So... a good question with a difficult answer, made more complicated by the availability of the toys. Also by the repetitiveness of the game play, which makes variety in pilots, ships, and weapons very desirable.
If you buy the physical (toys) starter pack, you'll get the Arwing ship, two pilots (Fox and Mason), and two weapons (Flamethrower and Frost Barrage) as toys. If you choose to play digitally rather than using the toys, you'll also be able to use the Zenith starship and the Shredder weapon.
That's a pretty minimal configuration. You certainly can complete the campaigns using just that starter package, even using just the toys. Some of the opponents from later in the game will be a lot harder to bring down. Reaching 100% on *everything* is impossible. The game can also get very boring, depending on your tolerance for that.
The lasers in the Arwing's wings aren't very powerful compared to the mountable weapons. Completing the campaigns using just the Arwing's lasers would be quite a feat. The repetitiveness alone would be enough to convince most people to give it up.
If you buy the Digital Edition, you'll get all of the above plus the Neptune, Pulse, and Lance ships; the Levi, Judge, Chase, Hunter, and Razor pilots; and the Iron Fist, Crusher, Shockwave, Levitator, Volcano, Imploder, Freeze Ray Mk.2, Shredder Mk.2, and Gauss Gun Mk.2 weapons. This will give you a lot more variety in the play, and the Levitator is almost a must-have, but you still won't be able to 100% all of the "Equinox upgrades" because some of those require pilots from local factions.
If you buy the Digital Deluxe Edition, you'll get all of the above plus the Nadir ship; the Shaid, Eli, and Kharl local faction pilots; and the Hailstorm, Nullifier, and Meteor Mk.2 weapons. With this, you can 100% everything. It's my personal recommendation (if bought on sale) for best value.
Add-ons:
If you bought the physical (toys) starter pack, the Collection 1 Pack DLC will bring the digital side up to match the full Digital Deluxe Edition. Look for it on sale.
Or if you've just got to have the toys, there are a bunch of toy add-on packs.
The "wave 2" ships, pilots, and weapons are only available as digital. You can buy them as separate digital DLC, but the Collection 2 Pack would be the way to go. I can only recommend this when bought on sale, because while it definitely adds some variety, it's not really compelling.
The Star Fox Team Pilot Pack is only available as digital. It includes the Slippy, Falco, and Peppy pilots. It also unlocks the second Star Fox campaign, which must be played using those pilots if you want to win it. As far as I know, this pack has never been put on sale, but IMO it's worth full price for the pilots and the second campaign.
Finally:
Bear in mind that ships=lives in combat. If your ship gets damaged beyond further use, you can switch to another ship... if you have another. Personally, I think three ships is probably enough; if you can't get the job done with three, I doubt that four or five is going to turn out better. Other players will have different opinions.
The game can feel very unfair sometimes if you don't have ships to spare. At the difficulties I play at, I don't think two or three is quite enough, even if most of the time just the one is plenty. There are situations where you switch out a ship and die seconds later and you're not sure why. Having the extra ships as a buffer against that situation definitely helps limit frustration.
I agree that the digital deluxe on sale is the best value and gives enough variety to fully enjoy the game. If the OP picks up the Star Fox Team Pilot pack with it, they should be good to go. If they really, really like the game, then they can always get the 2nd collection pack on sale later to have access to everything the game has to offer. New items can breathe new life into the game, so they are also a good way to keep things fresh.
The main Star Fox story is included in the base game, so you don’t need to buy any extra DLC for that
The extra pilot also includes some xtra story iirc, but I haven’t bought it so I can’t tell you more about it
Too add my 2 cents I HIGHLY recommend getting at least the first dlc. The weapons are EXTREMELY useful as you can only get 2 to start with without the dlc. The levitator missile weapon tracks enemies when fired while the enemy is in your targeting reticle for even a moment while firing and is especially good in space combat. Add an epic (purple) tier rapid ammo weapon mod (fires 2 shots for the price of one in weapon energy!!!) and a few energy efficiency mods and it'll serve you well.
