Startopia

Startopia has always been a very addictive (just 10 more minutes please) AND enjoyable game. It may not be one of those games that you want to play for weeks on end, but a day or two every week might surely be what you can expect. I played Startopia when it was first released in 2001 and remember how many hours I put into it back then. It's really a space station building game that is sure to be fun for most City Building game fans. It works well on widescreen, at least it does on my 16:9 (1600x900) screen resolution without just stretching the images, and it still to this day plays solid on my Windows 7 computers. Graphics: Cute and whimsical. They still hold up well today in 2012 in my opinion. Narration: Seems very typical British humor and is done quite well. Music: In my opinion, was pretty darn good for 2001, though you may tire of it and need to turn it down or off today in 2012. Controls: Remarkably well done for a game from 2001, I can think of many games from that era who's GUI was absolutely abysmal and they were considered to be AAA titles. Startopia does it really well with minimal amount of clutter on the screen at any one time. Game play: If you enjoy building cities in games like the original SimCity then you may very well enjoy Startopia. It's all about building well... buildings on a space station, the strategy really is to make sure that you can include all of the buildings that you need within the limited amount of space on the space station. Camera: Once you learn to use your keyboard and the mouse then moving the camera around the space station is a breeze. You can zoom all the way down to deck level or way way out. I only wish that we could zoom maybe one more notch out, it's fully workable and doesn't inhibit the playing of the game at all but one more notch out would have been nice. But as it is now you still can see plenty on your screen at one time, the camera will zoom, pan, and twist as you decide. For a game from 2001, it's actually an excellent camera system. Recommendations: I definitely recommend this to my city building gaming fans, it was a lot of fun back in 2001 and is still a heck of a lot of fun in 2012 as well.

I'm not one for strategy or simulation but let me tell you - this game is addictive! Like - first time you ever played Sim City addictive. I keep coming back for more again and again. Set it down for a few months - think I've kicked the habit, and then wouldn't you know it, I'm back at it - selling space junk, terraforming, and finding ways to let my aliens live large. This game is a real gem!

I bought this game when it was originally released. It was the only copy the store bought. It was the best decision on a game I ever made. It has aged amazingly. You wouldn't think the game was released in 2001. I still play this game on a daily basis and will buy it on GOG so I don't have to use my CD or mount an image of the disk. If you like sim games you will love this one. Some of the creators of Theme Hospital worked on this, that should tell you something. You also have a variety of ways to play. You can be casual and have no AI or you can go all the way to allow wars with the AI. The sandbox mode never gets old for me either. I've been playing the game for 11 years now. I can't say I've been played a single game for such a long period. So stop reading and buy it :)

GoG is full of reviews declaring the aforementioned game as 'the best of its kind'. This review is one more of those; Startopia from Mucky Foot is the best Bullfrog game ever made. It is the culmination of all the design principles that made Bullfrog's economic management sims like Theme Park and Theme Hospital fantastic, coupled with an offbeat sense of humour inspired by Douglas Adams (to whom the game is dedicated). The game simulates the economic management of a dilapidated, toriodal space station. There are 10 missions to complete which each take a few hours and touch on the games various mechanics, which are diverse but consistently entertaining; everything from trading with passing merchant ships, providing tourist attractions, medical facilities, security, farming on the biodeck and waging war with other station. Most of the game is quite hands-off. You personally manage the maintenance droids and hire staff from station visitors but this is not an RTS; orders are more like suggestions and things like building or attacking are only done when someone is available to do them. This is also like other Bullfrog games, for better or worse, a very light simulation. You won't be micromanaging imports and exports, you'll be focussing on the routine jobs like harvesting crops and managing trading, and the big picture planning in designing how your station is going to look. But where this game shines is how seamless everything behind the scenes is managed. Bullfrog games always focus on having fun and this one is no exception; I never felt hamstrung by the lack of control, instead empowered by it to do things my way. With it's quirky Hitchhiker sense of humour, colourful graphics and thematic sci-fi music, every part of this game is consistent and enjoyable. I can't recommend it enough.

That being, Startopia is criminally underrated. I bought this game on disc back in the day, and 20+ years later it has aged quite well, so much so I re-bought it on GOG to play on a modern system. Startopia is one cruzy little management game where you play the "Administrator" in a donut-in-space station, building various facilities for both leisure and industry, then sitting back and watching cutesy alien visitors come aboard and make use of them. You also hire these alien visitors to run the facilities. You have virtually zero control over these "Residents", which is both a good and bad thing: Good because it prevents you from being sucked into the vortex of micromanagement, but bad if you like that sort of thing. Game controls are smooth and the graphics crisp, the poly count not so low as to look thoroughly antiquated (especially running on modern video hardware), with a retro-synthy soundtrack and pithy commentary courtesy of your Brit assistant who sounds a lot like the guy from Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy. In fact some of his in-game gags might be lost on modern audiences... but I don't think so. Conflict with other Administrators on the station is an option... BUT... combat in Startopia is horribly broken, and this is my one gripe with this game. Thanks to the lack of control over your residents they tend to do really stupid things, like make suicide runs so deep into enemy territory their lasers are useless. Sighs. That said, Startopia a great little game if you wish to just burn some leisurely hours sitting back with a nice jaunt on a space station that won't get your teeth grinding.