After finishing Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (yes, the original, I’m always behind on playing computer games), I was looking around for another good game to play. For some reason I decided to search online for Star Control 2, which I had completed again about five years ago (running via DOSEMU under Linux).
Boy was I in for a surprise! Toys for Bob, the original developers, had released the source code of the 3DO version under the GPL! And a team had ported it to Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X, made bug fixes and improvements, and added back some PC only features! Since the publisher still owns the rights to the name Star Control 2, this version is called The Ur-Quan Masters.
Star Control 2 aka The Ur-Quan Masters is a classic epic space game, combining elements of adventure, role-playing, and action games to make a terrific hybrid. The exploration and sense of humor in the game makes every encounter with a new alien species a hoot! It also features great music, especially for a 1990 title.
The Ur-Quan Masters is darn near a perfect version of Star Control 2, and my kudos goes to Toys for Bob and the Ur-Quan Masters team.
Highly recommended!