Star Fox 64 Remake on Switch 2 Nails the Rumble Pak Nostalgia
I’ve been having a blast with Star Fox, the new remake of Star Fox 64—which itself was a remake of the original Star Fox. It’s a full loop, and it’s hitting the exact kind of nerve I wanted on the Switch 2. This isn’t necessarily the most “deep” game, but it feels like the developers took the Star Fox 64 I had imagined when I was a kid and actually built it. You can disagree, but that’s not really the point of this piece. I want to focus on the Rumble Pak that came with Star Fox 64—the best idea humanity ever came up with.
Before you jump in with a “well, actually,” I know the Rumble Pak on the Nintendo 64 wasn’t the first time games tried force feedback. Some arcade cabinets had versions of it decades earlier. There were also strange consumer gadgets that tried to translate “vibration” into a more physical experience—like the Aura Interactor, a bulky vest that was meant to turn bass into little pulses. I owned one, and I can’t overstate how poorly it worked. Sure, it vibrated, but it felt more like wearing a heavy, extremely low-power Bluetooth speaker on your chest. It was bad enough that I spent my own childhood money on it, so yes—I’m speaking from firsthand experience.
You don’t need to keep wondering whether Star Fox required another remake. This version is nearly perfect, and it’s for good reason: it’s an exceptional take on one of Nintendo’s strongest games.
Still, let’s talk about the Rumble Pak. It looked ridiculous. It sounded ridiculous. It was a big, chunky, battery-powered device that plugged into your controller. Not only did it add weight, it also occupied the slot we assumed would be reserved for the memory card (sorry, Controller Pak). Star Fox 64 shipped with it, and the box leaned hard into the promise—using a bold, aggressively 1990s “THIS AIN’T YOUR DAD’S GAME” style that felt cool to me when I was a pre-teen. I even considered skipping it because it seemed awkward and kind of embarrassing for these newer consoles aimed at grown-ups. I’m really glad I didn’t.
Using the Rumble Pak in Star Fox 64 for the first time felt like discovering a new color. It pulled me in immediately. I could feel every big explosion and even every messed-up barrel roll. For the first time, I could truly picture myself in the Arwing—flying a spaceship that responded to my movements. Sure, it might’ve been a simple trick, and sure, modern haptics make it look quaint in comparison. But at the time, it was exactly what “next-gen” meant to me. Better visuals, yes. But also new tech that immersed you in what you were doing. If I wasn’t going to get virtual reality for another twenty years, then at least I could feel the flight experience right in my hands, like I was holding the actual stick.
That might be the real reason it stuck. It wasn’t just a visual medium anymore—it gained a physical, tactile layer. My button and stick inputs became actions on-screen, and then—finally, and surprisingly—those on-screen actions fed back into the controller. Suddenly, a world with cartoon animals flying space ships felt more real because the game’s consequences were physically present. Sure, bright flashes and a health meter were helpful for understanding damage, but nothing explained danger like the sensation of an incoming enemy barrage or the sharp thump of hitting a wall. I wasn’t just watching the ship suffer. I was the one flying it, so I had to live with what happened. That was a pretty silly way to think for a twelve-year-old, but I loved it anyway.
It’s also funny how haptics and force feedback weren’t guaranteed features across the industry. A lot of games still don’t use them, especially on setups that rely on keyboard and mouse. It’s not required for a great experience, and it’s definitely not the only factor that decides whether a game lands. But take the era that came right after the Rumble Pak—then look at what Sony’s DualShock introduced soon after. Now imagine major games like Metal Gear Solid or The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time without force feedback. They’d still be good, but some of the biggest moments wouldn’t stick with me as hard if I didn’t feel the controller react like it was part of the scene. Psycho Mantis being unable to move your controller through mind power would be a total tragedy. And as always happens with fast-moving tech, controller haptics soon triggered some pretty wild conversations about sexuality.
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To be clear, the Rumble Pak wasn’t the only thing shaping the future. A few companies had force feedback in development even before Nintendo released its own controller accessory. But what I’ll remember first—and most—is tied to Star Fox 64. Yes, the game is still an outstanding title by itself, but the Rumble Pak turned it into one of those personal “all-time” favorites for me. It proved to me that games could reach another “dimension” of fun that wasn’t only about upgraded visuals. And unlike that awful vest, it finally did it the right way.
