<![CDATA[“Jumping peppers!” it’s star control time!]]>The top five PC games I keep returning to are Master of Orion, Master of Magic, Ultima (one of them), Star Control (one of them, usually II), and Paradroid. Keep in mind I did not say these games are my ‘favorite’ or ‘best’. It is simply that I keep returning to play them for whatever reason.

A sequel, spiritual or otherwise, to any of these games gets my notice very, very quickly.

What to make of Stardock’s Star Control Origins?

One big pro, one big con. Let’s get the con out of the way.

The big con is the art style. Star Control 2 did not have cartoony graphics… except for the aliens. The planets and atmosphere were very ominous. The artist for Star Control 2 was a pornographer. The aliens looked interesting on purpose, but they never looked like they belong in a mobile game. The art style for Origins just sucks and will probably be a game breaker.

The big pro is the creation tools. This alone will sell copies. People would rather make their own ships and stories for we know Stardock won’t have the talent to pull off what Paul Reiche III did.

For those who do not know, Star Control 2 is an Open World game set in space. Star Control 2 was the inspiration behind Mass Effect. If you like Babylon 5’s storyline arc, you will love Star Control 2 because the storyline is virtually identical (the writers must have used the same sci-fi sources). In fact, I think Babylon 5 copied Star Control 2 in many places.

Above: A lone human spacestation is the birth of a new alliance powered by a new type of ancient alien starship design, whose captain marries one of the aliens, to defeat two very ancient super-power aliens locked in a war of doctrinal conflict. Yep, that’s Star Control 2.

The game needs to come to Switch. Stardock will make excuses, but give me a break. Losers make excuses. Star Control came to Genesis, Star Control 2 came to 3DO. Switch audience will like Star Control Origins and buy it. PS4 and Xbox One crowd will not.

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