Star Fox Zero is a 3D rail shooter that largely follows the gameplay of its predecessors, predominantly Star Fox 64, in which the player controls Fox McCloud as he pilots his Arwing craft through various levels. The game is controlled using the Wii U GamePad, with the left control stick used to maneuver the craft while gyroscopic controls can be used to aim weapons. A cockpit view is displayed on the second screen to assist with aiming.[5] The minus button on the GamePad can be used to swap the two displays at any time.

Some of the game's vehicles can transform in certain situations.[5] For example, the Arwing can transform into a bipedal Walker (which originated in the cancelled Super NES game Star Fox 2) that lets the player freely walk around on platforms and in enclosed spaces. The Landmaster tank can transform into the Gravmaster, which can perform extended aerial maneuvers for a short time. A new vehicle introduced to the series is the Gyrowing, a dronelike helicopter which can lower a small robot called Direct-i that can enter small spaces, hack into computers, or latch onto explosive cubes that can then be dropped on enemies.[6][7] Players can also add laser upgrades and smart bombs to their ships. Special techniques such as the charge shot, barrel roll, somersaults, and U-Turns can be performed.[5] Two gameplay modes are featured in the game: the on-rails sections put the player in a predetermined path, while All-Range Mode allows the player to move freely in a closed-off space. If players lose all their ships (which serve as extra lives) in a mission, they must restart the entire mission in order to proceed.[5]

Various elements return from previous games, including Fox's teammates, Falco Lombardi, Peppy Hare, and Slippy Toad, who can assist the player if they protect them from enemy attacks, as well as the rival team Star Wolf members Wolf O'Donnell, Leon Powalski, Pigma Dengar, and Andrew Oikonny. Several level locations have also returned, including Corneria, Zoness, Titania, Fichina, and Fortuna, while five new locations, Sector Alpha, Area 3, Sector Beta, Sector Gamma, and Sector Omega, have been added. The game is also compatible with Amiibo figures; players can scan the Fox and Falco Amiibo to respectively unlock the Retro Arwing, which is based on the model used in the original SNES game and cannot lock on but has a larger blast radius, and the Black Arwing, which sports a black and red color scheme and is stronger and faster but takes more damage.[8] Both Arwings can also be unlocked by acquiring enough gold medals in the campaign.

Star Fox Guard is a 3D tower defense game in which players must protect various bases, owned by Slippy Toad's uncle, Grippy, from oncoming attackers by monitoring security cameras. The television displays footage from all of the available security cameras while the Wii U GamePad features an overhead view of the base. To defend the base's core, players must watch the monitors carefully for any oncoming attackers and switch control to one of the available cameras in order to fire its weapon. Enemies are divided into two classes; Combat robots, which must all be defeated in order to progress, and Chaos robots, which hinder the player by tampering with the cameras, such as obscuring the view or showing fake footage. The game features 100 missions and an editor mode that allows players to edit the behavior of enemies in levels and share them online.