Starflight 2: Trade Routes of the Cloud Nebula

aka: Starflight II
Moby ID: 85
DOS Specs
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Description official descriptions

Following the events of the first Starflight, the galaxy is at relative peace. The balance of power is disrupted when the Spemin, usually a minor nuisance, suddenly gain technological superiority and begin a campaign of expansionism. Through investigation, Interstel determines that the Spemin technology is not their own and that they have obtained it from somewhere on the other side of a flux (wormhole). Interstel commissions a force to visit this area, called the Cloud Nebula, and find a way to nullify the Spemin technology.

Starflight 2 is a space exploration game that contains much of the interface from its predecessor. This includes crew management, ship improvement, resource collection, planet landings, alien diplomacy and exploration of a new galaxy. Much of the gameplay takes place via a standard interface that allows access to ship stations. Landing on a planet however will shift to an overhead view and the player manually controls his rover while searching for objects of interest.

New to Starflight 2 is trading, alien races will now buy and sell unique items at different prices, it is no longer necessary to return to the Interstel starport to sell resources. As mentioned, the galaxy itself and the alien races that inhabit it are also new. New technologies exist for the player such as Blasto Pods (torpedoes); a devastating weapon, and Jump Pods; which will transport anywhere on the starmap.

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Credits (DOS version)

22 People (16 developers, 6 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 77% (based on 11 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.7 out of 5 (based on 46 ratings with 6 reviews)

EA, knowingly, sticks with the formula that works.

The Good
Starflight I successfully combined elements of adventure, light role-playing, diplomacy, and resource management to create an entire open-ended universe that teemed with secrets.

Starflight II doesn't change this foruma. But that's not bad thing. In addition, Starflight II sports better graphics, more alien races, and cooler technologies.

Like Starflight I, there's also a fascinting and intriguing plot that slowly builds to an edge-of-your-seat climax.

I particularly liked that the aliens seemed to have more character depth than they did in SF1. I also thought the humor in SF2 is a lot less subtle than in SF1 but (thank goodness) it's actually really funny.

Binary Systems has also developed the alien personalities with a lot more depth than they did in SF1. Whereas SF1's universe had a huge, dark, empty feeling (and rightly so) - SF2 is full of life, color, and excitement.

The Bad
There's really nothing to dislike about SF2. The only negative point I can think of is that those who've never played SF1 may be somewhat confused near the end.

The Bottom Line
Starflight II is a cross-genre game that does nothing more than build upon the plot developed by Starflight I and give the universe a VGA palette of colors. But this works, and unlike most sequels, Starflight II succesfully carries the banner of being one of the best computer games of all time.

DOS · by John Beeler (2) · 1999

StarFlight2

The Good
Virtually roaming among the stars, can increase my powers. Dangers. Simple but complicated...

The Bad
In StarFlight2, I cannot sell minerals but only artifacts, so it takes longer to build up... Also, is there any walkthrough available?

The Bottom Line
Role game, adventures among the universe with lots of stars to visit and races to cope with...

DOS · by Rene Codere (2) · 2000

A Game I Still Play Today

The Good
This game, and its predecessor, had it all. You flew around in a large universe, with a custom ship AND a custom crew. This game succesfully combined action, strategy, tactics, and a bit of role playing, into what is one of the best science fiction games to date.

There are few games that bring a gleam to my eye and a song to my heart, but the Starflight games accomplish just that. With it's brilliant mix of playability, ease of use, story, humor, and great graphics, this is one game that begs for a sequel.

This is a game to which others like it have been judged, including Star Control 2, a very similar game. :) I can't gush enough about what this series of games means to me. :)

The Bad
Nothing, really. It didn't need any patches like games today. ;)

The Bottom Line
I would describe this game as mix of role playing, science fiction storytelling, and space exploration. It's funny, tense, and though provoking all at the same time. :)

DOS · by Brian Rubin (22) · 1999

[ View all 6 player reviews ]

Trivia

Development

Starflight and Starflight 2 were written in a mixture of Forth (!!) and assembly.

Graphics

While Starflight 2 supports additional video modes, it loses a video mode of the original: 16-color CGA composite mode.

Awards

  • Computer Gaming World
    • September 1990 (Issue #74) – Role-Playing Game of the Year
    • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #6 Least Rewarding Ending of All Time

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  • MobyGames ID: 85
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Trixter.

Amiga, Macintosh added by Terok Nor. Windows added by eWarrior.

Additional contributors: MAT, Shoddyan, Patrick Bregger.

Game added March 8, 1999. Last modified January 19, 2024.