Star Fox Command brings the series back to its roots in stunning 3D on Nintendo's dual-screen. It is fitting too, as Star Fox was such a break from the normal 2D fair everyone was used to when it shipped in 1993 on the Super NES.
There is no denying that Star Fox and Star Fox 64 are the most loved games of the series. Developer Q-Games did right by drawing from these games, as well as adding unique mechanics only possible with the DS and its stylus.
Star Fox Command starts off where Assault left off, albeit with no on-foot missions (thankfully). The Star Fox team is disbanded, as the threat of Dr. Andross is no more.
But this would not be a video game without something sinister, this time in the form of fish-like "Anglar" aliens. This of course means the Star Fox team must be assembled once again to fight ... or not.
An odd choice, and a blatant attempt to lengthen the story mode many times over, (nine, to be exact) a number of dialog choices will be locked during your first play through of the game.
That is right, this game has nine different endings. During your first go, which should only take a few hours, you won't be meeting up with all of your team members.
This also means that you won't be fighting all the enemies, or revealing the entire story in one continuous fashion. The anticlimactic "ending" has a slim sugar coating — the story gets better each time you play it.
I have mixed feelings about this presentation, because on the one hand I would have rather just had one cohesive story with multiple arcs in it.
On the other, however, the game play has that fun nostalgic feel to it, and it works quite well in this portable format.
Dialog scenes between characters are sans voice acting, similar to the original. Everyone talks in gibberish. There is an option to record your voice, using the built-in mic.
You are asked questions such as "What is your favorite color?" and " How old are you." These recordings are then inserted into the game as your player character speaks. It is sort of hard to understand, but it does allow for a bit of personalization.
You don't just jump from dialog scene to combat; the single-player game is not just fought from the cockpit, but from the command deck as well.
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