Growing up in the late 80s and 90s, I had countless opportunities to play a wide range of video games on every platform. One particular game that I remember was the original Star Fox 64, an awesome 3D rail shooter that launched on the Nintendo 64 in 1997. While Nintendo released a remake of this game on the Nintendo Switch 2 back in June, I’ve been more eager to see more games from this genre and how they could evolve in today’s world.
Enter Wild Blue Skies, a 90s-inspired on-rails shooter adventure developed by Chuhai Labs and published by Balor Games. As soon as I saw this game, I was convinced that it might be the modern take on the genre that new and veteran fans alike would appreciate. After spending time playing through Wild Blue Skies, I walked away satisfied with the overall experience, but still noticed a few things that might leave some players frustrated. Here are more details on the game and why it may or may not be worth checking out.
Wild Blue Skies is a single-player on-rails shooter adventure priced at $14.99, and out now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. The story revolves around Blue Bombers Squad Leader Bowie Stray and his crew as they face various enemies commanded by a fearsome final boss named Grimclaw.
As his forces begin invading the world, the Blue Bombers must act as the last line of defense, engaging in intense dogfights and exploring various biomes filled with unique obstacles, enemies, and mini-bosses. The additional squad members on Bowie’s team are Roe, Thorne, and Chuck, and the banter they share during missions is very reminiscent of the conversations Star Fox had with Falco, Peppy, and Slippy.
The story campaign is very straightforward, as Wild Blue Skies is mainly focused on completing missions and ending Grimclaw’s reign of terror. As you progress, there are branching paths on which mission you can select next. A full playthrough can take several hours, but this game is very much designed to be replayed, especially if you’re trying to master your skills and get every reward featured in each level. It’s also worth noting that the game can get challenging as you progress further, which is exactly why some players may be encouraged to come back and have a better run. Before I talk more about the gameplay, let’s dive into the overall look and feel of the game.
Wild Blue Skies looks visually captivating with an anime-inspired art style that remains intact during cutscenes and gameplay sequences. Chuhdai Labs did an exceptional job showcasing levels with different weather patterns and conditions that impact how you navigate through them from start to finish. The rich colors are vibrant and add more life to a world that would otherwise feel dead. The animations and character models are also smooth, and your actions pair well with the easy-to-learn controls. I reviewed this game on a base PS5 console and didn’t run into any performance issues or crashes. I imagine this will be standard across all platforms and perform even better on PC with Max settings.
Jumping back to gameplay, Wild Blue Skies is exactly what you should expect from an on-rails shooter thanks to flying, shooting, and outmaneuvering enemies being easy enough for anyone to pick up and play. Every mission starts with a quick briefing and intro of the squad starting the level. Once the battles start, you navigate through each mission, taking out as many enemies as possible, saving your squadmates when they get overwhelmed, and beating a boss anxiously waiting for you at the end. The mission concludes with a quick battle report showing your score and the status of your team if they managed to survive the mission or not.
While all of this sounds fun in theory, there are a few things worth pointing out that may cause some frustration while playing. For starters, I stated earlier that this is a single-player experience, and you definitely will be reminded of this throughout as your squadmates feel useless and will rely on your help often. There are moments through these intense battles where they will ask for your help, and you can respond by launching timed charged attacks or bombs to eliminate a trio of enemies that may be harming them. If you miss these moments, your teammates may go down and won’t be able to return to action until two missions later.
In addition to this, any damage you take during a mission carries over to the next with a minimal health boost depending on your performance. This is an arcade-style experience, meaning you have a set number of lives, and once you’re out of lives, the game ends, and you have to start all over. In a way, this teaches you to get better at the game and make smarter decisions that will save your teammates heading into the next mission. This is also why replayability is high, as you’ll definitely want to improve after your initial first run. Again, these two things may not annoy everyone, but it is worth mentioning to give you all a proper heads up on what to expect.
Overall, I still enjoyed my time with Wild Blue Skies. Is it the definitive modern version of what I would expect from a new Star Fox game in 2026? Not necessarily, as I think a cross-play feature with friends would make this game even better. With that said, the game is still a fun time and worth checking out if you’re in the mood for a cool on-rails shooter. Definitely let me know if you decide to check out this game and what your thoughts are after playing it.
This review was based on a review copy of Wild Blue Skies for the PlayStation 5 provided by Chuhdai Labs and Balor Games.
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