Captain Forever

[COM: (Farbs) Help me. Help us all._________________________________]

Out in the emptiness of space sits the Nemesis, a ship that cannot be destroyed, and its pilot desperately needs your help. Every time it should be the Nemesis' turn to explode, space around it explodes instead, taking everything in the vicinity with it. The only way to stop this from happening is to keep the Nemesis from exploding, and the only way to do that is to destroy other ships and harvest their parts.

Sounds interesting, doesn't it? That's the premise of Captain Forever, a Flash game with a simple goal: survive. How? Up to you. Log in and get moving, pilot.

Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords

"We have discovered a new type of energy pattern that will benefit our economy by +1 percent."

I should have known. Why didn't I think about the title just a little bit harder? Why did it take so long for me to realise that Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords was Civilization in space? Well, Alpha Centauri is Civilization in space, but you get the point.

GalCiv II is the next frontier. We've conquered the lands, now we need to conquer the galaxy. Ignore that I've failed in every attempt to win any Civ game, even those not on the 1001 list. We're in space now. More freedom to move around without bumping into a single other alien race, right? Should be a doddle.

Gradius V

I see you...

Another shoot 'em up, but this one - this one - is the one you've got to play. You've got to play all the others on this 1001 must-play list, of course, but it's actually Gradius V that you've got to play before all the others.

Said to be playable and enjoyable for both fans of the genre and newcomers alike, Gradius V is another solid 2D shoot 'em up to test your reactions out with. What else does it offer? I've no idea. I suppose I should just play it already.

R-Type Final

"The drifting specks of light soothe the darkness in my heart..."

You just can't keep the space shooter genre down, can you? There's not a console in the world without an entry, it seems. It must have its fans, as it keeps cropping up on this 1001 list time and again. But how does it fare on the PlayStation 2, in the form of R-Type Final?

This isn't the first R-Type game I've played, thanks to an earlier entry on the list, R-Type Delta. What has another generation of consoles allowed the developers to achieve? Where can you push the genre without compromising on the gameplay? Will this waffle end and the gaming begin already?

Yes. Yes, it will.

FreeSpace 2

Don't touch the controls until you are told to do so.

Is there anything as cool as a dogfight in space? Lasers pew-pewing their way into the infinite void as giant ships float in place in front of giant starlit gas clouds? I'm sure there is, but while FreeSpace 2 is filling up my vision, no there isn't.

Another joystick controlled space combat sim, this one is more chilled than past offerings. There's still plenty of buttons to target various opponents, cycle through weapons, alter your energy balance and what not, but you don't have to worry about that darned Newton fella and his physics. They're present but relaxed. You want to stop in the middle of space? You can stop in the middle of space, no need to calculate a week beforehand.

It sounds great - let's warp in.

Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter

Imperial Task Force Vengence, grrr.

Source // MobyGames

Star Wars: TIE Fighter was a hit in my books, but it was marred by its difficulty. I generally want easy games, I'm not going to lie. When I want a challenge though, I want an honest challenge, and humans are better at that (apparently) than artificial intelligence.

If TIE Fighter was too challenging and full of bullshit/pilot error, then Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter is a step towards redressing the balance.

Our only problem is that it addresses it so far in one direction that the game is now a multiplayer-only experience. From the late 90s. With a small player base.

Star Control 3

Daktaklakpak!

"Picking up roughly where the second game left off, you must lead an alliance in the fight against the Eternal Ones, a mysterious race who consume the energy of all sentient life every eon. To protect themselves from such a fate, the Precursors genetically modified themselves into six-legged cowlike creatures, but were trapped in this form when the robots they built to return them to their original form malfunctioned. Humans, in their quest to locate the legendary Precursors, have discovered this tasty beast and, unbeknown to them, are consuming their goal."

That sounds interesting, doesn't it? That's how the 1001 list sets up Star Control 3, a mish-mash of genres that form a space sim, I suppose, in the vein of Mass Effect, via Frontier: Elite II, only played through interfaces and menus.

