StarFox Command - Underappreciated
StarFox Command was my first game for the Nintendo DS and what a great start to the world of portable gaming it was for me.
The series as whole has been a favoured one all my life as I grew up with it. Command is the latest and I can't say Im very dissappointed with what the series has to offer lately.
The whole out of the arwing and into the wild [StarFox Adventures] was a daring leap but was managed to be pulled off only to be poorly done afterwards [in StarFox Assault] by Namco.
Maybe Nintendo noticed this and went back to what fans enjoyed the most back in the day, including what I've been told are elements from the cancelled, StarFox 2 for SNES, with the strategic planning elements.
The story of Command is initially Krystal leaving McCloud and the StarFox team due to McCloud's fear that she would be in danger if she were to continue to gaurd his six on the unfriendly skies of the Lylat system.
Throughout the game you get to make multiple choices on where you go and what you choose provides the outcome of what happens next, ultimately giving you one of 9 endings which can be veiwed in the gallery present in the game.
Choices are selected on screen and get more difficult to choose towards the end of the game. E.g. Contact Slippy or your second option, gather information on Corneria or later on, Go Find Krystal or the second option, Fly To Venom.
Graphics are great for a DS game of this genre and for the genre in general, Command does provide a lead in what the DS can do for Flight sims and shooters in terms of graphics.
Chracters are detailed and creatively re-designed, levels are lush or desolate [but in a good way!] when explored and enemies are detailed enough to shoot, although basic, the StarFox games were never photo-realistic anyway. No need to be photorealistic when the way to take down an enemy is to target its weak point or lock on with your laser.
Sound is good although the characters could do with some real voices if thats possible in future games, the "Add User's Own Voice" option isn't very good. If you found the Lylat language option in StarFox64 to be annoying or confusing, do not use this option in Command!
Soundtracks are great, suited to levels, gallery has different tracks for the pilots listed in the gallery and you can even hear a few old tunes in the game at some points too!
Gameplay is fun, a little repetitive at times but overall good and makes perfect sense once you understand the terms and concepts of the gameplay. The stylus is perfect for flying, banking, diving and for when the memory of Peppy's voice in your head shouts "DO A BARRELL ROLL!".
Manouvering is creative and how you take out certain enemies provides a little twist of action and a drop of adrenaline into the gameplay.
Controls for the game are changable with at least 5 different options of control scheme.
Multiplayer is almost a different game completely.
The only tactical side of it is where you make sure you get the bombs and the cannon upgrades first.
Thats all there is too it to be honest, collect stars for your records and brag about it to anyone who actually cares about the multiplayer.
The whole thing is a little bit of a hassle to get going too, no customisation, no communication, no online records and overall drab fighting where you don't have a clue what is going on.
This is the ungaurded area in Command where any negative comments if at all, will go for above anything else there is to complain about.
Overall, Command is a medium length game, occasional repetitions, occasional sad moments in the story and generally a solid game which is worth having. Unique among this sort of genre on DS? Maybe not but its one of the best in the genre on DS!
