Star Control

aka: starcon
Moby ID: 205
DOS Specs
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Description official descriptions

Star Control is a science-fiction wargame which pits the forces of the Alliance of Free Stars against those of the predatory Ur-Quan Hierarchy. The games are designed so that you can ease into play, familiarizing yourself with menus, options and player controls. The Alliance and Hierarchy each possess different types of warships. Each vessel has its own maneuvering and firing characteristics, plus a unique special power that you can employ when circumstances dictate.

The game has two modules: the Melee, in which you can simply blast the computer or another player to smithereens using one of 16 different ships, in either Hierarchy or Alliance fleets; or, should you wish for a more challenging game, lets you play one of 9 preset scenarios.

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (DOS version)

37 People (17 developers, 20 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 64% (based on 24 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.5 out of 5 (based on 75 ratings with 9 reviews)

A great game bested by its sequel.

The Good
It's a great game that developed upon the idea of games like Thrust and added improvements such as multiple and unique weapon types for each ship. I also quite liked the full game (when playing two player of course) as it added more to the game than simplying blasting your opponent away.

The Bad
Not a great deal except that it really wasn't as good for single player.

The Bottom Line
A great game to play, especailly for two people, but it's is beat all round by its sequel (except for the multiplay fullgame mode.)

DOS · by Fafnir (103) · 2001

Great concept, painful implementation.

The Good
The Star Control series has quite possibly one of the best concepts and storylines used in a sci-fi game to date. The races, the interaction, the combat system, all very clever and unique. It's a game that leaves you craving it for years if you haven't played it in that time. And in Star Control 2 & 3, it just gets better.

The Bad
However, the reality is, Star Control 1 is actually pretty sad. I might even go so far as to say that if you played this over a decade ago and haven't seen it since, leave the past in the past and keep the pleasant memories. In reality, as great as the concept still is, the playability of this game leaves a lot to be desired. There is no set storyline or single player "campaign", just a set of individual - and fairly dull - combat scenarios. The rotating starmap is an instant headache, unless your idea of stargazing involves staring at your monitor for half an hour trying to work out which stars have a close enough orbit for a jump.

And last but not least, Star Control's biggest letdown is the Ur-Quan Dreadnought. While most games tend to balance their combat pieces strengths and weaknesses - ie. stronger units are often slow and bulky, units with a strong ranged attack are weak at close combat, etc. - the Dreadnought is undoubtedly strong to the point of an unfair advantage. In any and all scenarios that involve ship building, the player that controls the Hierarchy starbase and can build a Dreadnought, WILL win the scenario, be it a human opponent or the computer AI. The ship can wipe out any five other ships even in the hands of an incompetent player or the lowest difficulty AI.

The Bottom Line
If you have a craving to aggressively attack some Alliance aliens, or horrifically hurt some Hierarchy hostiles, play StarCon 2 or 3. They come with a detailed storyline campaign, a distinctly improved navigation and combat system, and a much higher overall playability while still retaining that unique Star Control feel. As for StarCon 1 though? Play it only if you want to see where it all began - otherwise, leave the past in the past.

DOS · by Vaelor (400) · 2005

I still can't believe its not really that good of a game!

The Good
I spent more time playing this game than in Calculus class, and my grade proves it. This was the best game of its kind during its time. Turn your opponent's empire into star dust memory using different ships with different attack/defense abilities. Combat resolution is ship v. ship with your and/or your friend controlling every nuance of real time action.

The Bad
Why can't they make Calculus 1/1,000th as fun?

The Bottom Line
I've heard Star Control 2 is better, and I believe it. Looking back, SC1 was not really that great of a game. Btw, the computer is really dumb. So the only way you will get addicted to this game is to get at least one of your friends addicted to it first.

DOS · by Yeah Right (50) · 2000

[ View all 9 player reviews ]

Trivia

Inspiration

The "special thanks" in the manual list off an equally large number of sci-fi authors whose work in some way influenced the game. It's fairly rare for game designers to be so rigorous in documenting their inspirations.

References

The vast majority of captain names in the game were taken from various famous and semi-famous sci-fi sources. (far too many to list here. For example, there's a Syreen Captain Alia (from Dune) and an Earth Captain Pike (from Star Trek))

Title

From almost the very beginning of his video game design career, Paul Reiche III has revisited the theme of pitting varied teams of carefully balanced but widely varied opponents against each other, first in 1983's Archon and most recently in 1998's The Unholy War (and its Japanese analogue, Little Witching Mischiefs).

Star Control also falls in the middle of this chain, and its heritage is plainly spelled out phonetically in its abbreviation:

__Archon Star_Con

Awards

  • Computer Gaming World
    • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #127 in the “150 Best Games of All Time” list

Information also contributed by Pseudo_Intellectual

Analytics

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Related Games

Star Control Collection
Released 1994 on DOS, 2011 on Windows, 2012 on Macintosh
Star Control: Origins
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Star Control II
Released 1992 on DOS, Linux, 2002 on Windows...
Star Control 3
Released 1996 on DOS, 1998 on Macintosh, Windows
Star Control: Origins - Reinforcements
Released 2018 on Windows
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Star Control: Origins - Earth Rising
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Related Sites +

  • ComSim Central
    Info on getting the game, and lots of scenarios for the full game.
  • The Dot Eaters
    The Dot Eaters: Videogame History 101 An extensive history of videogames, including computer games and the work of Paul Reiche and Freefall Associates.
  • The Pages of Now and Forever
    This site could perhaps be called the heart of the Star Control fan movement on the 'net.

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 205
  • [ Please login / register to view all identifiers ]

Contribute

Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history! If your contribution is approved, you will earn points and be credited as a contributor.

Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Tomer Gabel.

Genesis added by PCGamer77. Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum added by Martin Smith. Commodore 64, Amiga added by Servo.

Additional contributors: Ben Voynick, RmM, Ummagumma, WizardX, Ricky Derocher, Patrick Bregger.

Game added August 11, 1999. Last modified February 13, 2024.