Star Fox Command, released for the Nintendo DS on August 28, 2006 in North America, is the most experimental Star Fox game ever made — and the only Star Fox handheld original. Built around a strategic galactic-map layer with touchscreen-controlled dogfights, Star Fox Command is also the only entry in the series with multiple endings: nine wildly different conclusions, each branching from late-game choices.
Star Fox Command splits play into two layers. On the top screen, a real-time-with-pause galactic map shows enemy fleets approaching Corneria; you draw flight paths for each pilot with the stylus and choose interceptions. On the bottom screen, individual dogfights play out in all-range-mode arenas controlled almost entirely by touch — you steer the Arwing by drawing lines, and tap to fire. It's bold, divisive, and the one Star Fox game that genuinely tries something new.
Star Fox Command's branching ending structure is its most-discussed feature. After certain mid-game decisions, the story splits into nine possible conclusions — some happy (Fox and Krystal reunite), some bittersweet (Falco leaves the team), some weird (Slippy gets married). The endings are technically all canonical-optional; series writers have largely ignored them in subsequent games, leaving Command's narrative as a kind of "what-if" sandbox.
Years after the Aparoid invasion, the Star Fox team has disbanded. Fox is alone, Krystal has joined Star Wolf, Falco has gone solo, and a new threat — the Anglar Empire from beneath Venom's seas — is invading the Lylat system. Star Fox Command reunites the team mission by mission, with the player choosing whose perspective to follow at each branch.
Star Fox Command reviewed in the high 70s and sold reasonably well (1.5+ million copies) on the back of strong DS hardware momentum. The touch-only flight controls remain the main critical sticking point — a small minority loved them, most found them awkward — but Command's narrative ambition and its nine endings have cemented its cult status.