A Brief Overview of Star Trek Licensed Games && Star Trek Strategic Operations Simulator (Atari 8-bit) Review
Star Trek games, much like the movies and different series, have a very mixed reputation. Is this one of the good ones? We’ll see.
Star Wars vs. Star Trek Games [90s & beyond, Mostly PC-specific]
Star Wars games from X-wing to present, at least for PC, tend to outshine their Star Trek counterparts in both quality and popularity. Even in cases where the Star Trek showing is good (i.e. Elite Force 1 & 2), the Star Wars equivalent blows it away (i.e. Jedi Outcast & Academy, two of the greatest single and multiplayer FPS games of all-time). The only exception I’m aware of is the “90s B-movie FMV pseudo-game” experience, where Star Trek: Borg (starring John de Lancie as “Q”) and Star Trek: Klingon (starring Robert O’Reilly as “Gowron”) are two of my favorite b-movie FMV games. I’d recommend just watching a playthrough over playing either, though.
The Star Wars license has been brought to PC (1993 to present) with the likes of X-wing, TIE Fighter, X-wing vs. TIE Fighter, X-wing Alliance, Star Wars Galaxies, Knights of the Old Republic 1 & 2, Dark Forces, Jedi Knight, Jedi Outcast, Jedi Academy, Star Wars Episode 1: Racer, the original two Star Wars: Battlefront games, Empires at War, Galactic Battlegrounds, Rebel Assault, Rogue Squadron, Shadows of the Empire, Rebellion, and more. Star Trek has some serviceable simulation and strategy games, a Q3A-engine FPS with models from Voyager tossed in, and some b-movie FMV games. Klingon Academy and the other Academy games are pretty good, though.
There is a Platform Where Star Trek Games Hold Their Own Against Star Wars
After the indisputable best 32x game of all-time (Kolibri, of course — I love that game.) and a solid port of NBA Jam Tournament Edition, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Starship Bridge Simulator and Star Wars Arcade are my 3rd and 4th favorite 32x games. The Star Trek games couldn’t come close to the Star Wars titles on modern PCs, but the license did just fine hanging with the Star Wars offerings on the 32x. That counts for something, right?
Other PC Star Trek Games I’ve Played That Don’t Suck
The Star Trek lineup might not feature classics like the Knights of the Old Republic series, Dark Forces through Jedi Academy series, Star Wars Galaxies, and the X-wing and TIE fighter games, but there are some worthwhile games besides the Voyager-themed FPS mentioned in the last paragraph.
The Star Trek license has been used for some above average, completely serviceable real-time strategy, tactics and simulation titles. The Armada series and the Starfleet Command series are the first to come to mind. Armada is a single- and multi-player real-time-strategy series, with the first installment releasing in 2000 and the second releasing about a year later. The Starfleet Command series started in 1999 and is part space flight simulator and part real-time tactics game. The second installment of the Starfleet Command series released in 2000 and the third (and final) of the series released in 2002.
Those of you who understand the intricacies of collectible card games might have a differing opinion (and admittedly, probably a more useful and valid one) on Star Trek: conQuest Online, but I enjoyed the game when I played it back in the early 2000s.
MMORPG Comparison
My favorite sub-genre of game is the classic, open world MMORPG. Ever wonder what’d this “Aun” nonsense is all about? It’s a reference to the Aun Tumerok of the Asheron’s Call universe, a culture that I admire and can relate to. Star Wars Galaxies makes a top 5 list. Star Wars The Old Republic, while being more of a multiplayer online RPG than a pure MMORPG, would make a top 50 list. If Star Wars Galaxies, except in the Star Trek universe and more effort put into designing a back story and story / quest elements in game, were to be developed, I’d be the first to buy it / sign up. Unfortunately, we have a free-to-play, bug-ridden, and quite boring from a gameplay perspective Star Trek MMORPG in Star Trek Online, that actually has exceptionally good writing.
