Star Trek: Star Fleet Academy

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a game by Spectrum Holobyte, Paramount Interactive, and Interplay Entertainment Corp.
Genres: Adventure/RPG, Simulation
Platforms: PC, Sega GenesisGenesis, SNESSNES
Editor Rating: 7.1/10, based on 8 reviews
User Rating: 9.0/10 - 2 votes
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See also: Simulator Games, Star Trek Games

Welcome to Starfleet Academy! As newly arrived cadets, you will report immediately to the briefing room to begin your first mission. Don't expect your stay here to be an easy one! Your combat reflexes will be tested, as well as your diplomatic skills. You may relax in the lounge after a tough mission, and talk with your fellow cadets about how it's going. Be sure to get a good night's sleep, though. In the morning, you'll need to report to class, then to the briefing room to start another simulated mission! You're only a freshman. and you've yet to prove yourself. Dismissed!

LISTEN UP, CADETS!

Your first mission--make it a good one! This is where you start your academy training. You've got to do better than just pass if you hope to make a good impression. Only with the highest of scores can you expect a happy ending. Listen to the admiral carefully before each mission, and always ask questions. Knowledge of mission guidelines could make the difference between life and (simulated) death!

WHAT ARE YOUR ORDERS SIR"?

Do a sensor sweep. Hail the starbase. Go to red alert. These are just a few of the options you have as the commanding officer on the bridge of a starship. Give orders to the engineering, communications, navigation, helm, and science stations. You'll always v/ant to do a sensor sweep entering a new sector of space, and always remember to raise your shields going into battle. If you don't, your beautiful starship will be instant space junk!

THE GOOD

The ability to play as the Klingons or Romulans in the simulator is great!

THE BAD

A large part of the game is played in combat, but the combat part is unimpressive.

THE UGLY

Your hull can't be repaired during a mission. So when you limp back to a starbase, it's gotta look bad!

  • MANUFACTURER - INTERPLAY
  • DIFFICULTY - MODERATE
  • THEME - SIMULATION
  • NUMBER OF PLAYERS - 1 or 2

Download Star Trek: Star Fleet Academy

PC

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
Genesis

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
  • Game modes: Single game mode

Player controls:

  • Up, Down, Left, Right - Arrow keys
  • Start - Enter (Pause, Menu select, Skip intro, Inventory)
  • "A" Gamepad button - Ctrl (usually Jump or Change weapon)
  • "B" button - Space (Jump, Fire, Menu select)
  • "C" button - Left Shift (Item select)

Use the F12 key to toggle mouse capture / release when using the mouse as a controller.

SNES

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
  • Pentium II (or equivalent) 266MHz (500MHz recommended), RAM: 64MB (128MB recommended), DirectX v8.0a or later must be installed

Game Reviews

Space... the final 16-bit frontier. These are the simulated voyages of the starship Enterprise on its 30-stage mission to explore strange new worlds, seek out new life, and boldly go where no SNES game has gone before.

Star Trek Starfleet Academy is based on the exploits of the crew of the US.S. Enterprise from the original TV show and movies. How far you're willing to 'Trek" with this Federation team will determine how much you'll enjoy solid but low-key action/adventure game.

A Trek for Trekkers

Trek transports you to Starfleet Academy as a cadet, where you must lead a starship through tough simulator missions. You can command eight simulated ships, including a Klingon Battle Cruiser and a Romulan Bird of Prey.

Experienced SNES starship captains will note that the game play is similar to Wing Commander's. From the bridge, you control five ship's stations. The solid controls make it easy to use the stations and fly your starship. The game places equal emphasis on exploration and fighting, so it challenges your investigative skills but doesn't fry your fingers.

The 30 missions offer wide-ranging game play with enough Star Trek references to fire up any Trek vet's imagination. Tasks include ship-to-ship combat and investigating strange deep-space phenomena. Practice missions are based on two Star Trek movies (The Wrath of Khan and The Undiscovered Country) and one classic TV episode ("Balance of Terror"), with dialogue straight from the scripts.

ProTip: Long-range sensor scans are required to make some deep-space objects appear on the sensor display.

Be a Starfleet Star

The graphics aren't the sharpest in the SNES galaxy, but plenty of satisfying Star Trek visuals liven up the action. You navigate in a first-person perspective with a view screen that provides visual info and a sensor screen that displays digital data. PRO The sounds get a effective passing grade based on the faithful rendition of the Star Trek movie theme, but the effects are not only mediocre but un short supply.

Trekkers may argue vehemently over who's the better captain -- Kirk or Picard -- bur they'd all like to do one thing: command the Enterprise. Here's their chance.

  • Hey, Trekkers, the Kobayashl Maru Scenario's Remember the solution?
  • It's possible to hit cloaked enemy ships before they appear on-screen.

Do you think you've got what it takes to control your own starfleet ship? Interplay's latest creation lets you start off in the ranks of the Starfleet Academy, where you will train for the position of captain.

This game won't be a simple walk in the park. You will have to know the bridge like the back of your hand, and be able to respond to trouble of all kinds in an instant.

There are all sorts of simulations you can run while you are training. You also have space battles between ships. Select what kind of vessel you want to go against, and fire away.

Starfleet Academy is a Star Trek fan's dream come true.

