Star Control I & II

Just pretend I said whatever combination of words are required to get you to play it, and play it. If that didn't work, try these... SC2 is a spaceship RPG where you command a space carrier that flies around the galaxy making friends and collecting a fleet of their ships in order to save the day! Nah, not really. SC2 is a galactic history simulator wherein a ton of alien species acting on a multi-layered story go about the business of remaking the map entirely as time goes by. Somewhere in that is some randomly generated plot element about a space carrier that flies around the galaxy making friends and collecting a fleet of their ships in order to desperately try to derail the galactic plot into one that ensures their own pathetic survival. And it's a comedy. What I truly love about this game is that the galaxy isn't made for the player, it's made to play itself out on its own plan. The player's task is to push their way into this plot and steer it in a different direction. It would take a series of book to list all the ways you do this, this game is a science fiction epic. The plot is fantastic, the characters are hilarious, and the desperation is real. Battlestar Galactica is the Love Boat compared to this insane nightmare comedy universe. Be prepared to play it more than once, possibly for years.

There's an open source version on sourceforge. sc2.sourceforge.net They've also ported it to linux, mac, PSP, Wii, iPhone/ iPod Touch, Android, Pocket PC, and more!

Decades on from when I booted up a copy for the first time, Star Control 2: The Ur-Quan Masters remains one of the best games I've ever played. This 256-color little-game-that-could somehow packs combat and resource management together with grand plot, humor, and memorable characters all in the same package. While not every piece of it is an outright winner - the planet landings in particular are a simplistic bit of play that may outstay their welcome - no link in the chain is outright weak. If you are looking for a fantastic sci-fi adventure, The Ur-Quan Masters is it. However, keep a couple things in mind: First, there is a freeware version of SC2 called simply "The Ur-Quan Masters." Rebuilt for modern operating systems off an enhanced (voiced!) version of the game that was made for console, The Ur-Quan Masters is the free, superior version of the game that you should be playing. Feel free to buy this version to throw the developers & rights-holders a little money, but this is frankly NOT the version you should be installing and playing. Second, this is an older game that expects you to make your own notes. There is no quest log. You will want to have a piece of paper by you as you play, whether physical or virtual. When someone gives you coordinates or the name of a star system, you are expected to record it yourself! As for Star Control 1, it is frankly not worth a play any more. It is interesting for its melding of a combat game with a strategy layer. However, the sequel improved the combat portion, and the strategy layer is lite and frustrating: it features an annoying, impossible-to-read 3D starmap that will probably drive you away from the full game all on its own.

As a previous review mentioned, you should get the free version. But it is not a freeware version, it's an open source/free version. The difference is important. In 2002 (ten years after 1992), Toys for Bob (the developers) released the source code to whoever was willing to update for modern platforms. They have improved of some aspects of the game, but have decided for the most part to remain entirely true to the original game. With the source code freely available, anyone - including you - can modify the game as you desire. You just cannot distribute it under the name 'Star Control 2'.

I played the Ur-quan Masters and loved it for combining Star Control 1 and another of my favorite old games, Starflight. As a lot of people have pointed out, you can get Ur-quan Masters for free, and it's probably better than this release of SC2. But Star Control 1 was a good game in its own right. Yes, UQM has the melee mode that makes up half of SC1, but I really liked the strategy mode. It's great with another local player, especially if you've got joysticks. It's about as fun as a really good classic board game. That, and the hope that some of the money from this purchase will benefit the game's creators (either directly or indirectly by helping to persuade Activision to fund a sequel), makes this seem like a worthwhile purchase to me.