It's going to need to be seen to be explained.

Star Wars: TIE Fighter

I've been waiting for you...

I've played some air combat games in my time, from, well, Air Combat on the PlayStation 1 to Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter on the PlayStation 2 to... uhm... does Battlefield 4's Air Superiority mode count? The point is, I'm familiar enough with these kinds of games to know I like them - some more than others, of course - but I'm not a massive fan of them.

Enter the wonderful world of PC gaming, a cheap flight stick and the special edition of Star Wars: TIE Fighter and that opinion might just change.

Instead of playing as the Rebel scum from the first title, Star Wars: X-Wing, you are a proud rookie pilot for the Imperial Navy, serving the Emperor on his quest for peace in a galaxy full of chaotic dissidents.

Not only was I never in the position to get this game for a long time, I wasn't even a Star Wars fan when it was released back in the mid-1990s, but TIE Fighter is now firmly on my radar and those X-Wings will soon be falling from the skies.

Super Metroid

That's how I roll...

My name's Frank, and I've never played Super Metroid.

I think I might have dabbled with one of the many games in the genre, but even then, it's best to assume I haven't touched the series, largely due to the fact that, besides the Game Boy, I just haven't owned Nintendo consoles, and that's where all those Metroids are.

It is the future, I guess, and Samus was just about to do something, when - what do you know - a distress call! We better get on it right away.

Sub-Terrania

Summary: Destroy THE THING

To say that if you've seen one gravity and thrust physics type of game, you've seen them all is to have not seen the many ways developers can think of making that concept even harder.

If it's not fine tuning the physics, it's sticking players inside narrow caves that require great precision, lest they get blown up by the walls. If it's not giving them shields to cope with the tight spaces, it's then adding in enemies that need to be shot before they shoot you.

But that's not enough for Sub-Terrania, as it adds a bit of a plot, rescue missions, refuelling, and even some physics puzzles into the mix. All of that while you delicately balance your inputs, because a single mistake can be costly.

Sounds like I won't get through an awful lot of this game...

Axelay

Good luck.

For the longest time now, I've always gotten Axelay confused with ActRaiser. They're nothing like each other, by any measure you can think of, but their names would always blur together in my mind and I'd then fail to remember what they were each about.

I can't fail anymore - I hope - having played both very clearly distinct and not at all related games, with Axelay taking the form of a visually and technically impressive space shoo-ugh, blimey, you just can't get away from these space shooters, can you?

Star Trek: 25th Anniversary

Redshirt's Log, Stardate 94588.73

My first look at Star Trek: 25th Anniversary was a YouTube Let's Play, a long time ago. I forget most of it - even why I watched it. I think I was just interested in seeing what it was about and stuck around when finding out that it was fully voiced by the characters and crew of the USS Enterprise.

Multiple dialogue options voiced by William Shatner in a point and click adventure through space, the final frontier? How could you not be interested in a game that takes its source material and runs with it?

Let's boldly go and find out what it's like to play.

R-Type

Take that, you Bydo filth.

Source // Hardcore Gaming 101

We've all got genres that we've avoided, or else just left behind while we focus on our favourites. For me shooters were a prime example of that - they weren't bad, per se, but I never found myself attracted to them over racing games, for example. As such I am largely ignorant of the many titles there are when it comes to shoot 'em ups, though I know the odd name here and there.

R-Type is a shoot 'em up, that much I know. Beyond that, I don't have a clue what I'm in for. Perhaps strange to say when I've played so many shoot 'em ups from this 1001 list already, but it's true nonetheless.

I don't know why R-Type has got a place here. I don't know what it does differently, I don't know what it excels at. I do know that it has a legacy, so what better place to start exploring that legacy than at the very beginning.

Galaga '88

That is Galactic Dancing.

Galaga agalagain? So soon? Well no, not really - six whole years have gone by since Galaga which means that there has been plenty of time to tinker and perfect the gameplay for Galaga '88.