Captain's log, Stardate: Unknown. A new cadet has just entered Starfleet--Academy. This cadet is you. Learn the intricate parts that make a starship work, from Starfleet protocol to actual hands-on training aboard several different starships. Via the combat Training Mode, you have access to a number of scenarios, even most popular in the Star Trek television show. Everything happens exactly as it did in the episode, even the dialog between officers is intact. The only difference is you control the action. This is an incredible action game that will appeal to any fan of the old Star Trek series. Encounter Klingons, Romulans, and text books in this excellent simulator.

  • Manufacturer: Interplay
  • Machine: SNES

You become a cadet at the famed Star Fleet Academy, which unfortunately isn't as coal as you thought it might be. The graphics aren't all that hot and the classic missions don't really affect the game outcome at all.

  • Machine: SNES
  • Manufacturer: Interplay.

You become a cadet at the famed Star Fleet Academy, which unfortunately isn't as cool as you thought it might be. The graphics aren't all that hot and the classic missions don't really affect the game outcome at all.

Space...where many have gone before. Star Fleet Academy duplicates the year-old SNES version. For space cadets, it's strictly C-average.

As a cadet in the Picard-era Star Fleet Academy, you command eight ships through 30 missions. The gameplay is sporadic, however Sometimes it's interesting, sometimes it isn't. Smooth controls let you easily access five ships' stations, but extended downtime while warping drains your adrenaline.

The graphics and sound fluctuate. The pix are sharp overall, but the first-person view-screen visuals lack pizzazz. The soundtrack's repetitive Star Trek movie theme will drive you crazy.

Trekkers will enjoy this Academy, but only for a semester or two.

ProTip: Get key info in the classroom.

Overview

You watched every episode of the "real" Star Trek religiously. Kirk, Spock, Chekov, Sulu and the others were more than just characters on a TV show. It didn't matter how bad the acting was -- they were legends and you wanted to be part of their crew.

Interplay's latest Star Trek game allows you to walk in their footsteps as a cadet at the most celebrated training facility in the universe -- Starfleet Academy. Test your ingenuity, leadership, and courage and discover if you've got what it takes to command a starship or if you're destined to wear a red shirt.

You play the part of David Forester, a young officer who has just arrived at Starfleet Academy's Command College in San Francisco. You are put in command of a group of cadets with a lot of potential and more than a few problems. You will have to work with each member of your crew to overcome their shortcomings and build them into a solid team that can take on all challenges.

Gameplay/Controls/Interface

The gameplay in Starfleet Academy is split between adventure-like story sequences and combat simulations. The story is told through video clips where you interact with the cadets under your command and also meet with Trek heroes such as Sulu, Chekov, and Kirk. You don't have much control over the story section of the game, which is a bit of a letdown—the previews and hype implied that you would have a chance to move about the Academy. All you interaction is limited to selecting dialogue responses and then sitting back to see the results. It would have been much nicer to have more of a true adventure-game style interface for the story elements. Overall the acting in the video clips is well done, with a few glaring exceptions, most notable the enemies you get to meet while in the simulator. Even with the limitations of the format the storyline that unfolds as you progress through the game is well done and worth the time spent to watch it.

The other major part of the game is the combat simulator. It's supposed to be based on the simulator we saw in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, but it just didn't come up to my expectations. The graphics are fantastic, the ships look even better than they usually did in the original TV show, but the flight mechanics aren't up to snuff. You don't get the feeling that you are in command of a huge starship -- it's more like you are flying a small fighter.

Also lacking are different views -- there's no way to look to the left, right, or rear, you're always looking straight out the front of the ship, and you can only fire at targets you can see. You're also limited to two weapons regardless of which class ship you choose.

While in combat mode your crew seems to do very little of the work of running the ship. There's no way to issue commands like " shields up" or "arm torpedoes," instead you have to jump around to the various stations and set all the ships controls manually. I could see requiring more work on your part early in the game as you and your crew are learning to work together, but as the game progresses you should be able to focus more on command rather than the details of ship operations.

Graphics and Audio

The graphics in Starfleet Academy are great eye candy. The classic Enterprise looks better than it ever did on television and the ship movements while in combat were smooth on my P133 system. The game also supports 3D accelerator cards -- I definitely recommend playing with a good 3Dfx card.

One area where the game really shines is the music and sound effects. The soundtrack is perfect and the sounds of ship operations put me right back into those afternoons spent watching endless reruns.

Documentation

The manual for Starfleet Academy is pretty standard -- it covers all the game controls and options, as well as providing some story background (as if anyone wasn't familiar with Star Trek). I found I really didn't need to read it though—the first few training missions teach you everything you need to know to play the game.

System Requirements

Minimum: Windows 95, Pentium 90, 16 MB RAM, 4X CD-ROM drive, DirectX compatible sound card

Bottom Line

Starfleet Academy's biggest problem is probably too much hype. After almost three years of pre-release advertising, Starfleet Academy would have to have been overwhelmingly good to meet the expectations of most players. The game is lots of fun to play and Trek fans should add this one to their collection, just don't expect too much. Starfleet Academy is the best of the Star Trek games I've played -- it just doesn't meet the bar as either a great adventure game or space combat simulator.

Snapshots and Media

Sega Genesis/Mega Drive Screenshots

SNES/Super Nintendo/Super Famicom Screenshots

See Also

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