Master of Orion

The Good
When I first played Master of Orion in 1993 it quickly became one of my favourite games. To this day not found a better TBS, including Civilization. The reason for Master of Orion's success is simple: a perfect mix of macro and micro managing, and very fast micromanaging. Because every planet can be controlled quickly from the main screen using a system of sliders, you can quickly tweak each of the systems under your control, even in late game. In later Master of Orion games and in pretty much every other TBS out there, micromanaging quickly becomes a chore which wears you down and disinterests you in the game. Whenever I play Civilization, I end up quiting around three quarters through the game as gameplay becomes bogged down, slow, and monotonous. In MOO, every control is carefully laid out so you have less screens to cycle through, and more time to strategize as opposed to micromanaging. Add on to MOO's strong foundation a solid tech tree, a very fast yet deep combat system, and an interesting array of races and random events, and you have a classic and the best TBS ever created.

The Bad
The only flaw in MOO is the building limit for ships. After you have made a certain amount of ship designs, you cannot create another without scraping an existing design and all the ships associated with it. This does streamline gameplay, but for me at least, it reminds me of an unrealistic technical limitation which takes my imagination out of the game world.

The Bottom Line
Overall Master of Orion is the best TBS game ever created, and perhaps the best overall strategy game as well.