| Introduction:
The captain's chair is a big chair to fill, no matter
what ship you're on. Life and death descisions can be
made in and instant, and can be immpossible to undo
after the choice has been made. You take on the role
of a cadet in training, who has access to many of the
simulation programs of the federation. Not only can
you simulate senarios, but you need to pass some of
them in order to proceed to the next 'grade level'.
Star Trek: Star Fleet Academy is a 1-Player or
2-Player competative Action/Strategy game. There is no
rating on the game, but I would give it a 'K-A' rating
for 'Objects Destroyed'.
Graphics [7/10]:
The ship graphics were done quite good in Star Fleet
Academy. There's over a dozen ships (secret and
reguar) that are done in different 3-D models.
Unfortunatly though, this was one of the games that
pioneered the horrid polygon graphics that haunt the
nexxt generation systems today. Also there is a border
around the viewscreen in single player mode, that
looks rather cartoonish and unreal compared to the
ship graphics. Overall the graphics are pretty good,
but the contrast of the cartoon-like and polygon
graphics doesn't really help the graphics final look.
Music and Sound [7/10]:
The music was rather interesting in the game. There
was a whole new score written but the new music kept
the same feel as the original Star Trek series's
music. Interplay did a good job creating the feel of
the series, however there is nothing too special about
the music.
The sound effects are a bit of a different story. Some
of the sounds (like hailing, navigation) sound just
like they did in the series. While others (like
phasers and photons) sound almost nothing like they
did on the show.
Why Interplay tried so hard to keep the music like the
show and forgot some of the most important sound
effects, is beyond me. But at least the new sounds
sound rather good.
Game Play [9/10]:
Even for people who've never seen Star Trek, this is
one fun game. You can play either the campain Cadet
game, or the Bidge Simulator. The Cadet game is a
single player simulation that take you through the
life of a cadet, and gets progressivly harder. The
Bridge Simulator is a 1 or 2-player game that lets you
choose a pre-made senario or go up against the
opponents of your choice. In some of the Bridge
Simulator levels you can choose your ship. There is
the choice of five different ships, (Federation,
Romulan and Klingon) plus several hidden ships.
The 2-player split screen mode is insane, especially
when one or both of the players are Klingons or
Romulans. Cloaking, phasers and photons all make a
mass hysteria that'll keep the game running for hours
on end.
Challenge and Replay [8/10]:
The campain level offers some amount of difficulty,
but it doesn't have that much challenge behind it once
you know what your doing. The Bridge Simulator does
offer some great challenges though. You can fight up
to three enemies at once, which is more than enough to
keep you busy and pulling out your hair.
Because of the Bridge simulator and the two-player
split screen, the game has some pretty good replay
value. The campain doesn't have much to offer, but the
Bridge simulator really does.
Conclusion/Overall [7.8/10]:
Star Trek: Star Fleet Academy is a really good game
for anyone to own. But the game is really for those
fans of the Original Series. The graphics are good, as
is the music and sound, but none are really stunning.
The replay is fairly well, but where this game shines
is in the gameplaying fun of the Bridge Simulator.
Especially in the multiplayer levels. I would
encourage anyone who enjoys Star Trek, to give this
game a try.
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