Star Control - Part 11

Generally I need little excuse to burble on about the Star Control series - it is one of my favourite of all game series' after all, particularly the skillish second game - but I've already taken detailed looks at the various spacecraft, the story, and of course reviewed the actual game and its prequel, so what else is there? Why yes that's right, I could take a look at the many alien races themselves!

Seldom have I played a game with such a varied, eclectic roster of species, and while many are perhaps not terribly realistic or even a bit gimmicky (a bit like pro wrestling was around the same time, in fact), they are appealing and memorable all the same. There are quite a few as well though, so I'll split this into several parts. This is the second of two posts featuring the less-friendly half of the roster...

Spoiler Warning! - It's probably not really worth mentioning for a 25-year-old game but just in case - the following post will likely contain some small spoilers relating to Star Control 2 and the story found in its main game, so proceed with caution if you've yet to play through it! (assuming you plan to) :)

This is probably fan-made artwork so credit where it's due...

Star Control - Part 10

Generally I need little excuse to burble on about the Star Control series - it is one of my favourite of all game series' after all, particularly the skillish second game - but I've already taken detailed looks at the various spacecraft, the story, and of course reviewed the actual game and its prequel, so what else is there? Why yes that's right, I could take a look at the many alien races themselves!

Seldom have I played a game with such a varied, eclectic roster of species, and while many are perhaps not terribly realistic or even a bit gimmicky (a bit like pro wrestling was around the same time, in fact), they are appealing and memorable all the same. There are quite a few as well though, so I'll split this into several parts. This will be the first of two posts featuring the less-friendly half of the roster...

Spoiler Warning! - It's probably not really worth mentioning for a 25-year-old game but just in case - the following post will likely contain some small spoilers relating to Star Control 2 and the story found in its main game, so proceed with caution if you've yet to play through it! (assuming you plan to) :)

This is probably fan-made artwork so credit where it's due...

Star Control - Part 9

Generally I need little excuse to burble on about the Star Control series - it is one of my favourite of all game series' after all, particularly the skillish second game - but I've already taken detailed looks at the various spacecraft, the story, and of course reviewed the actual game and its prequel, so what else is there? Why yes that's right, I could take a look at the many alien races themselves!

Seldom have I played a game with such a varied, eclectic roster of species, and while many are perhaps not terribly realistic or even a bit gimmicky (a bit like pro wrestling was around the same time, in fact), they are appealing and memorable all the same. There are quite a few as well though, so I'll split this into several parts. This will be the second of two posts featuring the friendlier half of the roster...

Spoiler Warning! - It's probably not really worth mentioning for a 25-year-old game but just in case - the following post will likely contain some small spoilers relating to Star Control 2 and the story found in its main game, so proceed with caution if you've yet to play through it! (assuming you plan to) :)

This is probably fan-made artwork so credit where it's due...

Star Control - Part 8

It has been a while since I took a look at the wonder that is Star Control 2 - still my favourite of all time - but news that my good friend Luke had finally started playing it after 20-odd years of periodic urging by me had brought it back into my spotlight, and that means I felt inclined to burble on about it again. But what else is there to write about? I've already taken detailed looks at the various spacecraft, the story, and of course reviewed the actual game and its prequel, so what else is there?

Why yes that's right, I could take a look at the many alien races themselves! Okay, maybe it's just an excuse to post about my favourite game yet again but I think it's a pretty good one - seldom have I played a game with such a varied, eclectic roster of species. Many are perhaps not terribly realistic or even a bit gimmicky (a bit like pro wrestling around the same time, in fact), but they are appealing and memorable all the same. There are quite a few as well though, so I'll split this into several parts, the first two of which will feature the friendlier half of the roster...

Spoiler Warning! - It's probably not really worth mentioning for a 25-year-old game but just in case - the following post will likely contain some small spoilers relating to Star Control 2 and the story found in its main game, so proceed with caution if you've yet to play through it! (assuming you plan to) :)

This is probably fan-made artwork so credit where it's due...

Retro News - Star Control Returns!

Star Control Origins by Stardock (2017) - PC, PS4, Xbox One

So there I was aimlessly wandering around the world wide web when I happened upon some news I had long hoped for but almost given up on - Star Control is back! This may not mean a lot to many of you but, as any regular readers here will know, I have had a great deal of affection for this series for many years, going back to the original game, and its sequel has been my favourite game of all time since its release. So this long-awaited news has been met with much excitement by me and the series' other loyal fans as you might imagine! It's not a fan project and it's not a conversion of a previous game like the splendid Ur-Quan Masters. No, this is an all-new, full retail release... at last!