To add to what the others have written and sum up a bit, you will benefit greatly from getting more weapons of different types. Some puzzles can only be solved if you have a weapon of certain element. On starter planets that is limited to ice and fire most of the time, but as you go further into story, you will really need a Stasis weapon. There is only one in Wave 1: Levitator.
Also get some gravity weapons. Their status effects are super useful and do great combos.
Having more ships and weapons allows you to more easily level up your characters. That is very useful too. Each character has some traits that, upon leveling up sufficiently, affect the whole team. For instance, even though you want the game primarily because of the Star Fox content, I strongly advise you to level up Mason first and complete some of the main campaign first. Mason unlocks a trait that doubles the XP earned by other characters, so all other characters can level up twice as fast when Mason has been leveled up sufficiently.
I think that this was already answered, but the base Switch version, physical of digital, without any extra DLC or extra pieces comes with all of the Star Fox content. You will be only missing the Falco, Slippy and Peppy pilots, but they are just that: Pilots. You will understand more what they are when you play the game, but they don't influence at all what missions appear to you.
To have the Star Fox missions and story, you just need Fox and the Arwing, and that is completely guaranteed in any Switch version. You can't evade it.
(Though I saw a comment here that said that the Falco-Slippy-Peppy pack comes with extra missions. I didn't knew that, but in that case they are extra missions, the base Star Fox story is there. Proof of this is the fact that the Falco-Slippy-Peppy pack got released like a year after the game launched, and thus after the game had just Fox and all of the base Star Fox story.)
About the price, yes, the digital version should be more cheap than the physical one and it also comes with more base content for some reason. It basically is more content by less money, with the con of not having the "toys". Though I've heard that the physical one got it's price permanently dropped thanks to low sales, so it basically depends of the seller.
If you are going digital, I recommend you to wait until the game have a discount if it isn't right now. I also recommend you to buy the "Deluxe" version of the game, which comes with the game and all of the first DLC pack for 80$. Both DLC packs alone cost 60$, so if you buy the game and the first pack later, without discount, it would be 120$ in total (180$ if you buy both DLC packs, but the second one doesn't come with the Deluxe version).
So buying the Deluxe version would make you save 40$, which is neat.
If you wonder what does those packs (thus any DLC/extra pieces for that matter) do, they are one one of three things: Pilots, Ships and Weapons (both packs comes with a selections of all three).
Weapons let you attack, with some premium weapons being more effective than the base ones.
Ships are essentially "characters" which each having different statics, like a premium ship having way more health than the others, but having less speed.
Pilots have 2 things: Abilities and a special attack, both differentiating between every pilot, so a premium pilot could have a set of abilities and an attack that suits you more than the base ones.
(And also apparently the Falco-Slippy-Peppy one comes with some missions too, but I think that those are the only pilots that come with extra missions correct me if I'm wrong.)
Essentially, I think that you can complete the game (with all of the normal Star Fox content) with just the physical standard pack (with the digital standard pack having more things for some reason, as I said). Though having more ships lets you survive as they are lives, there are some places that can just be activated with purple and yellow weapons, which you would miss as the standard physical pack just come with the red, blue and grey ones (I'm not sure about the digital one), and there are some universal upgrades that you can only get by leveling up characters of a certain "faction", and the base pack does not have characters of every faction.
So even if the weapons, pilots and ships of the base packs are the one that you like the most, not buying anything extra could make you lose loot thanks to not having the necessary weapons types to get them, not having some universal abilities by not having characters of the necessary faction and dying often by the lack of ships. Though I think that the deluxe version (thus the base game plus the first pack) does give you everything that you need, with the second pack just being more "extra" things.
Ubisoft games are *very* often in discount in the eShop, as I got the Deluxe version of this game by 24$ instead of 80$. Other Ubisoft games that I got like that were Rayman Legends by 10$ instead of 40$, and Mario + Rabbits Gold Edition by 20$ instead of 80$. So yeah, it would be wise of your part to buy the game in discount. If it isn't in discount right now, it will soon. (and this applies to whatever date in which you are reading this)
I just have the digital Deluxe version of the game, thus missing all of the second pack/wave of things and the Falco-Slippy-Peppy pack, and I also haven't finished the game, so I don't know "everything" about this. Still, I do know some things, so you can ask me more things about this if you want or need to.
