Star Control II (1992)

Note - This pertains to the Ur-Quan Masters remake.

The first Star Control wasn't really much to write home about, being a mix of frustrating Spacewar combat and slow strategic elements. This game may keep the Spacewar but throws the strategy out the window in favor of a massive adventure spanning the galaxy where resource management is key and friends are in faraway places.

Making a long story short, the player is a member of a group of humans harnessing ancient alien technology. Returning to Earth, you see that the Ur-Quan have sealed the planet and are threatening to take over the galaxy. The name of the game is finding allies among the stars and figure out a way to stop the Ur-Quan, but the game starts out with a steep difficulty curve.

The player can move in a large flagship as well as stock smaller ships for dogfights. When moving about, the player must keep in mind fuel, crew, and upgrades such as turning jets, thrusters, and extra fuel/crew/storage/firepower. The planets that the player explores are the main form of resource in either material or bio-readings, but can get pretty tricky when it comes to figuring out which planet actually has what you're looking for. There are color codes and a starmap to help, at least, though the player will often try and fail frequently until they get the hang of scouring the star system.

Once the player gets their bearings, the game really opens up and gets a lot more fun and interesting. Most of the alien races will be open to friendly conversation and will be up for joining the Alliance against the Ur-Quan, given that you help them with certain tasks. Taking out enemy ships, deactivating wild probes, putting together ritual machines, and even just talking to the aliens are some of the things the player will be indulging in. It's very easy to get lost at the beginning, but with luck the player will run into a helpful merchant who can map most of the player's necessary locations on their journey. The player can even upgrade their transportation to carry more fuel and to travel the galaxy at a much faster rate, which is key given a very anxious time limit a-la Fallout.

As for combat, the game is very accommodating in keeping necessary combat to a minimum. The combat is very much like the original Star Control, except with a little better control over one's ship and a larger variety to choose from. There are still moments (such as the end) with very strict and frustrating requirements on ship that may feel like an unfair imbalance, but the player can get by with a flexible roster throughout their journey.

The real bread and butter, however, are the unique alien races that the player will run into throughout the journey, and there are a LOT. The timid Spathi, the peculiar Arilou, the depressing Utwig, and even the dreaded Kohr-Ah. Each of them are unique and fun to talk to, with rich and intriguing cultures (with a couple of racist and sexist outliers due to the year being 1992). The animations and design of each alien are incredibly detailed and very interesting to look at, and the voice acting is silly but worth listening to. The music is also top-notch for a game at this time, probably one of the best parts of the entire game.

Star Control 2 might not be the best at keeping the player from losing their sanity over a steep initial curve and a mildly confusing start up, but if the player can keep at it for a bit while and focus their resources, they have a rich and intriguing adventure on their hands. Anyone tired out by Star Control 1 will be rejuvenated by this very fresh journey.