From the Neo Geo Pocket to Your Actual Pocket!

I have little doubt that many of you will have heard of SNK vs Capcom: Card Fighters Clash for the Neo Geo Pocket Color. It was one of the fab system's more notable releases and had a small but passionate community of enthusiastic players. Some of you may have even been among them! And now, splendidly, you don't even need to be an owner of SNK's little box of tricks to play it. Ooooo.

No, I'm not talking about emulation either. Something wholly more remarkable has been afoot here, and it's all down to one fan of the original game, Andrew Thorson, who has taken it upon himself to turn Card Fighters Clash into an actual card game with real, physical cards! I should probably talk a little about the game itself before I go any further, however, for the benefit of the uninitiated.

All versions of the game, which includes the NGPC original (of which there were two versions - SNK and Capcom editions), a new NGPC 'expand' edition, updated versions for Nintendo's DS, and now this physical version, are all collectible card strategy battle type games.

The many cards feature characters from both SNK and Capcom's respective gaming universes who are pitted against each other, but using their unique stats and special properties as displayed on the cards rather than resorting to fists and frooming fiery projectiles and all that other dangerous physical (and ungentlemanly) stuff. The only question was: where did your loyalties lie? With SNK or with Capcom?

3DO Games #6

Icebreaker (1995)
By: Magnet Interactive Studios Genre: Action / Strategy Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: 3DO
Also Available For: PC, Mac

I got my first 3DO whilst it was still a 'current' system and, thanks to its failure and the subsequent price reductions, I was also able to buy most of the games I wanted for it quite quickly too, but one that I was not able to was Icebreaker. It was described by magazines of the day as a puzzle game and the few screen shots I'd seen were quite intriguing, but I was never able to find it anywhere, not even mail order (which was the last resort in those days). So, once again, this fine blog gives me the chance to finally tick another box, so to speak, and the first thing I noticed when I did finally get to play it is that it's not really a puzzle game at all. It's more of a action/strategy mixture, and it's quite an unusual one at that. The emphasis, you see, is very much on pyramids. There's no back-story to speak of so it's difficult to know how or why they came to be, but there are a lot of them.

MSX Games #1

Herzog (1988)
By: Techno Soft Genre: Strategy / Shooting Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: MSX
Also Available For: NEC PC-88, Sharp X-1

The superb MegaDrive is correctly remembered as one of the finest consoles ever and was graced by countless fantastic games. One of its more under-appreciated gems is Herzog Zwei, a real-time strategy game from Techno Soft (yes, they of Thunder Force fame) which is often cited as one of the very first such games ever. Something that is seemingly even less well-known than this slightly obscure game, however, is that it was a sequel to an even more obscure MSX release called... Herzog! For the linguists among you, the name is actually German for 'duke' (no, I've no idea why a Japanese game has a German name) which does little to explain the premise. Unsurprisingly, the backdrop is warfare, namely a conflict between the 'Mercies' (blue) and 'Ruth' (red), and the goal for both sides is to reach their opponent's base and destroy it.

Star Control - Part 7

Star Control II a.k.a. The Ur-Quan Masters (1994)
By: Toys For Bob / Accolade Genre: RPG / Strategy Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: 3DO
Also Available For: PC, Apple Mac

I have now been posting my highly inane burblings here for almost four years, believe it or not. In all that time I've written about a great many games and related subjects but the ones that I've talked about the most are probably the spiffing Star Control and its even more stonking sequel. The latter was in fact the very first game I ever talked about here and I've done so several times since as well. Rather bizarrely, however, despite being my favourite video game of all time since its release, and despite all the stuff I've posted about it, it's a game that still hasn't actually been reviewed here. As I'm sure many who know me may would agree, I'm a pretty weird guy sometimes, but this is still an entirely unacceptable state of affairs. Luckily it's also one that can be easily rectified. Behold:

3DO Games #5

Return Fire (1994)
By: Silent Software Genre: Strategy / Shooting Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: 3DO
Also Available For: PlayStation, PC

The culmination of RF's dramatic title sequence...

As technically impressive as the 3DO was for its day, it's a sad fact that anyone who met the rather immense outlay required to own one had little in the way of high-quality games to play on it, and even less that actually made use of the new machine's impressive abilities. One game that appeared to do just that, however, was Return Fire, and it was an exclusive too! Well, until the 3DO started floundering at least, at which point it was also released on the PS1 and PC, but still - for a while, 3DO owners had something to show off, and it was a game worthy of envy. It's a simple military-based strategic frolic at heart which pits two forces against one another - green and brown. Player one controls the latter while a second player or the console itself controls the former, and the object is simply to seize your opponent's flag and return it to your base. As you might expect, however, it's not quite that simple.

