@SOURCE_OF_TRUTHFebruary 04, 2025
My father gifted me games collection for what was probably my tenth birthday, consisting of both what I would later recognize were brilliant classics like "System Shock" and "Wing Commander 3", as well as some weird visual choose-your-own-adventure games like "Peter Pan" and "The Jungle Book". A strange collection but the two Wing Commander games included absolutely captured my interest (and I had yet to see Star Wars the). Flying, fighting evil aliens in tense yet approchable dogfights, all embedded into what felt like a cinematic experience!
While "Wing Commander 3" was obviously the more advanced game, as it came on 4 CDs, the other title captured me fully... and that was "Super Wing Commander". Although I did not know it at the time, this is the 3D0 and Macintosh exclusive remake of the original Wing Commander, with full voice acting, additional missions and fully remade (and re-themed) graphics. And I loved it, probably also because it was more approachable without much knowledge of the English language.
I replayed this game a few years back using a 3DO emulator, curious how that experience that consumed me for years held up 20 years later. And to my surprise, it holds up completely.
The game's simple loop remains brilliant to this day, and works as follows:
* you have one or two short conversations with NPCs, setting the stage and context and providing some lore
* you receive a mission briefing, explaining the tactical situation (and military-themed plot) --- and those briefings are to the point, preparing you for your task
* you fly the mission using a (pre-determined) space fightercraft and return
* you get de-briefed, and your accomplishments and failures are put into context
15minutes per loop, max. Complete satisfaction. No part outstays its welcome. It still absolutely gets me, even today. I long for more games like this, combing stellar gameplay with a thematic experience that never feels gamified.
I would kill for a modern port of this version.