Star Trek™: 25th Anniversary

I originally played this as a kid when it first came out and it holds up beautifully. It's the most Star Trek-y game IMHO (along with Judgement Rites, which is basically more chapters of the same game). You get a classic point and click and control the core crew members for most of the game. The ship combat is VERY basic, but still a charming space shooter mini game with some damage and power management. It doesn't take up much real estate time-wise, so you get to the more outstanding stuff pretty quick after you find your destination and either hail, consult the computer and bridge crew before beaming down. (Pair this with Bridge Commander and all your bases are covered.) The real meat are the point and click portions and truly feel like solving a mystery or problem each episode in classic TOS fashion. The actions are pretty unique from other PnC's as well; you can use any of the crew members directly in a situation (Spock might do a Vulcan neck pinch or calmly try to communicate with an alien depending on the situation), or you can apply the expected tools (communicator, tricorder, phaser, etc.). There's often item management and combination, but it's never tedious or so random as to be unguessable as to what the solution is. A few even require some basic science knowledge, like the episode where you're converting and combining liquids and gasses a la 7th grade science class to get a specific result. I first played the floppy disc version, but the cast voices were added for the CD-rom version for even more flavor. Definitely one of my first all-time favorite games (and still the case almost 30 years later!)

I've never really followed Star Trek, but I always thought the overall concept is perfect for video games. So the prospect of any adventure game set in this universe is most welcome. Visuals are pretty good for the era. The sound is great, especially if you take into account that they scored the original cast for the voice acting. The story is interesting enough to keep most sci-fi fans engaged. But the game-play is well ahead of it's time! From dialogue options to space combat, this really offers a different, yet fun, experience in comparison to other point and click games of this era. If you are a fan of Star Trek, sci-fi, point and click or all of the above, well worth your time. Definitely ranks in games I wish I played when I was younger.

The reviews of ST25 here on GOG seem to be very inflated by nostalgia. I have never played this game before and I am not a Trekkie, but I do have my own nostalgia for old point&clicks and especially the old Wing Commanders (although I started with WC III back in the day). I really do enjoy Wing Commander 1, 2 and Privateer a lot. ST25 mixes these two genres, which is an interesting concept. Unfortunately ST25 isn't a very good P&C game and shooting star ships is more fun in Wing Commander. - The puzzles are not very clever. - Combining items is not obvious and kind of "hidden", so be aware that you CAN combine items. - The interface is very clunky. - Technobabble is not suitable for puzzles. - Space combat is okay, but you will struggle with the low resolution. And so on. HOWEVER: I can't deny that this game has a lot of charm. The episodic structure is reminiscent of the TV Show and the Stories do feel like Star Trek. The voice over adds to the atmosphere. Commanding your crew on the bridge (repairs, navigation, research, hailing etc.) is kind of fun. And I also like that you get a score for each mission (up to 100%), which is rewarding and gives you incentives to replay them and to find out, what you missed on your first try. I think you need to be in one of the nostalgia camps to appreciate this game, because there are many games that are better than ST25 and also much cheaper. I also think that 9.99 Dollars/Euros is WAY too much and almost a rip off. So if you are curious, please wait for a sale, like I did.

Thank You GOG for releasing the Star Trek games (25th Anniversary, Judgment Rites, Starlet Academy) for download!! I finally get to relive my gaming past, being something of a Star Trek fan! And, two of the titles are for MACs!! THANK YOU!!!

This game should be great and nearly is but its flaws are so glaring I could not recommend it. So the positives, it does really re-create the feel of the original Star Trek series, it’s split into episodes and each episode could be a TV episode. The writing is good and the production values for the most part are very high, all the lines of the main characters are voiced by the original cast not just the cut scenes or main speeches, everything. The dynamic of the game is great, it does a surprisingly good job of putting you in the captain’s seat, Spock scan this, Chekov raise shields etc. it also has a points system so there may be many ways through but did you do it as Shatner would’ve wanted?!? So what’s the problem? It’s the controls, the controls are just hideous there are sort of modes you get set in, look, pickup, you interact, Spock interact, Mc Coy interact, Ensign Ricky interact, use item etc. Changing in between these modes requires a lot of clicking and working out or remembering some modes exist is a challenge in itself. I had to google how to combine items, I’d assumed for most of the game it was impossible but then there were 2 items that just had to go together but I couldn’t figure out how. Part of the problem is despite high production values in most places for a lot of “bad” interactions there’s no feedback, not even an on-screen message “these don’t go together” or “you can’t do that” so you don’t really know if it’s not worked or if you didn’t quite click in the right place. Quite often the later is the case, I’m sure at some points I tried the same thing several times then on the 10th time of trying it magically worked… but why? This made the game not only incredibly frustrating and long winded to play but also difficult, but not in a good what a cool puzzle I’m so smart for working it out kind of way. So am I glad I played it… yes I guess so, I will certainly talk to my friends about it. Would I recommend any of them play it… no.