Star Control I and II
The classic action adventure game Star Control II is here. Take command of the Vindicator, a prototype ship with endless upgrade potential. Discover new stars, explore new worlds, meet colorful alien races, wage wars and experience one of the most influential games in PC gaming history in its original form.
About: Star Control 1
Mankind is about to be wiped off the face of the galactic map. A savage clutch of alien races called the Ur-Quan Hierarchy has become the “evil empire” of the 27th century- ruthlessly invading interstellar neighbors. Humanity is next on their list. Your job is to make sure that they don’t succeed. The entire Alliance of Free Stars battlefleet awaits your orders.
About: Star Control 2
Arguably the greatest space adventure on PC, with tons of humor and memorable characters. You start in a nearly empty space-ship, but as the game progresses, you can upgrade it with many modules that affect the vessel’s attributes. You can discover new stars, meet new alien races, wage wars, and boldly go where no man has gone before you. A truly exceptional exploration game that that has influenced the entire industry. While playing this gem, it’s really fun to observe how many of its gameplay features were copied by modern AAA titles.
- The pack includes Star Control 1 and Star Control 2.
- 17th Best Game of all time, according to IGN.COM, and winner of many prestigious gaming awards
- A vast universe to explore, full of bizarre alien races, powerful ancient technologies and mysterious places
- Pulse-pounding action, side-splitting humor, and hair-raising plot twists
Steam User 6
I know it says 0.2 hours or so of playtime but I promise you I've been playing Star Control 2. The free The Ur-Quan Masters MegaMod. Its this game but enhanced visuals, voice acting, difficulty selections, and cheats. I will fully confess I'm playing on Easy and with the Death March put off 100 years.
I first heard of the Star Control franchise when I got Origins from a bundle. I didn't learn about the 90's games (or their influences on modern space games like Mass Effect, No Man's Sky, or even the (as of writing this) upcoming Starfield) until much later. When I learned how well-regarded and influential SC2 was, I didn't believe it. There was absolutely no way one game could be that good.
I was wrong. Not only is it that good, it is now my favorite videogame.
The deep and reactive space game that people have longed for was with us all along. You have hundreds of systems to explore (which include orbiting planets, a detail lacking in some of these modern space games), and lots of treasures to uncover. There are lots of aliens to meet, each one unique and interesting and brought to life with fun pixel art (and in the version I played, voice acting; I don't think the Steam version has voices, which is a shame because the voices are great. A bit campy on some of them, sure, but that adds to the charm. Shout-out to the guy who voiced the Yehat for being able to carry all sorts of emotional beats with pretty much just his voice, since the visuals can't reflect the scenes he describes in question). It is so much fun to meet yet another batch of weirdos and get caught up in their drama, especially with how their drama intertwines. Seriously, I have never seen such a tangibly-connected fictional universe before. And there is an amazing amount of detail towards each race's culture that affects how they treat you or others, as well as how they perform in battle. The Pkunk believe in reincarnation and acting out obnoxiously to whip themselves up into a fighting frenzy (and also to keep themselves from becoming too kind and whipping around to evil), so when controlling their ships you recharge by insulting the enemy and have a chance of respawning on death. The Yehat are a noble race who uphold to their code of honor and will avoid attacking you out of prior loyalties and call you out for stirring up a bloody civil war after they have tried so hard to bring peace to their people (if said war even happens; its completely possible to make decisions that don't even lead to this). The Spathi are cowardly and prefer to flee their enemies - so of course their best weapon is at the back of their ship instead of the front. Even the Ur-Quan - who's closest modern-day analogue I can compare them to are the Reapers (and we all know how THEY turned out) - have a backstory that explains their cruelty in a way that doesn't take away from their horrifying activities. Very few game writers can craft a universe this deep...and fewer still can do so while still allowing for both gut-busting humor and intense emotional beats.
Being an older game, yes there are some issues - some may like these hiccups, others may be turned away. The ships control very clunkily, which can take some getting used to. The time limit can be stressful, especially since you are not necessarily warned about it. It is very easy to get certain races driven to extinction; the poor Zok-Fot-Piq, in my game I was going to help them right after helping the Yehat...but I waited too long and they were gone. You have to pay attention to dialogue and take lots of notes or screenshots to figure out what to do next (or have a guide next to you), otherwise you WILL get lost. If you run out of fuel, I hope you can afford a refill! Enter a hostile area too early and you will get dogpiled by 50 enemies. But once you figure out how it all works, you can adapt and upgrade and explore (or get MegaMod and turn on a bunch of cheats lol).
All in all, absolutely play Star Control 2: The Ur-Quan Masters. I don't know if I can recommend this Steam version exactly (maybe if you want the game EXACTLY as it was on PC back in the day), but the game in general is a must-play for anyone who loves space exploration, 90s games, and/or watching old episodes of Star Trek. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll get frustrated. But most importantly, you'll be left with a memorable experience.
Oh and i have nothing to say about SC1 because I can't get it to load, but since it has the Yehat in it then I assume its good. The Yehat are my favorite.
Steam User 2
So this version little weird now
really wish steam had a neutral review option
It all comes down to this.
Do you want to play Star control 2, and only play star control 2? Or do you want to play star control 1?
If you wanna play StarCon 1, I recommend this version, if you wanna play StarCon 1,
This is the only way I know to get nowadays.
Don't get this for StarCon 2, since there are better options. The only advantage this version has is remote play
If you want to play StarCon 2 got a couple of options
The HD megamod:
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It features some nice options extra options that are all very neat.
Tho IMO some of the ships look a bit weird in the HD version since a lot of them are in different art styles
(tho idk if that is subject to change)
If you don't like the graphics have options to change it to the 3DO or dos style.
This version features some cool stuff like, hard mode, random galaxy, fun cheats and much more.
if you are coming back to StarCon 2, then i definitely recommend this version.
You don't neat to own StarCon 2 in order to play this, it comes with the EXE (game is open sorce)
Free stars: Ur-Quan masters (
Its pretty much the original version without to many alterations.
There are some options from either the 3DO and DOS version.
(to my knowledge, it seams that version might receive some small updates as of writing this)
Idk if you can install Mega mod onto this version, or if that's an up coming feature
The old HD remake
It has some nicer graphics tho some people did not like the art style, or so I have heard.
I do think it looks great and it has some small QOL changes (not as many as MegaMod.
I thought to include this version here since its the one I grew up with (yeah i'm that young)
Its a little weird getting to run in my experience. Try running the EXE as administrator if it dose not work.
If i'm being dumb and linking an the wrong file of the HD remake do tell me please
Last thing to keep in mind. If you do buy this version. The Original Devs do not get the money. Due to a BUNCH of legal mumbo jumbo
Steam User 2
if anyone can not find a way to play star control 1, you have to go into the settings on the steam page and set it to "play star control 1 when opening game" It took me a while to find this.