3DO Games #4

Star Fighter a.k.a. Star Fighter 3000 (1995)
By: Fednet / Krisalis Genre: Shooting / Strategy Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: 3DO First Day Score: Lord knows, I've been playing it years!
Also Available For: Archimedes, PlayStation, Saturn

This screen is so suddenly-noisy it makes me jump!

As has been documented here on numerous occasions, my failed attempts to embrace most games that the modern systems have had to offer is a source of confusion and frustration. This hasn't always been the case though, obviously, and at many times from the distant past right up to... ummm... a while ago, I've enthusiastically welcomed all sorts or innovations, either gameplay related or those facilitated by the advancement of technology. Some of these occasions have been and will continue to be relayed here, but one of the greatest examples of the latter came the first time I played this game. Sadly, the 3DO didn't last too long and my local second hand game store had soon marked down all the games they had for it. I picked up a handful of titles for £10 each including Star Fighter but didn't really know much about any of them. The others ranged from average to quite good but Star Fighter, being the one I knew least about, was the last one I tried. I later discovered it's actually based on a game released the previous year for the Acorn Archimedes but the 3DO version had undergone some significant tarting-up. I didn't know this at the time though, of course, but its splendour was soon apparent nonetheless.

Strategy Games #1

Worms (1995)
By: Team 17 / Ocean Genre: Strategy / Shooting Players: 1-4 Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Featured Version: PC First Day Score: I'm a Worms master so I always win! :)
Also Available For: Amiga, CD32, Apple Mac, Game Boy, MegaDrive, SNES, PlayStation, Saturn, Jaguar

Even though I'm technically old now, I still consider myself fairly young, but the video games industry has changed beyond recognition even in my living memory. Games these days cost many millions to develop and often take years to reach fruition, and that’s with teams of a dozen or more developing them, but many years ago the opposite was true. Some of the best-loved retro games were created by only one or two people, often from the comfort of their own homes, or even by solitary students coding away into the early hours before oversleeping for their morning classes. Those days are long gone now, with regards to full releases for current systems at least, and one of the last successful examples I remember was the first in the now extensive Worms series.

Star Control - Part 5

Even if you're not interested in the (superb) strategy/adventure elements in the Star Control games, there's still a huge amount of fun to be had from the Melee mode which sees two ships engage in one-on-one combat... to the death! The first game featured two sides of seven ships each - the Alliance and the Hierarchy. The second game added a lot including eleven diverse new races, complete with their own ships, whose allegiances could be determined by your actions in-game. In the last post in this series I looked at six of them so this is the last five:

Slylandro Probe

These pesky things will be one of the first types of ship you encounter in the main game and they're a pain in the arse! Their inclusion in the Super Melee mode is probably for the sake of completion as they do serve a purpose in the main game, but actually trying to use one in battle is a haphazard affair to say the least! They're very fast-moving things which 'tumble' through space at their maximum speed automatically, so pressing the 'thrust' button simply reverses its course rather than increasing its speed. They turn at very sharp angles as well so piloting one takes a lot of practise, especially as their only weapon is a short-range one!

For this it discharges bolts of lightning which don't fire particularly quickly, and when the Probe's meagre fuel supply is gone it needs to hunt out any nearby asteroids which it can 'break down' and convert to fuel by way of its secondary ability. It's a very unusual ship whose existence is better explained in the main game, but trying to use it in battle takes a lot of practise. It's a nuisance rather than a real danger to fight against one and even if you get the hang of using it, there's plenty of better ships around.

Ship Rating: 2/5

Star Control - Part 4

Well, it's been a while since I've had a look at anything Star Control-related so I think I'm well overdue for another more detailed look at the splendid series. The first game was a great little strategy game which I played repeatedly over many years on my trusty MegaDrive but it's more keenly remembered these days for the Melee one-on-one starship battle mode that accompanied it. This saw two opposing groups of seven alien races pitted against one another - the heroic Alliance of Free Stars and the evil Ur-Quan Hierarchy. The last two posts in this Red Parsley series have taken a detailed look at the seven ships available to each side but the amazing and far more detailed sequel to Star Control introduced a varied selection of new races with ships of their own as well as the new Super Melee mode to use them in. In this two-part post I'll take a look at these additions to the series.

Chmmr Avatar

After the events of the first Star Control, the Chenjesu and the Mmrnmhrm - two fairly similar races who were long-time friends and allies and who also shared the same region of space - decided to genetically merge their two species into one new race - the Chmmr. Rather than continuing to use the awesome Broodhome and respectable Transformer ships, however, this new hybrid species created a brand new warship, and the result is one of the finest ships in the entire game - the Avatar.

