Star Fox Command

Star Fox Command brought the space combat action of the Star Fox series to the Nintendo DS and fundamentally reworked both the controls and the story structure. The game combines a turn-based strategic phase, in which the player plans the routes of Arwing units across the sector map with a finger on the touchscreen, with classic on-rails and free-flight battle sequences in which enemy ships are destroyed by shooting while dodging enemy fire. Controlling the aircraft with the stylus was new for the series and replaced traditional analog controls, which set the game markedly apart from previous entries.

The story of Star Fox Command is unusual for the series in that it offers several different branches and endings depending on the player's decisions during the campaign, adding replay value to the game. Visually, the game combines simple 3D ship models with clear touch interfaces for planning moves, accompanied by a soundtrack that continues the series' traditional orchestral and synthesizer motifs. The game also supported multiplayer over a local wireless connection for battles among multiple players at once.

Reception of Star Fox Command was mixed — the ambition and unconventional approach to controls and storytelling were praised, while some fans missed the more classic on-rails structure of previous entries and criticized the less precise stylus controls in hectic battles. The title also became, for a long time, the last new entry in the series before its many-year hiatus, which in retrospect gave it added significance in the eyes of many players as a kind of transitional point in the brand's development. Nevertheless, the game remains an interesting experiment within the series, showing how the space shooter genre can be adapted to the specifics of a handheld console with a touchscreen, and it remains a discussed entry among Star Fox fans, who still argue to this day over whether the shift toward touch controls was a benefit for the series or a step sideways.