Startopia. An amazing game that time forgot. Pay homage to a classic!
I first played this game the year it came out... 2001. Back then I was running a relatively archaic machine that played the game at 1024x768 without difficulty, but anything higher with maxxed everything started to make some serious chugging issues. Todays computers run this game beautifully.
This game stands up even to todays games in original concept, unrivalled gameplay, and even its tight graphics.
Ever liked Theme Hospital? Or well any of the Theme series? Fan of Sci-Fi? Then this is the game for you.
The basic premise of the game is that you are a Station Manager. Over several different game levels you are hired on by different races to over see operations in a segment of a donut style spacestation. This spacestation is primarily a getaway location for aliens on vacation, a new place to visit and unwind, or a stopover point for those tired alien workers.
You start a level with 1 of 16 segments which you can expand into later during the game for a price. Each segment consists of 3 physical levels. Due to centrifugal force the lowest level is part of the outer-ring, in which you set up your industry. The middle-ring (level 2) is your recreational deck, where you can set up bars, discos, shops, and even hotels. Last but not least is the inner-ring (Level 3) more commonly known as the Bio-ring so called as it is a glass-ceiling wonderland of uncultivated land, waiting for the hand of a Station Manager to bend it to their will.
The point of the game is you, along with the somewhat helpful (and well witted) AI must create a satisfying environment for your alien guests by providing places to sleep, places to shop, a place for sick aliens to get healed, engage in hostile takeovers of other Station Managers (not through business negotiations but by guns)... along with a plethora of other tasks.
I find this game to still be unique today as it was then, and considering that the game takes place on a donut spacestation, each deck has a distinctive curve that adds immensely to the atmosphere of the game.
Unfortunately due to the demise of the games developer MuckyFoot there was never a sequel made, but you can still find this excellent game in bargain bins at your local gameshop, or these days can be purchased online as a download (or physical product) direct from a few websites.
Its been out for 5 years... but I recently started playing it all over again. You want this game.... Now :)