Genre: Adventure
Developer: Toys for Bob
Publisher: Crystal Dynamics

Writing a review of Star Control II is like a literature fan trying to write a review of "Macbeth"; it's just about impossible to rate the best video game of all time, but I'll try. Visually, SC2 uses sprites throughout, and most of the game is played from a straight, top-down perspective. Battles zoom in and out, planets are well shaded, portraits of the various alien races are creative and polished, and the game, while not visually elaborate, has some flair, and its colorful nature fits the theme of the game well, although it doesn't exactly push the 3DO's hardware capabilities.

The 3DO version of SC2 is actually just a port of the DOS title by the same name, with one major exception-- voice acting. And lots of it! Every last line of dialogue in this 3DO port is spoken, re-sampled with special effects, and laced with humor, making for some of the finest voice acting in any video game ever. SC2 also sports one of the best video game soundtracks in history; the songs, in .mod formats, were collected via a competition from fans, and some of the selections are timeless.

I don't even know where to begin with this category, as SC2 is a combination of many genres. The battles are all real-time, and each ship has two modes of fire/operation. The ships are so balanced, that if all SC2 contained was just the Super Melee mode, it would still garner an 'A'. The actual game involves flying around a massive universe, diplomatically making contact with alien races whose dialogue and plotlines are clevely intertwined, while collecting raw resources from planet surfaces. What's really neat, is that which ships are good against other ships in Super Melee, as you find out by playing the game, tend to be the ships belonging to races who are in conflict with each other.

I have played hundreds, or even thousands, of video games, across nearly every platform, every genre, every genre fusion, and through every period in the industry's history, and I can say, with authority, that Star Control II is the best video game I have ever played. Its writing, plot, depth, humor, and breadth makes SC2 the pinnacle of gaming as an art form. The 3DO was positively blessed by Toys for Bob's decision to make this ultimate version of the game for the platform, and buying a 3DO just to play this title is not a bad idea.