Taken on its own merits, Star Control III is a serviceable though unremarkable space adventure. Little of the plot is memorable, but is entertaining enough in the moment. SC3 goes through many of the same motions as its predecessor, but unfortunately it is rarely as inspired, particularly in a finale that feels pat and rushed. The new colony mechanics are an interesting addition that I wish had worked out better. Founding a colony is simplistic - only bother with places that are friendly to a given alien species and have a lot of minerals, leave everything else be. The building up of colonies is thoroughly route mostly an exercise in letting game time pass. Additionally, their role in the game is not very well balanced: pay them no attention and you might find yourself running out of resources, but go ahead and devote some effort to their founding and progress, and you will quickly find yourself easily awash in everything you need. Largely, the colony system just serves to gate your access to the map and the story a little. Combat is probably the game's strongest point, largely sticking to the proven formulas of the Star Control series. However, it's still inferior to Star Control 2: it just doesn't feel as good as the classic installments, and Legend did make some mistakes, particularly in balancing. (My favorite gaff: the Pkunk auto-revival is now player-controlled and 100% achievable, as opposed to its purely random chance in SC2. Don't try playing hotseat multiplayer against your friends, folks...) Ultimately, Star Control III is not a bad game - it's just not a good one either. There are many better games you could be playing, including its predecessor Star Control 2: The Ur-Quan Masters.
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.