We're back in space, shooting spaceships but Galaga was alright, so here's hoping the same holds true for Galaga '88. It's on the list, so it must be.

Is that considered a spoiler alert?

Oids

Free the OIDS!

Source // Moby Games

If there's a reason Oids seems rather familiar it's because it is rather familiar (have I used that line before? Even that line is familiar to me). You pilot a triangle through space, navigating the perilous landscape below you with deftly timed bursts of your thrust, firing your weapon with expert precision at the targets intent to stop you from rescuing enslaved droids.

Oooorrrr you enter a spin, slam into the side of a mountain and end up pulling off an accurate impression of an explosion. Good for you.

Will our 'skills' learned from the likes of Gravitar and Thrust come in handy, or will we be faced with yet another display of so close, yet so far away?

Blasteroids

A better choice of title than Asteroids 2: Asteroidier.

Source // Wikipedia

The name gives it away. Blasteroids must have something to do with Asteroids, and you'd hope that it was an official sequel rather than a knock off cashing in on the legacy - and it is a legacy by now, for eight years had passed since the release of Asteroids.

Blasteroids is developed by Atari Games so this is a sequel and we're going to find out just what happened in that near decade between titles. The image gives away the change in graphics, but what about the gameplay?

Salamander

Nothing like Centipede or Snake.

Source // OPCFG

The name threw me off, it must be said. What do you think a game called Salamander could possibly be about? If there's no cartoony reptile bouncing around some kind of platformer then there's going to be hell to pay. What's that? Sequel/Spin off to Gradius? Oh. You had my curiosity, but now you have my attention...

We've heard this before: Salamander is a side scrolling space shooter, but what else does it do? If it spawned from Gradius then I'm expecting some good times ahead - ignoring all the stupid mistakes and deaths that will inevitably come my way.

Gradius

Has destroying the core ever been so enjoyable?

Source // Arcade Museum

Anyone concerned that I am completely ignorant of video game history can breathe a huge sigh of relief as I can tell you now that I am aware of Gradius, that side scrolling space shooter with aaaalll the bullets, or lasers, or whatever they use.

Just because I'm aware of it though, that doesn't mean I've had the pleasure of playing it. I think I'm safe in saying I've played none of the Gradius series. At all. Ever. And don't be that kid who claims Scramble is part of the series, knowing full well I've had to play it as part of this 1001 list. A spiritual predecessor doth not a series entry make, and all that.

It's probably fair to say I've had mixed success with space shooters so far, but we'll give Gradius the chance to impress, as we should with all games.

Elite

Cor, space is a lil bit dangerous, eh?

You know how I keep banging on about games set in space? Well here's a game set in space. Not just any old game set in space, but perhaps the game set in space, the one every other game wants to be. It is simply Elite and I've been waiting for a chance to dive into it for a while.

I don't know where I came across Elite itself, though the video from Computerphile above may lay claim to having told me the most about it. Before that - way before that - I remember playing a pencil and paper RPG where we built our own ship that was inevitably badly constructed, requiring a merciful GM to fudge the die rolls as and when. I assume this game - whatever it was and wherever it came from - was inspired by Elite, itself inspired by classic science fiction stories and films.

Finally, along comes a game about climbing into a ship and hoofing it across the galaxy however you see fit, and it was first released on the BBC Micro, which meant finding an emulator.

Juno First

No, I have no idea as to what the title refers.

To let you in on a little behind the scenes information, I have a big ol' list of these games, including what their primary format is, whether I've already played them, notes and memories of playing them and so on. I know so little of Juno First that I've actually written it down as Juno Fist, which goes some way to explaining why I couldn't find it anything on Wikipedia.

I did see my error though (I didn't flatten all the vowels but I threw the 'r' away), corrected it and was very pleased to find out that it was a space-themed space shooter. Huzzah. I love space shooters, so I hoped with all my might that Juno First had done something different, something truly out of this world in order to stand out amongst the many, many other space shooters.

It did not disappoint...