The Starfox franchise is no stranger to experimentation, with the original SNES game bringing 3D polygons, Starfox 64 introduced rumble with the Rumble Pak, and even experimented within it's own series, some with drastic changes(like Adventures), and some feeling close to what we expect from the series(Assault), with Starfox Command kind of in the middle, as while it does do somethings similar yet different compared to more traditional games in the series

One thing the game does in terms of the series roots is a return to a purely air-based combat, but at the same time it does a different take on it. Instead of arcade style on-rail shooter, the game takes a tactical approach where you where you are given a number of turns(which you can get more by destroying enemy bases) give a select number of characters(up to 4) a path you set towards enemies, enemy missiles, and capture enemy bases, and engaging in quick all-range dogfights defeating enemies and gaining enemy cores, or you engage in destroying missles by following beacons until you are close enough to shoot them down, and with enemy bases, you can destroy enemies to get a chance to destroy the mothership by following beacons and destroying the mothership by barrol rolling into it...seriously. It's also worth noting that a lot of the game's inspiration comes from the cancelled Starfox 2.

For the most part the game can be fun if you can get past some annoying drawbacks. For starters, the game is entirely controlled with the DS touchscreen, including Barrel Rolls by drawing circles on the touchscreen, dragging smart bombs, u-turns, and somersaults via buttons on the screen, which for game like Starfox can be a pretty big pain in the ass at first. I remember when I first played the game I was really turned off by the touchscreen controls to the point where I was put off the game for a month until I decided to give the game another chance, and played it enough to where I was able to play the game easily and enjoy. While I did ultimately get used to the controls, I feel it would've been a better idea to allow control with the d-pad, as I felt playing the game with the touchscreen in general would turn off the people who wasn't a fan of the touchscreen.

One other annoying mechanic is the time limit(ala fuel) given to players for each time they fight, and are shared with all characters and goes into boss fights as well, though you can gain more fuel cells to increase your time limit, and deflecting projectiles can also increase your time limit. Once you get used to it, it's not as big of a deal, but when you start playing for the first time, it can be a huge turn off.

Boss fights are also pretty fun, one of which even features a fight with F-Zero's Octoman

The game doesn't really look to bad either, the in game graphics are exactly what you expect from a DS Starfox game. The character designs are serviceable, though for some reason they thought it was a good idea to have almost every female pink

Funny enough the girl that was pink in the past is now grey(I feel like I'm in the minority that prefer's Katt's new design)

A big change from this game was a bigger emphasis on the story. In the past games, the stories were, while enjoyable, were really just basic, simple, and typical things you'd expect from their games, while the game's main draw was the engaging gameplay. Starfox Command however decided to take a new approach and try to get you more engaged with the characters and the plot. All of this would normally be all fine and good...if it wasn't for how over-dramatic and serious the game takes itself and with how the characters act; the game feels like a really bad space soap-opera with furries(or Gundam SEED with furries)

Basically bad fanfiction

The game starts off with the Starfox team disbanding, with Peppy becoming the new Cornerian Army general after Pepper falls ill, Slippy staying with his girlfriend, Falco leaving to go solo, leaving Fox, Krystal and ROB. Sometime however, Fox ultimately decides to give Krystal the boot for her safety(urrrggghhhh...). Meanwhile a new army arises from the seas of Venom, the Anglar army, with it's emperor planning on taking over the Lylat System. Meanwhile, Starwolf becomes wanted criminals with high bounties on their heads

As far as the characters go...ummm....well....well Slippy and Peppy mostly went in and out unscathed. If anything they're probably the only characters that really benefited from the game's narrative. As for the rest, Falco, even though he doesn't feel much different from what he's been in the past, does have his own fair share of bullshit moments. Fox and Krystal, however, were beaten over the heads with the stupid drama hammer. Throughout most of the game, Fox is an emotional wreck often begging on his knees for Krystal to forgive him.

Speaking of which, let's talk about Krystal for a minute. Krystal is mean in this game, often giving Fox verbal thrashings, and even driving Slippy to tears at some points. She also joins Star Wolf and begins dating Panther just to spite Fox. I get that people can become bitter when someone breaks their hearts at points in their lives, but Jesus Christ girl. Another issue I have with this is that it further establishes the stigma that she's Fox's girl, and that's really about it, which was an unfortunate trait she's had since Assault. But one thing I will say it did that Assault failed at was giving a few small touches such as her apparently being close to Peppy and his daughter Lucy(I'll talk about her later), as well as

Anyway back to the rest, Star Wolf is...not as entertaining as they have been in the past. Leon, again, just feels like he's their to be his right-handed man, Wolf rather than a rival/anti-hero comes off as an honorable foe, which isn't bad, but it's still a little lame. Panther picked up a new habit of taking in third person, and it is really fucking stupid, anything he tries to say menacing just comes off as laughably bad with his third person. Katt and Bill from Starfox 64 also return, and are mostly unchanged, though Katt also ghas her share of Bullshit drama as well. Several new characters are introduced as well, Amanda(Slippy's Girlfriend), Lucy Hare(Peppy's daughter and Krystal's supposed best friend), and Dash Bowman(another one of Andross's nephews, though unlike Andrew, he dislike his uncle) and while they aren't the greatest, I did fairly enjoy them, and would be a little disappointed if they were left out of the next game(though I could do without Amanda honestly)

One of the benefits of having plenty of characters though is that you get to control all of them. Unlike previous games which mostly had you control Fox(unless you were playing multiplayer), you get to take control of several of the game's characters(including James McCloud!), each with their own unique ships and statistics.

One of the game's best features, something that's been missing since Adventures and Assault, was the return of branching paths and several alternate endings. Depending on what decisions you make throughout the game, you can change the story and the outcome which will give you access to 9 different endings, each different from one another. While whether any of them are any good is subjective, it does give the game high replayability(as some paths are more enjoyable than others)

There's no more multiplayer. Nintendo nuked it

FINAL VERDICT: I personally thought the game was really fun, in spite of the learning curve and the shitty story, and I did managed to find a few endings that I liked(thought they're all neutral because I'm boring like that). I do think there is something here if you can get passed the touchscreen controls, poor story and well...questionable art direction