I mean, again -counter-point- Mario Kart is Nintendo's biggest in-house money-maker and they NEVER do anything different and haven't since the original SNES game. They've been endlessly copying the same formula of gameplay and have had great success with it and all they've EVER done is say "now it's prettier" per console. I'd argue Star Fox's downfall is BECAUSE each of them is so vastly different from the last. You can't go from N64 to Assault to Command to Adventure to Zero and expect people to follow along.
I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel, here. When i suggest 'slapping a new coat of paint' i do mean doing their due diligence to advance plot but keep the gameplay nostalgic and simplistic. i also reckon they're NOT JUST arcade shooters, if you reckon Dread is more than JUST another Metroid-vania platformer. Let's not grossly over-simplify the conversation about what these games are capable of doing with a modern audience. You definitely have interpersonal relationships with each of your co-pilots, rivals(wolf's gang), and whatever is going on with Andross. There are more ways to mix that drama into the gameplay without changing how the game itself works, like Dread did. It doesn't take that much creativity to explain that all they'd need to do is have some dialogue, cutscenes, and 'choices' a la TELL-TALE or QTE based systems that are more than the original N64 'choices' you had before you fly down to a planet to act as "story." Especially if we're going the route that they expand on the current mythos and have more options available to the player to begin with.
I mean, different strokes, right? i never get old of Star Fox. I've replayed the original N64 and remake on the 3DS more than most other games in Nintendo's catalog. So, if i exist, i'm sure there are others out there who would agree with me that would say "gimme an arwing and i'm good to go." lol If you have a 3DS, check out the remake and if you have a gamecube, check out ASSAULT. They basically mixed 64 with Mechwarrior/Panzer Dragoon gameplay. I mean, lets blame NAMCO for its execution but the IDEA is there.
(EDIT: Adventures is the on-foot game and it's not great but Assault features on-foot combat run and gun sequences and it is a vast improvement to switching up the gameplay like you suggested - and that game was made in 2005)
This is essentially what mean. There are options. They're just not willing to try. I want them to try.
(EDIT: NAH, MIKE. You're being incredibly reasonable. I just hate seeing good stuff SHELVED. I was rocking back and forth in my chair for YEARS until Pokemon Snap got its sequel. I 100% will be that old man that says, "back in my day..." before saying they should just keep good franchises alive!)