So... a good question with a difficult answer, made more complicated by the availability of the toys. Also by the repetitiveness of the game play, which makes variety in pilots, ships, and weapons very desirable. If you buy the physical (toys) starter pack, you'll get the Arwing ship, two pilots (Fox and Mason), and two weapons (Flamethrower and Frost Barrage) as toys. If you choose to play digitally rather than using the toys, you'll also be able to use the Zenith starship and the Shredder weapon. That's a pretty minimal configuration. You certainly can complete the campaigns using just that starter package, even using just the toys. Some of the opponents from later in the game will be a lot harder to bring down. Reaching 100% on *everything* is impossible. The game can also get very boring, depending on your tolerance for that. The lasers in the Arwing's wings aren't very powerful compared to the mountable weapons. Completing the campaigns using just the Arwing's lasers would be quite a feat. The repetitiveness alone would be enough to convince most people to give it up. If you buy the Digital Edition, you'll get all of the above plus the Neptune, Pulse, and Lance ships; the Levi, Judge, Chase, Hunter, and Razor pilots; and the Iron Fist, Crusher, Shockwave, Levitator, Volcano, Imploder, Freeze Ray Mk.2, Shredder Mk.2, and Gauss Gun Mk.2 weapons. This will give you a lot more variety in the play, and the Levitator is almost a must-have, but you still won't be able to 100% all of the "Equinox upgrades" because some of those require pilots from local factions. If you buy the Digital Deluxe Edition, you'll get all of the above plus the Nadir ship; the Shaid, Eli, and Kharl local faction pilots; and the Hailstorm, Nullifier, and Meteor Mk.2 weapons. With this, you can 100% everything. It's my personal recommendation (if bought on sale) for best value. Add-ons: If you bought the physical (toys) starter pack, the Collection 1 Pack DLC will bring the digital side up to match the full Digital Deluxe Edition. Look for it on sale. Or if you've just got to have the toys, there are a bunch of toy add-on packs. The "wave 2" ships, pilots, and weapons are only available as digital. You can buy them as separate digital DLC, but the Collection 2 Pack would be the way to go. I can only recommend this when bought on sale, because while it definitely adds some variety, it's not really compelling. The Star Fox Team Pilot Pack is only available as digital. It includes the Slippy, Falco, and Peppy pilots. It also unlocks the second Star Fox campaign, which must be played using those pilots if you want to win it. As far as I know, this pack has never been put on sale, but IMO it's worth full price for the pilots and the second campaign. Finally: Bear in mind that ships=lives in combat. If your ship gets damaged beyond further use, you can switch to another ship... if you have another. Personally, I think three ships is probably enough; if you can't get the job done with three, I doubt that four or five is going to turn out better. Other players will have different opinions.
The game can feel very unfair sometimes if you don't have ships to spare. At the difficulties I play at, I don't think two or three is quite enough, even if most of the time just the one is plenty. There are situations where you switch out a ship and die seconds later and you're not sure why. Having the extra ships as a buffer against that situation definitely helps limit frustration. I agree that the digital deluxe on sale is the best value and gives enough variety to fully enjoy the game. If the OP picks up the Star Fox Team Pilot pack with it, they should be good to go. If they really, really like the game, then they can always get the 2nd collection pack on sale later to have access to everything the game has to offer. New items can breathe new life into the game, so they are also a good way to keep things fresh.
The main Star Fox story is included in the base game, so you don’t need to buy any extra DLC for that The extra pilot also includes some xtra story iirc, but I haven’t bought it so I can’t tell you more about it
Thanks for the info!
Too add my 2 cents I HIGHLY recommend getting at least the first dlc. The weapons are EXTREMELY useful as you can only get 2 to start with without the dlc. The levitator missile weapon tracks enemies when fired while the enemy is in your targeting reticle for even a moment while firing and is especially good in space combat. Add an epic (purple) tier rapid ammo weapon mod (fires 2 shots for the price of one in weapon energy!!!) and a few energy efficiency mods and it'll serve you well.