This fearsome craft is a little cumbersome to move around, in part due to its large size, but it's quite fast and has also has a few tricks up its sleeve. The main weapon is its devastating Terawatt 'Heavy X-Ray' Laser which is immensely powerful but, like the other laser-equipped craft, has a limited range. To combat this, however, the Chmmr also fitted their new ship with a strong tractor beam which can pull any faster or more manoeuvrable ships into range.

Both the laser and the tractor beam do of course eat up the Avatar's fuel reserves pretty quickly but it also has among the fastest fuel regeneration speeds around. As if all this wasn't enough, the ship is also circled by three ZapSat escorts which fire their own homing lasers at anything within range as well. An awesome ship which is so good it's almost a 'cheat' ship!

Ship Rating: 5/5

Star Control - Part 3

The many and varied alien races of the Star Control universe are one of the most appealing things about the series, but which side is best? We had a good look at the Alliance fleet here in the last post in this series, and it's reassuring to know that the 'good guys' have a few handy ships at their disposal, but everyone likes to play out the part of the 'bad guys' now and then, especially these days, so now I'll take a look at the ships used by the mighty Ur-Quan Hierarchy, beginning with the series antagonists themselves.

Ur-Quan Dreadnought

The bright green Dreadnought is generally considered THE ship of the game, featuring on all promotional artwork, etc, but is it worthy of such notoriety? It certainly has an imposing air about it, that's for sure! Its speed and maneuverability is only average but its Fusion Blast weapon is the most powerful in the game, along with the Broodhome's Photon Shard and a close-range strike by the Podship's Plasmoid, but it can fire much more rapidly than either of those ships. If you stray too close to a fully-fueled Dreadnought, no matter what ship you're using, you're history - in the right hands, it can take out a Broodhome in five seconds, nevermind the smaller, weaker ships! On top of that, it also has the ability to launch Autonomous Fighters too. Each fighter launched uses one crew member from the Dreadnought's roster and they are launched in two's. They home in on an enemy vessel, regardless of range, and attack it with short-range homing lasers for a short while before returning to their mothership to refuel. They can be destroyed but they're extremely small so it takes a crack-shot (or an opponent with an Earthling Cruiser) to do it. The mighty Dreadnought is a little large and lumbering but even an amateur can do considerable damage with one. In the right hands it's devastating.

Ship Rating: 5/5

Star Control - Part 2

The first Star Control title really is a game of two-halves. The 'Main' game is seen as the strategy side of the game with its turn-based, territorial expansion-based shenanigans, while the 'Melee' mode is seen as the action, shoot 'em up side, but it is a lot more strategic than people realise itself. Each of the fourteen starships in the game has many variables, as can be seen in some of the screenshots below and, while it's possible for any one ship to defeat any one other, there are certain ships that are better or worse against certain others, and many crafty tactics can be employed to exploit their weaknesses. There really is nothing like an epic Melee battle between two experienced, well-matched combatants. Each lurking on opposite sides of the screen trying to guess what the other is thinking, the occasional skirmish to test each other. They can be very tense affairs! So, for the benefit of any budding Melee-Masters, the next installment in my series of Star Control features will take a look at the ships used by the seven races that comprise the Alliance of Free Stars (the 'good guys')...

Chenjesu Broodhome

Arguably my favourite ship in the game! This is the flagship of the Alliance fleet, used by the crystalline Chenjesu species. While not particularly quick, it's big and powerful enough for that not to matter most of the time. It's primary weapon is the Photon Shard which is a round projectile with an infinite range - when you launch one, keep your finger on the fire button and the shard will continue on for as long as you hold down the button! It's the longest range weapon in the game and causes devastating damage with a direct hit (some smaller ships can be taken out with one strike), but you can only fire one at a time. When you release the fire button the shard will fragment into eight smaller pieces that travel a short distance causing minimal damage.



Star Control - Part 1

Star Control (1990)
By: Toys For Bob / Accolade Genre: Strategy Players: 1-2 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Sega MegaDrive / Genesis
Also Available For: PC, Amiga, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum

The Star Control series is not the most well known series of games but they have amassed a fiercely loyal group of fans over the years. This is largely thanks to the frankly stunning second game in the series which, as some of the handful of regular Red Parsley readers may know already, is my favourite game of all-time. However, much of the groundwork for that game was done here, years earlier, with this under-appreciated original release, including the creation of many of the series' races and their associated mythologies. It was certainly an original and perhaps even unusual concept featuring a combination of two genres. Some loved it, some hated it. It's also pretty complicated to explain, so here goes.