The greatest game in the series since Star Fox 64. Fox is back where he belongs: in the cockpit.
Okay, enough about the story. If you wanted a great story you would read a book. Basically you start off as pilot Fox McCloud and after beating the first default storyline you get this Key of Destiny thing that lets you choose any number of paths that lead to one of nine endings. Also don't worry about visiting a planet twice. Just because you fought on a planet in one story line doesn't mean it'll be the same in another story line. Also different story lines will team you up with different pilots, up to four. There are 15 different pilots to lead the counter attack against the Anglers.
Now for the full gameplay. It integrates the DS' unique control system and duel screen format. In map mode you have a top screen which shows the status of your team or anything you click on the bottom screen. The bottom screen shows the overall battlefield. You use the stylus to pick out a flight path for each fighter in your squadren. Also if you collect any missles, either by destoying all the enemys in a single fight or finding them on the battlefield. You'll also see the location of core enemys and bases. In flight the top screen has all the traditional information while the bottom screen shows the radar for the entire field your on. Flight is controled by the touchscreen. The smart bombs are even smarter as you can drag the bomb icons to the location you want them to hit. You can do loops and u-turns at the touch of a button. Barrol Roles are done by swishing the stick from one side to the other. It's not too difficult once you get the hang of it, and not only does it deflect weapons fire it also attracts bonus items like time bonuses, health rings, and bombs. Oh and cores. The enemys let a group of their units to be controlled by 'core' units. When you defeat them they drop cores which you then collect. Collecting them all will take you back to the map screen. You can kill them quickly or destroy all the enemys for points. The enemy also has motherships that fly over ally bases. Once you defeat all the core enemys in that area you have to do a barrol role to wipe out the ship. There are some other minor restrictions that are easy enough to overcome once you get the hang of it, but overall this is a solid game. The nine ending, thirty missions, and the number of possible combinations make for a game that may be the best in the series, with the only fault possible being that it's on a handheld. If this kind of game had been on the console there would be no doubt of it being the best StarFox game ever. Although on the brightside it is portable.