Star Control
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Star Control is a series of science fiction adventure video games developed by Toys for Bob, back when they did something other than make overpriced Happy Meal toys to scam children with. Their plots revolve around the struggle between the cultures of the known galaxy and the militant Ur-Quan Hierarchy of Battle Thralls. Both games in the series are legendary for their strategic gameplay, killer music, high-quality graphics, shockingly deep background, and endlessly entertaining multiplayer. What the fuck are you waiting for? Go play it. Both games are available on GOG.com, but as it's strongly suspected that none of the money actually goes to Toys for Bob and the second game is available for free on modern platforms you're probably better off either pirating the first game or skipping it altogether.
Star Control
The original Star Control (subtitled Famous Battles of the Ur-Quan Conflict, Volume IV) was a simple two-player turn-based strategy game, where you play as either the Alliance of Free Stars or the Ur-Quan Hierarchy in one of nine (15 in the Sega Genesis version) scenarios, building colonies, mines, and attack ships in a trippy-looking star cluster map. Instead of relying on a bland, non-interactive mechanic like unit stacking or random chance for combat, battles are resolved with a game of Spacewar! Each species has a unique ship with its own weapon type, attributes and a unique special ability (like an energy shield for the Utwig Jugger or a crew-stealing "hypnotic field" for the Syreen Penetrator) that can turn a battle on its head when used well. Hit points are fluffed as crew members, as we all know that any damage inflicted on a starship is redirected straight to the nearest occupied console. You could also skip the strategy layer and play "Melee mode," which is just you, your enemy, and two fleets of ships to slam into each other.
Star Control II
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After the rousing success of Star Control, Toys for Bob took a page (along with several devs) from the venerable Starflight series and tore the world wide open, making Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters an exploratory adventure game that dumps you into a mostly unexplored galaxy and leaving you to make allies and enemies as you see fit on your quest to defeat the Ur-Quan, generating much win in the process. You take the role of a human colonist descended from a research team that discovered a Precursor starship factory on an unexplored world at the close of the war with the Ur-Quan. Having lost contact with Earth, the colony sends you headlong into space in what is essentially a Precursor tugboat (which, while absolute shit at combat compared to the escorts you can get, is still an awesome flagship) to figure out what the hell happened. You rapidly find out that the Alliance lost the war, Earth has been enslaved, and the Ur-Quan are nowhere to be found. Linking up with Earth's Hierarchy starbase, you set out to gather the resources and allies you need (battle cries of "GENOCIDE! MINING! GENOCIDE! MINING!" optional) to take the fight to the Ur-Quan and liberate the galaxy. To say any more would take away from the sheer awesome of the discoveries you make along the way, but you're basically set free to do whatever the fuck you want; Star Control II set a standard for player freedom that had never been seen before and arguably has never been seen since.
In 2002, faced with the fact that they'd never make another Star Control game again, Toys for Bob released the resources and source code for the 3DO version of Star Control II, which featured voice acting (minus a few lines, see below) and enhanced graphics over the original PC version; this has become The Ur-Quan Masters, an untrademarked sourceport of the original game for modern platforms. Get it. Get it now.
Tips & Tricks
- TAKE. NOTES. This isn't your fucking JRPG cancer where everyone has a glowing neon sign over their heads telling you what to do next, you'll be given locations and coordinates once and it can be wasteful or impossible to have them given to you again. Keep a notebook or text file and record anything that seems important.
- There is a time limit. Because of a dev oversight this is never mentioned in the 3DO version, and therefore it's not mentioned in The Ur-Quan Masters without a mod. You have until the year 2159 (four years) to win the game "cleanly." If you don't make it because you spent two years gathering minerals or something, then bad things happen.
- The Flagship is bad at combat. Your Ion-Bolt Gun is very shitty and very expensive, and while you can fix this later if you're caught without escorts early on you might as well reload. Sell it as soon as you can and use the resources to build actually useful things like storage upgrades and take as many diverse and high-tech escort crafts to your hangar as possible.
- Read The Goddamn Manual. Without a concrete solution or spoiler, you'll play many times to get it right, there is no shame to grab a little help metagame-wise, or jump to conclusions.
- Know your limit. You'll often find situations that are just too dangerous for you at the moment. Remember, your escape unit is there for a reason. Don't waste resources chasing minerals or fighting ships you can't handle.