A real treat for Star Trek fans dreaming they could one day brush shoulders with the TV-show legends.
When it was first released, many Trek fans were expecting an open-ended experience in the institute where all of Starfleet's legends had their humble beginnings. What they got, however, was a fairly basic space simulator with a very linear plot to follow via live-action video.
Personally, I found Starfleet Academy to be everything I was looking for at the time, though this may have a lot to do me not knowing about or following the game before it was released. For me, it was just exhilarating to interact with Captain James T. Kirk and various members of his legendary crew. I also enjoyed learning more about the Star Trek universe and lore through the game's storyline, even if it did shoehorn me into a set path with only a few possible (or practical) deviations.
Of course, there was the main space sim aspect of the game as well. While I found it thrilling to command Starfleet capital ships, I found myself spending more time in the full-screen tactical display during most missions rather than interacting with my FMV animated crew, which was disappointing. The encounters with various alien species and the dialogue you could engage them with via the viewscreen was a nice touch and really helped make the game "feel Star Trek", in my opinion. In addition, words cannot describe how epic it felt to undertake the infamous no-win scenario that was the Kobashi Maru.
All in all, while Starfleet Academy may not have been everything the fans and gamers had expected it to be, I still found it a worthwhile experience and would recommend it to anyone wanting to revel in some Original Series nostalgia.
**DISCLAIMER: This review was originally posted on 23 October 2005 under the user name TheSergeant. I have since closed that account in favour of my current one and re-posted my earlier contributions with minor spelling and informational edits.**