FIVE STAR TREKS, COUNT EM, FIVE!
By Lee Pappas

Space, the final frontier ... if we spend all of our time playing these five versions of Star Trek we will never make it that far. Star Trek was the first computer-craze game to sweep the nation. Every computer in every school had (and still has) a version of the game based on the adventures of the Starship Enterprise. The ATARI versions make any other computer variations of the game took simple. The chart below shows differences in the games and also is a list of those companies producing the games.

Basically the object of the game is to rid the galaxy of the dirty Klingons. In the Adventure International version you must explore all class M planets, and destroy the Klingons only when you are in danger of them attacking you. The Dynacomp Star Trek has the Klingons move if you don't act, and they also hide behind planets making you think it is a standard cruiser, when in actuality it is a powerful battlecruiser. The best graphics/sound combination comes from Adventure International by far. Actually their game borders on a mini-adventure in that the game could take a while to complete. It even has a save-game feature allowing you to save the game up to the point you are at, and later reload it progressing from that point rather than starting from the beginning. The detail in this game is really fascinating - it's almost a Star Raiders without the action; the graphics are that nice.

Quality Software's Star Trek comes in second. Their version is 'clean' looking and takes less time to complete than the Adventure International Trek

  They just improved it by adding a Galactic Map, which the original did not contain. If you don't have the time to play a long game, this is the one to use. The graphics are minimal, however the sound effects are quite nice. Dynacomp's Trek can be tricky to play. It is certainly more difficult to win than are the others, strategy is important as well as being familiar with the game.

Creative Computing's advanced Star Trek is a very expanded version of the original computer Star Trek. All the standard options and rules apply. The 'I couldn't believe it' award goes to Color Software for the slowest computer game I have ever seen. This "3 D Trek" is great if you have trouble falling asleep. Or maybe you can make a move in the morning before you leave, and when you return the computer will have made its' move (an exaggeration, but it is VERY slow). Plus the instructions for the game are rather vague as to what's going on. Too bad, the game looks as though it could have been nice. Oh well.

Getting just one of these games isn't enough. I prefer the first two, however the Creative Computing version and Dynacomp 3.2 Trek contain features the others don't. The other one - forget it!

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