Star Control

The Star Control series is a trilogy of computer games with a cult following. Based around a space combat game modeled after Spacewar, each of the three games adds to this a strategic or adventure game.

The first of the series, Star Control: Famous Battles of the Ur-Quan Conflict, featured the basic Spacewar-style melee combat (as it was called, even though the ships actually fired projectile weapons at each other) engine as well as a strategic game with a three-dimensional cluster of stars as the terrain. There was no real story component to the game, aside from a cursory background story explaining the existence of two alliances of alien races at war, the Alliance of Free Stars and the Hierarchy of Battle Thralls. However, the main attraction to this game was the well thought-out ship design, resulting in a highly effective balance between the two sides.