sectors steadily increasing your arsenal and skill level. With gratifying space combat, an addictive roguelite core loop, and even some light, entertaining writing along the way, it performs admirably – though not flawlessly – on Nintendno's console. We had a hell of a time with it and this port does a cracking job of preserving the full experience on a handheld.
No Man's Sky on Switch is a fantastic port of a game we genuinely didn't believe could make the transition to Nintendo's console without some serious technical issues. Hello Games has made the necessary cutbacks and downgrades to get this intergalactic survival sandbox playing at a super solid frame rate and the colourful, chunky graphical style here ensures that it all still looks pretty fantastic to boot. With all of the game's previous updates and content included — barring multiplayer at this point — and a plethora of customisation options courtesy of the massive Waypoint update, this is an easy recommendation for survival fans and an impressive Switch port.
An action-packed arcade title with a greater focus on offensive play than the likes of After Burner. G-LOC's first-ever home release is a welcome one. It's got a couple of frustrating stages and, as is the case with most arcade games, it has longevity issues, but as long as you don't mind playing the same short series of stages over and over again to edge yourself up the online rankings, it's a good way to pass 10 minutes at a time and a classic dose of old school fighter jet action on Switch.
Another entry from the Nintendo Switch Online N64 catalogue available to Expansion Pack subscribers, Pilotwings 64 was a brilliant launch title for the system which showcased its features and provided players with a lovely flight sim adventure — something worthy of playing alongside the mighty Super Mario 64. It proved to be a diverting companion piece for early adopters which built on the Super NES original with gameplay equal parts tense and relaxing.
Alternatively, that SNES original is also on NSO. Balancing accessibility and skill-based gameplay in that time-honoured Nintendo way, it's a great title to return to on Switch, especially given the series' lack of new entries of late.
Rebel Galaxy Outlaw is a wonderfully well-realised and stylish slice of space-sim action set in a satisfyingly seedy galaxy full of untrustworthy scum and illegal activity. The dogfighting action here is wonderfully tight and engaging thanks to the game's clever auto-pursuit mechanic, resulting in explosive ship-to-ship combat that allows you to get up close and personal, tracking your prey without much of the laborious fuss of other efforts in the genre. Juno Markev may not be the most exciting of protagonists and the story doesn't really come to much in the end, but there's a ton of side missions and a dynamic economy and morality system to keep you busy as you slowly unravel the mystery behind who killed her husband and left her for dead. Overall, this one's an easy recommendation for space-sim fans, dogfighting fiends, and anyone else looking to indulge their inner space rebel.
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is the absolute pinnacle of the series and despite coming to Switch over five years after other platforms, this 'impossible' Switch conversion does very little to degrade the experience. Long-time franchise players and military aviation enthusiasts will be overwhelmed by the fan service at every turn, from craters on the ground to airplanes, liveries, callsigns, and emblems shouting out to previous entries. We understand the genre is uniquely niche, but if this is your first foray into the franchise, this conversion is a perfect gateway into this rich, revered series. You get tons of content and an epic single-player campaign wrapped up in triple-A presentation that delivers the most comprehensive portable experience ever from Project Aces.
