"Not quite as good as Star Fox 64, but an excellent game nonetheless"

When it was first announced that this game would be exploring a different formula than it's on-rails ancestors, many people cried out in anger that yet another Star Fox game would step away from what made Star Fox 64 one of the greatest Nintendo 64 games.

I will also admit that at first, I was a bit skeptical of the strategical direction the game was headed. Not to mention how awkward the stylus controls looked.

The problem with the latest Star Fox games (read: anything after Star Fox 64) and the problem with fans of the series (read: fans of Star Fox 64) is that many people were expecting Nintendo (and Namco for Assault) to stick to the same on-rails shooter format that made Star Fox 64 a smashing success. If you go into each new game expecting it to match what's considered the best in the series, of course you're going to be disappointed.

With Command, I tried to go into it with no expectations and no bias, and I'm glad I did.

Game-play

Battles are divided into 2 parts, strategy on Map Mode, and dogfighting in battle mode. During each "turn", you are given the ability to move each of your fighters a certain distance on the map, with the object being to intercept enemy fighters and missiles before hitting Great Fox, and to reclaim allied bases from enemy mother ships. After moves have been made by you and the computer, any encounters will be listed and you can choose the order in which to fight them.

On the map, you can see bases and enemy icons. Your squadron is represented by small versions of their ships and typically start near the Great Fox. Enemy ships are represented by small red dots. Red boxed areas represent impassable terrain which can't be flown over, but missiles may be shot over them. You will see small arrows next to enemy blips, representing their speed.

Enemy missiles are represented by large red missiles, which have a dotted line in the path of their trajectory. When strategic choices are made and entered, the missile will end up at the end of that dotted line unless you intercept it along it's path. Missiles will be launched occasionally from enemy missile launchers. If a missile reaches Great Fox, then you have to restart the mission.

Enemy mother ships have attacked and occupied many allied bases. They can either produce new units, or launch missiles at Great Fox. Taking these bases gives you additional turns to accomplish the mission with.

Power-ups are littered across the map. Circles made up of triangles pointing inward are Supply items. They recharge your shields. Yellow missiles allow you to stock Great Fox with missiles which allow you to wipe out a group of enemy fighters without having to dogfight them.

The other part is battle mode, which results from an encounter on the map between one of your ships, and an enemy. In this mode, you fly your ship around a small area which has enemy units all around. The object is to clear the "main" enemies, those which have the "cores" that control the Anglar hive mind. There are also missile encounters, which have you fly through a series of beacons to destroy an enemy missile before it hits Great Fox.

You will have a timer which represents the fuel used when dogfighting. As you encounter more enemies and spend more time dogfighting, you lose fuel. If you run out of fuel, you lose a fighter. Killing 5 enemies or flying through rings while in battle help replenish your fuel and there are often fuel power-ups on the map screen.

There is also a multi-player mode which allows you to either connect with 5 other people locally, or 3 other people through Nintendo's world-wide Wi-Fi connection. This multi-player service is free and exciting, allowing you to dogfight against close friends, or total strangers.

The unique controls of this game have been the center of a lot of trepidation and anger among those who have followed it pre-launch, but I found that after the training mode and opening missions, the controls become second nature.

As you can see, the game-play in Star Fox: Command is very detailed and complex while still maintaining an air of simplicity. For this, I give the game-play a 9/10.

Story

The story seems to take place after the events of Star Fox Assault. There is a new threat from Venom in the form of a race of Aquatic beings calling themselves the Anglar. They have spread across the Lylat star system ravaging cities and occupying planets

While not exactly like the first two Star Fox games, Command did bring back the branching mission tree which allows the player to take many paths to defeat the enemy. Although only one path is selectable on the first play through, I applaud this move, as it adds many hours to the game's length. Each path gives you a different story and ending allowing you to choose your destiny.

The story is very basic, but entertaining nonetheless. Don't go expecting an RPG style plot here.

For the game's interactive and entertaining story, I give it a 7/10 in this area.

Graphics

This game takes advantage of the power of the DS and delivers beautiful worlds and character designs. Many of the backgrounds found in the various locales are absolutely stunning, especially since this is a portable game. And all this is achieved without sacrificing any of the game play, which is always an important thing in my opinion.

From the bustling cities on Corneria, to the frozen hills of Fachina and the barren wasteland of Venom, each planet has it's own environment that differs completely from the others.

The game is also very colourful, which is no mean feat considering a lot of the action takes place in outer space.

In terms of the map used to make strategic decisions, there is room for improvement, but I suppose it is for the better that the grid stayed simple and effective. They did include a different frame for each character's ship around the radar in dogfighting mode though which I thought was a nice touch.

For graphics that test the limits of the DS, I give Command a 9/10 in this area.

Sounds

One of the main features in the Star Fox franchise has always been it's catchy music that seems to fit every environment perfectly. From slow, thoughtful music during planning stages, to fast-paced, exciting music during battles, Command lives up to it's predecessors in terms of musical prowess.

The one thing that did disappoint me was the reversion to garbled gibberish that was acceptable back in the SNES days, but really should have been replaced with actual voices now.

Although there is one neat little feature that uses the DS mic to record clips of the player's voice, and uses those clips to create personalized garbled speech for each of the characters. It's interesting to hear your voice coming back to you as scrambled Star Fox speech, but nothing more than a novelty.

Despite the fact that the music was great, the exclusion of actual voices means that Star Fox: Command gets a 6/10 from me for it's sounds.

Re-playability

The branching mission aspect, and multiple endings mean that you will likely play through the game several times to see each ending and play each mission.

Multi-player mode, both local and Wi-Fi Connect means that there is no lack of opponents whom you can hone your skills against, or just have friendly competitions with. Already there is a bustling Star Fox: Command multi-player community complete with clans and record keeping.

This game deserves a 10/10 for having multiple mission paths and a variety of multi-player options.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Star Fox: Command is a very good game, which fully uses the unique touch screen of the Nintendo DS, and all the other abilities of the system. For a hand-held game, it possesses a lot of depth and a decent sized length for the single player mode. This game will appeal to strategy game fans as well as those of the traditional Star Fox games. I strongly recommend that anybody who is looking for a game which has strategic elements, fast-paced shooter action and a fun and entertaining multi-player mode purchase Star Fox: Command as soon as they can.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/31/06