Starflight™ 1+2

I bought Starflight I with my first computer, a Tandy 1000sx. It was beautiful in 16 colors. Imagine what a rewrite could do for this game. SF2 was just as good and in VGA! I can't recommend these games enough. Just try to figure it out on your own without help from the internet.

The original Starflight was a unique CRPG for its day, and it's still great now - it involves taking a crew of humans, mechans and aliens through a large galaxy as you gradually uncover the mystery of why solar flares are occurring in solar systems with inhabited worlds. Along the way, you mine minerals, encounter alien races, look for worlds that can be colonized and search for artifacts that can give you an edge in your exploration. The story's climax is intriguing, and even though the game never technically "ends," there is a definite conclusion to the central mystery. Starflight is rather well-known for being a game that offers little in the way of direction; you really have to piece together a lot of pieces of information and keep careful track of coordinates given to you in messages, diplomatic endeavors and cryptic ruin remains. The game's star chart (originally packed in the box) also has some clues. Starflight 2 is a lesser game than the original in some ways; it's a little bit more focused on the series's odd sense of humor and also feels less epic than the original. But it improves on the concept by focusing on trade routes (rather than mere mineral mining) and adding inhabited worlds to the fray. It also features 256-color graphics, which makes it look less primitive than the original. Both of these games are fantastic and well worth the dozens of hours required to fully explore them. Don't cheat yourself by using a walkthrough that will tell you all of the flux locations, colonizable worlds and artifact coordinates; you'll enjoy each game so much more if you keep a notebook handy and let the stories guide you on what to do next. Both of these games have influences that can be heavily felt in the Star Control, Mass Effect and Space Rangers games. But Starflight is also an unparalleled experience that has yet to be exceeded by any of its offshoots.

I wanted to play this game so bad, back in 1994, when I first got my hand on a computer, that I actually set beside my computer playing this, with a dictionary open on my desk. Just think about it. I still can't find an equalent only poor imitations, even though today's technology could surely provide all the necessary codes to see this game in a 3D world with amazing galaxies and planets!

When I submitted a "thank you" to Hello Games a couple of years ago in a photobook signed by me I referenced this very game - one of the first sandbox space exploration games that I could remember. Created when I was 11 years old, this game absolutely captivated me in my formative years. I can remember forming different varieties of crewmembers from the six selected races, visiting the various planets throughout the Milky Way, and getting ever-so-frustrated when my ship was destroyed and I had to start all over again (because if I turned my computer off, the game would not save properly and I'd have to start right from the beginning again). Nevertheless, it wasn't until my Commodore 64 version that I finally discovered the ever-elusive Black Egg (spoiler alert) and saved the galaxy from certain destruction. Discovering the various planets, learning about atmospheric complexities, geology, hydrology, harvesting elements and selling them or using them, and of course scanning and even capturing indigenous lifeforms for study all came out in NMS. Even harsh weather played a role in this game, much in the same way as dangerous weather plays a role in how your character survives in NMS. Heck, you can even negotiate with potential enemies and avoid combat if possible, and if your ship is strong enough you can destroy your enemies and obtain the debris from their wreckage (just like in NMS)! There are so many similarities to this game as NMS I wonder if Sean Murray knew of its existence when he created No Man's Sky. To that end, anyone with a mind for nostalgia or a curiosity about how one of the biggest space exploratory sandbox games got its humble start, please download this game and give it a whirl. I guarantee you won't be sorry.

To give this game a fair review, you have transport your mindset and expectations back to the mid-1980s. Programmers of that era had to work in Assembly and within very tight memory spaces. No RDX 4090s with 24GBs of dedicated VRAM. We're talking 8088 processors with MAYBE 640 KILObytes of addressable RAM. This game worked within a 128 KB memory space. So, with that disclaimer aside, I declare Starflight to be a technological marvel. In my misspent youth, no other game effectively conveyed the vastness of space. Staring at the starmap (either the printed map or the in-game one), I remember touching my finger to those little dots depicting the star systems and wondering: "What is out there? How do I get there? Can I carry enough fuel? Who will I encounter and will I be walking into a fight?" The way the game (in the early stages) simply allows you to bumble along was liberating and confusing, all at the same time. Only when the price of fuel begins to creep up on you do you start to develop a sense of urgency. The lore of the story unfolds slowly and the hints are a bit obtuse. But after a few disasterous playthroughs, you will develop your own optimal strategy to outfit your ship and train up your crew. All standard fare for an RPG. It's here, when you become more "powerful" (for lack of a better term) that you begin to actually feel more anxious. A single disasterous battle can have you scrambling back to a save game that would undo perhaps days of progress. I can remember the feeling of dread I experienced when delving into a nebula where your shields cannot be raised. The thin Class 1 armour on my ship (chosen to keep mass down and mobility up) made me feel horribly exposed. Sweaty palm moments. So, for anyone with the patience to suffer through a clunky interface and blocky graphics, I highly recommend giving this game a try. You'll find yourself taking notes, learning about Laytonites, rediscovering Earth, meeting fascinating aliens and blow them to bits.