Starfox Command Review by Wraggster

Starfox Command Review

Awesome shooter for the Nintendo DS.

Suppliers

Lik Sang US$ 44.90 (~23.70 GBP)

Screenshots

http://image.lik-sang.com/images//la...ar-fox-us1.jpg

Description

Star Fox returns to its roots with a blistering space shooter on the Nintendo DS! Lylat needs you! Hop into your Arwing fighter and fight through a unique branching storyline of missions, all rendered in gorgeous 3D. Draw up your battle plan! Star Fox DS brings a whole new strategic element to the series with a commander's view of the mission. Using the touch screen, draw routes you and your teammates will take, then battle the enemies you encounter as you take over bases and strategically advance across the map. Blow you friends out of the sky! Dogfight with up to eight players over local wireless or take on up to four players from around the world over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.

The Review Itself

Starfox on the Snes was and still is one of the best 16 bit games ever and showed Snes graphics to the extreme. The second Starfox game was cancelled before launch and so most people think this is that game. Time to test it :)

First thing i did was set up my wifi connection, obviously you need a PC with wireless connector/router of some type. The connection was found and set up in less than a minute, very easy and painless.

Quickly tried a Wifi battle and the first thing that startled me were the controls, i found it very weird playing through the touch pad, the touch pad is used to control the ship whilst you use the buttons to fire etc.

One thing i must add is that if you have played the Snes Starfox game then in my opinion the music and sounds are of similiar quality, that saying they do the job and thats all that matters.

Graphically it looks like better than the Snes but not as good as the N64 versions.

So time to go to the tutorial mode, now its time to use the stylus to control the ship, first off i was all over the place but after a few minutes it was easier to control but still very different to me.

Controlling the ship in a combat situation with the stylus and buttons is a whole new experiance, i had to ditch the stylus and just use my finger on my left hand and my right hand to do the buttons, It felt easier but this game is not easy for newbies, so even if your decent at Starfox games your going to find this a challenge.

This game will last you a decent amount of time and the addition of Multiplayer and the Wifi battles and you have months of fun to perfect your skills

Conclusion

Everything apart from the controls is as you would expect but for me Nintendo have relied too much on the Touchpad, i found the controls as hard as hell to get used to, seasoned gamers will no doubt adapt easily to the new control system but for newcomers and lesser equipped players this game could become a bore and too tedious to play.

Sometimes you can have an overly complicated control method. Overall Score for this game is 7/10

Not as good as i hoped but still fun.

good games depend on good controls, thats why i probably wouldnt like this game cause imo, touch screen is an add on for some games (Wario Ware Touched totally rocked tho!) but i mean Mario 64 DS was freakin awesome, and u only used the touch pad for a slow walking, which i didnt do, but the mini games were lots of fun and they used touch screen so Nintendo should learn whats fun and whats just dumb. tho i dont doubt the game is good :)

I'd love ot try out this game but it wont work wit my patcher :(

Looks like a great game.

I will be getting the actual game later this week, but I'm romming it to see if I was gonna like it.

I was thrown off by the controls at first, but after playing through a few missions, it's not too bad. Still getting used to turning and stuff, but I'm gettin the hang of it.

Quick question: Is it just my rom, or can nobody else understand the voices in the game?

Actually the controls are spot on if you ask me...

The stylus control works so well, its about time they used a stylus control for a shooter, like Metroid does...

The game is definitely worth more than 7/10 I would say 9/10

You get a little bit of strategy also before you go into battle, there is a basic but nice story mode to work through, and also that multiplayer Wifi mode, what more can you ask for.

The sounds are fine, especially the blaster noise...

You get completely accustomed to the controls and actually find you can really control your ship better and better this makes it so addictive

This game is the bomb...Slippy the annoying frog is BACK!
Controls DO take some time to get used to as well as the whole 'mini-strategy' screen.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lightningdude

Quick question: Is it just my rom, or can nobody else understand the voices in the game?

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They're supposed to sound like that - have you not played Star Fox on the SNES?!

I think I read somewhere that there's also a feature that lets you record your own voice, and the game will then 'garble' it to make it sound like the ingame characters...

Can't wait to play this - I have the ROM already (until the game hits UK shores), just waiting on delivery of my SC Lite.

Thanks for the review wraggster!

When I first saw the previews I was sure I was going to buy myself a Nintendo DS. IMO Starfox 64 was one of the best games for the N64!

Well... I guess it's time I go buy one

Quote:

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Originally Posted by radiator

They're supposed to sound like that - have you not played Star Fox on the SNES?!

I think I read somewhere that there's also a feature that lets you record your own voice, and the game will then 'garble' it to make it sound like the ingame characters...

Can't wait to play this - I have the ROM already (until the game hits UK shores), just waiting on delivery of my SC Lite.

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Correct, you can use your own voice.
When you program in your own voice, the exact pitch you gave it is used for Fox with variations in pitch used for the other characters (either higher or lower). Sounds a little distorted and crackly though.
It asks you a series of questions that you have to answer using the built-in microphone. Silly things like "What do you like the most?", "What do you hate the most?", etc. About 6 questions I think.

I've been recently playing starfox on daedalus for psp, great game, is this any better, or is it best to stick with n64 ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CampaKaze

good games depend on good controls, thats why i probably wouldnt like this game cause imo, touch screen is an add on for some games (Wario Ware Touched totally rocked tho!) but i mean Mario 64 DS was freakin awesome, and u only used the touch pad for a slow walking, which i didnt do, but the mini games were lots of fun and they used touch screen so Nintendo should learn whats fun and whats just dumb. tho i dont doubt the game is good :)

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Hello

Touch screen control is not an add its the future i mean when i play with a dpad on any system my thumb will hurt after intensive 1 hr gameplay.
That why i use analog stick alot but atm thats no option for portables (i tried out the PSP stick its terrible)

I play Super Mario DS only via touchscreen.
Ford Racing 3 is only fun becauz of the nice touchscreen control.

I woulnt play race/jumpnrun games with stylus or the thumbstrap thing use ur thumb and u will be fine.

For Starfox DS try to invert up/down.

Greets
Klaus

It sounds like a similar control set to Metroid. I actually purchased a "comfort stylus" to wrap around my finger which made playing lots easier.

I've just played a couple of online battles; I suck

he he....I was playing this morning...names THUD....I was Rubbish...but its brilliant fun online....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ENG

I've been recently playing starfox on daedalus for psp, great game, is this any better, or is it best to stick with n64 ?

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Just had a look at Youtube and watched starfox on the PSP, seems to run ok doesn't it...

I would say the DS version textures are alot better and the free flying action is so much better than the linear style flight of the N64 version.


Also the online battle play is the ultimate....

Definately get the DS version its one of the best DS games in my opinion

This is one awsome game. Great game play experience.

Well... I like StarFox... And this game is also looking very nice and everything...
But I think the control is crap.
Maybe you have a other mind with it but
I don't like it... Imho they should have implemented a option to:
A: Control with Stylus
and B: Control with D-Pad...

Yeah, I don't understand why d-pad control wasn't included as an option, it's like they used the touch screen just because they felt they needed to and not because it was necessarily better.