Star Fox Command (DS) Preview
Posted by Armando Rodriguez on 08.10.2006
One of Nintendo's key characters makes its DS debut.
Star Fox Command will mark Fox McCloud's first appearance on the Nintendo DS. For those hoping for a traditional space shooter like the original Super NES version or it's amazing Nintendo 64 sequel will be in for a rough ride, since Star Fox Command is a turn-based strategy game in the same line as Advance Wars and Fire Emblem.
Command is a radical departure from the rest of the series
From an overhead map and using the stylus, you will draw your arwing's movements and once they come into contact with an enemy, the perspective will change to a battle scene from the series trademark behind the arwing view. If you win, the enemy unit is eliminated, but if you loose, the enemy will inch closer to your mothership. Since the primary objective of each mission is to protect your mothership, it is primordial for you to intercept enemies before they get close and eliminate them. Missions are mostly timed and you will find plenty of power-ups to aid you in battle, including ones that add time to the clock and others that allow your mothership to take consecutive turns. You can also do trademark arwing moves like barrel rolls and loop the loops by using pushing touch screen icons or drawing movements with the stylus, which is kinda cool. Fog of war is also present in the form of clouds who sometimes conceal enemies.
using the stylus, you have absolute control over Fox
You start playing only as Fox, but in some missions the rest of the gang will show up and each seem to have their own unique skills. Peppy's arwing has a different cannon than Fox, for example.
Star Fox Command looks and plays very different to all the other games in the series. The game will be released in the following weeks.
