No, Star Fox Zero is NOT a Star Fox 64 Remake
Star Fox 64 has, as of now, been remade TWICE. And one of those was more of a port than an actual remake.
It must be said, unambiguously and directly, that Star Fox Zero IS NOT Star Fox 64.
I am starting to suspect that the people saying it is a Star Fox 64 remake, often to bolster their displeasure with the new remake, haven't played it, which is a reasonable assumption due to the poor performance of the WiiU and SFZ as a Wii U title on top of that. And note that by 'played it' I mean actually played through it. Playing through half of the Corneria level and rage quitting due to the controls doesn't count.
Now, yes, Star Fox Zero has the same setting as Star Fox 64 and reuses some assets from Star Fox 64 3D, and visually looks a lot like Star Fox 64 3D. This is true. But it does NOT make it a remake. Star Fox Zero plays VERY differently than Star Fox 64 and has unique level designs, features, and missions. It's much more along the lines of Star Fox SNES vs Star Fox 64 than a remake, tell a similar story in the same setting, but with some stark differences.
Things Zero has that 64 does not:
- The Arwing Walker from Star Fox 2
- The Gyrowing
- Non-linear paths that can involve backtracking
- New Locations
- You get to play as Peppy
- The Landmaster can fly
- Real Fortuna
- For better or worse (usually worse), motion controls
- Different designs and paths for locations that do appear in 64.
- Deeper narrative with subplot (At Star Fox scale, of course)
- James attacks Andross, and you can save him.
- Different routes can effect what you see on a given level
Star Fox Zero plays very differently. The gyro controls force you to think differently about what you are doing, you can't just take a Star Fox 64 skillset into this game and ace it. Also, it has some objectives that slow you down, pushing buttons, activating computer terminals, and other things that require you to slow down and switch to the walker. Hell the entire Zoness level, at least the first run-through of it, punishes you for going fast. The core Star Fox gameplay is there, of course, but it has these differences and these differences are enough to make it play very different from Star Fox 64.
Sure, the games share DNA, but, then, all games in a series do, or at least should. After all, in every mainline Mario game, you run, jump, grab powerups, and fight Bowser. You wouldn't call Mario Odyessy a Mario 64 remake, though, would you? So, given all this, it is quite unfair to dismiss this game as simply "a Star Fox 64 remake" as if it were the exact same game we got in 1997 just prettier. Zero is its own game and deserves to stand on its own merits as a unique entry in the Star Fox series. Maybe not the best entry, but it at least is one and deserves at least that much.