Some of you might not remember Star Control 2, a seven-year-old adventure/action/RPG hybrid, but it was a humorous game with a universe full of personality. In the future, as told in Star Control 2, Earth and its alien allies have been enslaved by the Ur-Quan and their battle thralls. There is one last hope for freedom, though, if only you can shuttle around the galaxy and convince enough aliens to join you in a new galactic alliance to overthrow your Ur-Quan masters.

This game was all about traveling through space, "seeking out new life and new civilizations." When you did meet up with some aliens, whether they were prospective members of your new galaxy order or willing thralls of the Ur-Quan, humor and drama would unfold.

Each alien race was unique looking, but also full of life and personality. Because there was no voice acting in this game - just a 2D animating picture and text dialogue - the only way to really distinguish each alien's personality was through the witty dialogue and through the music. On both counts, the designers of Star Con 2 succeeded. Everyone who played Star Con 2 remembers the catchy music that accompanied a visit to every alien species. Every alien had its theme, and these themes were as diverse as the aliens' appearances. Your Green Ur-Quan masters had a commanding, pounding beat, while their more sinister brothers, the Black Ur-Quan, had a more menacing and subtle theme. The Shofixti, space marsupials with a samurai-like code of honor, had a Japanese-like theme. Earth, upon which all hope for peace was pinned, had an upbeat flair to its music, and the new age-y birdmen, the Pkunk, had an irreverent and flighty theme to highlight their mystical lifestyle.

Not only was there unique music for each alien race in the adventure portion of the game, there was also a short victory ditty for each race in the hyper melee portion of the game. The hyper melee was the ship-to-ship arcade part of the game that ensued anytime your outlaw space fleet met an Ur-Quan task force. Even here, the designs of the ships and the music helped personalize every alien ship, even with the primitive 2D graphics of that time.

In every aspect of the game, music was there to enhance the setting, set the mood, or just add some fun to the game. Seven years later, it's still hard to find a game that can marry music to the game's different elements as perfectly as Star Control 2.
 

Next