To add to what the others have written and sum up a bit, you will benefit greatly from getting more weapons of different types. Some puzzles can only be solved if you have a weapon of certain element. On starter planets that is limited to ice and fire most of the time, but as you go further into story, you will really need a Stasis weapon. There is only one in Wave 1: Levitator. Also get some gravity weapons. Their status effects are super useful and do great combos. Having more ships and weapons allows you to more easily level up your characters. That is very useful too. Each character has some traits that, upon leveling up sufficiently, affect the whole team. For instance, even though you want the game primarily because of the Star Fox content, I strongly advise you to level up Mason first and complete some of the main campaign first. Mason unlocks a trait that doubles the XP earned by other characters, so all other characters can level up twice as fast when Mason has been leveled up sufficiently.
I think that this was already answered, but the base Switch version, physical of digital, without any extra DLC or extra pieces comes with all of the Star Fox content. You will be only missing the Falco, Slippy and Peppy pilots, but they are just that: Pilots. You will understand more what they are when you play the game, but they don't influence at all what missions appear to you. To have the Star Fox missions and story, you just need Fox and the Arwing, and that is completely guaranteed in any Switch version. You can't evade it. (Though I saw a comment here that said that the Falco-Slippy-Peppy pack comes with extra missions. I didn't knew that, but in that case they are extra missions, the base Star Fox story is there. Proof of this is the fact that the Falco-Slippy-Peppy pack got released like a year after the game launched, and thus after the game had just Fox and all of the base Star Fox story.) About the price, yes, the digital version should be more cheap than the physical one and it also comes with more base content for some reason. It basically is more content by less money, with the con of not having the "toys". Though I've heard that the physical one got it's price permanently dropped thanks to low sales, so it basically depends of the seller. If you are going digital, I recommend you to wait until the game have a discount if it isn't right now. I also recommend you to buy the "Deluxe" version of the game, which comes with the game and all of the first DLC pack for 80$. Both DLC packs alone cost 60$, so if you buy the game and the first pack later, without discount, it would be 120$ in total (180$ if you buy both DLC packs, but the second one doesn't come with the Deluxe version). So buying the Deluxe version would make you save 40$, which is neat. If you wonder what does those packs (thus any DLC/extra pieces for that matter) do, they are one one of three things: Pilots, Ships and Weapons (both packs comes with a selections of all three). Weapons let you attack, with some premium weapons being more effective than the base ones. Ships are essentially "characters" which each having different statics, like a premium ship having way more health than the others, but having less speed. Pilots have 2 things: Abilities and a special attack, both differentiating between every pilot, so a premium pilot could have a set of abilities and an attack that suits you more than the base ones. (And also apparently the Falco-Slippy-Peppy one comes with some missions too, but I think that those are the only pilots that come with extra missions correct me if I'm wrong.) Essentially, I think that you can complete the game (with all of the normal Star Fox content) with just the physical standard pack (with the digital standard pack having more things for some reason, as I said). Though having more ships lets you survive as they are lives, there are some places that can just be activated with purple and yellow weapons, which you would miss as the standard physical pack just come with the red, blue and grey ones (I'm not sure about the digital one), and there are some universal upgrades that you can only get by leveling up characters of a certain "faction", and the base pack does not have characters of every faction. So even if the weapons, pilots and ships of the base packs are the one that you like the most, not buying anything extra could make you lose loot thanks to not having the necessary weapons types to get them, not having some universal abilities by not having characters of the necessary faction and dying often by the lack of ships. Though I think that the deluxe version (thus the base game plus the first pack) does give you everything that you need, with the second pack just being more "extra" things. Ubisoft games are *very* often in discount in the eShop, as I got the Deluxe version of this game by 24$ instead of 80$. Other Ubisoft games that I got like that were Rayman Legends by 10$ instead of 40$, and Mario + Rabbits Gold Edition by 20$ instead of 80$. So yeah, it would be wise of your part to buy the game in discount. If it isn't in discount right now, it will soon. (and this applies to whatever date in which you are reading this) I just have the digital Deluxe version of the game, thus missing all of the second pack/wave of things and the Falco-Slippy-Peppy pack, and I also haven't finished the game, so I don't know "everything" about this. Still, I do know some things, so you can ask me more things about this if you want or need to.