"Up through the atmosphere, up where the air is clear, let’s go fly…an Arwing"

“Do a barrel roll!” Go say this in any self-respecting video game store and I guarantee you'll get a smile out of someone. This simple phrase has the power to evoke vivid memories of a time when pilots were anthropomorphic critters, boosts could get you through the tightest of situations, and space was merely a minor inconvenience to your twin blue lasers. Never mind that the two Gamecube additions to the series were mere shadows of their predecessor, the nostalgia factor alone is worth its weight in gold. Now that Fox McCloud and company set out on their first portable adventure, the real question is whether or not this game finally returns the series to its roots of greatness. The answer…maybe.

Team Star Fox has broken up and gone their separate ways since squashing the Aparoid menace in Star Fox: Assault. Everything appears to be at peace in the Lylat System. That is until a new menace arises from the toxic waters of the planet Venom. Calling themselves the Anglars, these fish-like villains want nothing more than the complete domination of the entire solar system. Fortunately for the rest of the allied planets, Star Fox isn't going to let that happen. The vulpine protagonist blasts off in his latest Arwing, determined to put a stop to the Anglar threat. Along the way he will encounter a multitude of characters, both old and new, and attempt to wrap up a few unfinished plot lines from some of the series' earlier games.

Players coming into this game expecting a typical Star Fox experience of traipsing across planets on a preset course while annihilating anything that poses even the smallest of threats are in for a minor shock. The game unfolds on unique battlefields based on the environment you are in. Gamers move Fox and other pilots around through use of the stylus and progress to the next level by destroying certain enemies and collecting the cores they leave behind. All combat is initiated when a pilot's path crosses with an enemy squadron's and occurs in a rich 3-D setting reminiscent of Star Fox 64's “all-range mode”.

Sounds easy on paper, but in practice this system is enriched by a plethora of engaging strategy elements. Each ship has a limited amount of fuel that it can use each turn, limiting its movement. Not only is the fuel strictly rationed on the strategy screen, but during battle all ships share a common fuel gauge that slowly ticks down toward oblivion. Let it reach zero and your current pilot will abruptly pull out of the fight, sacrificing one of your lives in the process. To combat this, the game scatters a few power-ups around the field and supply rings within each enemy encounter. As an added bonus, for every five enemies you manage to down, you're rewarded with a random item, be it a bomb, an energy ring, or extra fuel. If you successfully manage to down all enemies before a given encounter ends you will be rewarded with a supreme sense of satisfaction and a missile for the Great Fox, the team's giant flying headquarters, which can be used to lay waste to an approaching enemy battalion.

As if collecting enemy cores before fuel runs out wasn't enough, you also need to keep a close watch on the number of turns you have remaining and the Great Fox itself. Fox and his teammates have a limited number of turns to beat the current level and if they fail to do so it's an automatic game over. Luckily, there are enemy bases that fire missiles at the Great Fox and deploy enemies into the region. And why is this a good thing? Because for each enemy base you manage to obliterate, you are graciously rewarded with an extra two turns for the level. Effective maneuvering on each turn is crucial to success, because if a pilot fails to intercept an enemy squadron or destroy an enemy missile before it reaches the Great Fox it's curtains for the crew. And that's no good.

Not wanting to feel left out with all the other changes going on, the flight controls received a major overhaul as well. In an innovative twist, all the ships' commands, sans the all-important fire button for the lasers, are completely mapped to the DS' touch screen. While a little awkward at first, it quickly becomes intuitive and simple to execute after a short time, especially if you still have the DS thumbstrap lying around somewhere. Double-tapping the top or bottom half of the screen causes the ship to accelerate or brake respectively, while advanced functions such as looping and U-turning are specifically mapped to their own icons. My only complaint has to do with barrel-rolling, since it is performed while frantically wiggling the stylus back and forth in a horizontal motion. Due to the frenzied nature of the gameplay, this can sometimes cause you to do a barrel roll at the wrong time or fail to do one altogether.

Fox McCloud is initially the sole hero of the battle but, as mentioned before, he's not alone. There are a total of fourteen pilots and fifteen ships available to you throughout the battles, although only a maximum of four pilots can fly in any given mission. Each pilot also has his or her own ship with specialized lasers, locking capabilities, and bomb capacities. For example, Fox has the generic single laser with normal lock, Falco Lombardi has a multi-lock ability, and Slippy Toad has no lock-on function, instead sporting dual plasma cannons and an additional bomb slot. The amount of variety this provides is truly amazing and makes each story path a different experience as you get to try out new pilots and ships, including some of Star Fox's old nemeses and even a secret character, helping to break up the slight repetitiveness of a few of the single player levels.

Each planet in the Lylat system boasts its own music and feel that is both new and yet somehow familiar, oftentimes existing as remixed versions of classic Star Fox themes. Corneria has the look of a city turned into a battlefield, Sector Z is both dark and mysterious, and Titania is an arid wasteland filled with sandstorms and giant worms. Pilots no longer have voice actors, as dialogue is instead spoken in the original gibberish of the SNES Star Fox with translations provided in boxes below. Players even have the option of recording their own voice into the game and having it turned into the unintelligible sounds for the characters to speak. It's through this method that the plot unfolds, as each story element is told through miniature cutscenes between missions as the pilots mill about inside the Great Fox. With a myriad of different paths to choose from and a total of nine different endings to attain, it's refreshing to know that the environments and music will never make you want to plug your ears or poke your eyes out while scouring the levels for enemies to blast.

Despite the portable format, don't expect a mid-game save feature, as the only chance to record your progress occurs at the end of a mission sequence. This can get annoying at times (some missions can take close to an hour with all battles fought), but if you stick with your guns you will eventually persevere. And even upon completion, the game's fun is far from over. An active Wi-fi community, despite being plagued by some lag and the occasional disconnect, is still a great way to waste away a few hours of the day.

Every great game series has its ups and downs and this one is no exception. Star Fox Command proves that a few minor flaws don't necessarily undermine a game's extraordinary potential. Far from perfect, the latest Star Fox outing is still an enjoyable romp and a step in the right direction. Whether the next one is a healthy stride or a sickening thud all depends on Nintendo's next move. The Arwing, quite simply, is in their court.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/29/06