Star Control

The Good
Well, stellar battle at its finest... in 1990. This was a fantastic little game back in its day. I remember going to my friend Steve's house after school and giving a good few rounds against him. He'd play on one half of the keyboard, I'd be stuck with the a's and d's. Awkward and disadvantaged, but still wonderful fun.

The ships are so eccentric and fun to play, you've really got to experience the game to understand. The monstrous Ur-Quan have a secondary fire that releases little astronauts that sap the shields from a ship, but sending them out reduces your ship's hit points. The Shofixti are a raccoon race that pilot a tiny ship -- that self-destructs if desired. Yes, a pyrrhic victory is the idea. There's a classic flying saucer craft piloted by the Arilou that jumps around with its warp drive and strikes with a short-range auto-tracking laser, And then there's a crystalline entity ship used by the Chenjesu that fires projectiles that fly right across the playing area, loop around to the other side of the screen, and keep going... until you press fire and have the shell fragment into a burst of shrapnel.

Such imaginative ships, such fun gameplay, I really do take this sort of game over 99% of the PlayStation3 crap released today. It's really not about graphics, it's about gameplay, But I'm sure you don't need to hear me preach.

The Bad
Not much to nitpick here. The game ran fine in 1990, although I haven't really played it much since then. This is a heritage title that is dated by modern technology, but I'm sure I'm not the only person in the world who fondly remembers going toe-to-toe with a friend after downing some Fresca and Doritos.

The Bottom Line
Blitzkrieg action, although elements of strategy can occur. This is an exceedingly fun game with a great interstellar warfare theme that was expanded upon in later titles.

Highly recommended, although I seriously doubt anybody is going to go and buy it in 2008. Team Fortress 2 is kind of head-and-heels superior to this little gem, unless you have a strong craving for 286-era games.