Star Trek Games I Own For Consoles
Star Trek DS9: Crossroads of Time [Genesis/Mega Drive]
If you take the quality story writing, well-developed and multi-dimensional characters, cool space tech, the many ethical dilemmas, and the message regarding how war — no matter if you are on the side that’s right or wrong, win or lose — destroys people in multiple ways, you’ll have a starting point for the Genesis/Mega Drive game “Star Trek Deep Space Nine: Crossroads of Time”. Just need to add awkward controls, lots of platforming that sucks, questionably spotty hit detection, and puzzles that range from ridiculous and dumb to only difficult because of obscurity. Had they released Family Dog as The Adventures of Porthos, it would feel more like a Star Trek game than this one. Avoid.
Star Trek: Invasion [Playstation]
I picked up Star Trek: Invasion for the original Playstation in one of those 100-ish loose game discs for $30 ebay auctions, so my comparison point of it being worthwhile is that it provided 31 cents of entertainment. It did and quite a bit more! It also has a quite welcomed two player, split-screen co-op mode! It’s fairly standard space combat simulation gameplay and really doesn’t do as much as it could with the Star Trek license, and it definitely hasn’t aged well, but if you can also get it for less than $10, definitely get it!
Experience with Pre-1993 Star Trek Games, Any Platform
I’ve played a lot of shareware and freeware versions of that classic Trek game with the sectors and a few resources. Not sure what it’s called. I believe they branch off from the game Video Trek 88, which is probably based on an earlier game I’m unaware of.
And one last game I’ve played. It’s Bajoran Mercenary Adventure buy Klingon SoftWare Labs with a release date of sometime around 1990–1993. Making up a cool development studio game and releasing a game comprised of intellectual property, code, and assets that aren’t yours and trying to make money on it began long before Steam.
Not much of a sample size to go off of for 1993 and before, but based on what I have played — I’m going to hypothesize this Star Trek Strategic Operations game is some sort of sector-based, resource-collecting game. Either that, or a text adventure.
Star Trek Strategic Operations Simulator Impressions / Review
Does this Star Trek game reach the stars or is it just another attempt by Berman to bend over and break the Trek brand? No mention of drug-dependent emotional Vulcans, production or writing by Berman or Braga, or Scott Bakula leaping into the body of a rape victim or pregnant woman, so I’ll try to have faith of the heart and believe anything is possible.
Star Trek Strategic Operations Simulator began as an arcade game in North America around 1983, utilizing Sega’s G80 Vector arcade board. It’s a single-player space combat simulator with ports for the Apple II series, Atari 8-bit, Atari 2600 & 5200, ColecoVision, Commodore 64, TI-99/4A, and VIC-20. The Atari 8-bit port was developed by Monti Rieman with support for one player and joystrick or keyboard. There’s an easter egg including the developer’s name. Type “WHO PROGRAMMED THIS GAME?” after getting a game over and this will happen:
This game is similar to other sector-based Trek games of the 80s and 90s with a fair amount of thought put into whether or not the mechanics are actually fun. The ship moves around from an overhead / radar-like perspective, and there’s a strip where you can see outside. When you see a ship, fire! The controls are responsive, movement is easy, and unlike other grid-based Trek games where you just go from grid to grid without any real purpose, this one actually guides you along. It feels like a structured Star Trek experience, at least considering the technology available in 1983. My initial impressions were quite good.
However, there’s not much unique content here. Difficulty increases and the levels loop after every set of 6 (or so it seems), which was the norm for many arcade games in the early 1980s. Once the novelty wears off, the underlying gameplay is serviceable but nothing interesting enough to keep me playing after this review.
Only a year or so after the release of this game, Elite was released. Only three years after this game’s release is the release of Starflight, an open world space 4x classic. Both of these titles were made possible by the early pioneers in space games, including Star Trek: S.O.S. and much, much earlier games.
SCORE: 7/10
BONUS MATERIAL: Sega’s G80 Vector Hardware Image & List of other G80 Vector Games
System Specs:
- Main CPU: Zylog 80
- Sound: Speech Board with i8035 + sp0250, USB Board with i8035 and tone generators with timers and DACs for volume, pure discrete sound.
- Video: Vector
- Single-board arrangement
Games:
- Battle Star
- Eliminator
- Eliminator 4 Player
- Space Fury
- Star Trek
- Tac/Scan
- Zektor
