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This review was made possible thanks to a generous Paypal donation by Necrid.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Crossroads of Time is an Action-Adventure game released
for the Sega Genesis and the Super Nintendo in 1995.
The game released near the end of the 16-bit generation and because of that, it seems to
have fallen into obscurity. Even with Google I was barely able to find any modern reviews
about this game. The few that I could find were pretty negative though personally, I
don’t think the game is THAT bad. Sure, it’s no lost 16-bit masterpiece, but I had
quite a bit of fun with it. I should also point out that although I like
the original Star Trek TV show and The Next Generation, I never actually watched Deep
Space Nine, so there’s a good chance that some of the show’s references and characters
were lost on me. Also, finding a PAL copy of this game is not
easy. The only copy I could find on ebay had a European case, but a US cartridge and manual.
Yeah, there were a few European distributors who liked to mix and match packagings from
different regions for whatever reason. I wasn’t about to have any of that, so instead
I decided to import the US version, which is surprisingly expensive by the way.
Anyway, the game comes in a late-generation Sega Genesis cardboard box. Yeah, towards
the end the Sega Genesis life cycle, Sega of America changed the packaging of Genesis
games, replacing the sturdy plastic cases with some really flimsy cardboard ones. As
you can imagine, I am not a fan of this decision. And I have to say, I am also not a fan of this
cover. It looks so generic. Based on the cover alone, I probably wouldn’t have given this
game two seconds of my time if I saw it on a store shelf. It also doesn’t help that
it’s a console Star Trek game, which aren’t famous for having a particularly positive
track record. Inside we find the game, a black and white manual and a poster which also doubles
as a game catalog. Earthworm Jim is the only high profile game on this catalog though.
The poster is an enhanced image of the game’s cover, though now that I get a better look
at it, I can definitely see some flaws with it. Like notice how this shuttle is an obvious
3D model while the space station in the background is photo-realistic and extremely blurred.
Oh well, the poster may not be great, but I’d still rather have it than not have it.
Booting up the game, you get a short introduction about the game’s plot, which begins with
a terrorist conspiracy to bomb the space station, but as you progress, it soon expands to rescue
missions, high speed chases and even a bit of time travel.
You’ll control several characters throughout the game, but most of the time you’ll be
controlling Captain Sisko, who even I know despite not having watched the series.
Between missions, the game lets you explore the space station and speak to its various
residents. You’ll also get to control some of them in later levels, though they all play
the same except for Odo who can shapeshift into a bug and crawl into vents.
While exploring the space station, you’re expected to speak to a certain number of characters
in the correct order to activate the next mission. This is structured similarly to a
regular star trek episode in which a problem appears, like maybe someone was attacked,
or kidnapped or someone’s attacking the space station, and you need to speak to characters
who will help you progress. They can be key witnesses, suspects or members of your own
team who will provide support during your investigation.
It’s generally pretty easy to know where you need to go and who you need to talk to,
mostly because the station itself is pretty small with only 20 people to interact with
give or take, but also because it’s easy to figure out which characters are more likely
to help you out. This is also how most of the story is told,
though there are also a few short cutscenes between levels. Once you’ve progressed through
these story sections, you’re then sent to your next mission. The story isn’t particularly
deep or great, but I was at least interested in seeing what would happen next and it was
nice getting some context for each mission. As for the missions, most of them are platformers,
though Star Trek Deep Space Nine, handles more like a cinematic platformer, similar
to games like Prince of Persia or Flashback. This means your controls are pretty stiff
and can take some time getting used to. Usually it’s a good idea to take your time, assess
each obstacle slowly and plan out the best course of action.
Luckily, Sisko has a pretty impressive variety of moves. He can jump, climb, hang from ledges,
that sort of thing. You also have an inventory with you which can be used to bring your weapons
or use level-specific items. Not only that, but there’s a lot of level
variety going on here. On the first level you have 15 minutes to disarm several bombs,
so you need to use your tricorder as a mini-map, locate the bombs and take them to a vent where
they can be jettisoned. Level 2 on the other hand is a SHMUP stage. It’s not a very
good shmup stage mind you, as all you do is avoid obstacles and shoot down asteroids without
any power-ups, but I do appreciate the variety. And after that, you’re back to a platformer
stage, but this time it’s a simple level where you go from left to right. And after
that you’ll have a series of levels where you need to find keys, opens doors and navigate
your way through some relatively small mazes. I really appreciate the fact that the developers
added so much variety and tried to make most levels so different from one another. There
are also some light puzzle elements in most levels. Sometimes you need to find the correct
item or key and use them in the right place. Other times you’ll be accessing the ship’s
or the station’s systems and diverting power to different decks to progress. And better
yet, all of this feels very Star Trek-y to me. You’re never faced with a puzzle, enemy,
character or situation that feels like it doesn’t belong in the greater Star Trek
Lore. Though sadly, the game is far from perfect.
The level design is pretty unforgiving, with several instant death traps or dangers that
can kill you almost instantly. This isn’t too bad in of itself, but the real problem
is that in most levels, when you die, you’re sent back to the space station and you now
have to start the story segment from the beginning. So this means you now have to speak with all
important characters again, to unlock the mission and finally try your hand at the action
stage again. But you’ve lost so much time speaking to every NPC on the station that
chances are you already forgot what you did wrong during the platform segments and so
you’re likely to die again the exact same way you did before.
Having to repeat the story segments over and over again, feels like a needlessly harsh
punishment to the player for failing and only really serves to prolong this short game.
Not only that, but most enemies can easily be taken down by ducking and shooting. The
only exception to this are bats and the occasional gun turret, but really, the combat in this
game is pretty bad. Although I will give props to the developers for staying true to the
Star Trek lore when fighting against the Borg. If you shoot one with your phaser, they’ll
adapt and you won’t be able to kill the next, so you need to pick your battles very
carefully during this level. Being a late Sega Genesis release, the game
manages to look pretty good, but it never really pushes the system. There are some levels
where graphically, Star Trek Deep Space Nine is pretty mediocre, but then you have the
space station segments and a few other levels where the game looks pretty amazing for the
console it’s running on, mostly due to a good use of color. The space station is flashy
and has a good color palette, as well as some interesting parallax scrolling in the foreground.
But even the best looking levels never manage to push the console’s limitations. For example,
this level looks pretty good, but the game never uses more than two layers of scrolling
which was the standard for the console. And this while this level looks colorful, it’s
mostly due to some smart choices by the developers as this scene is using 50-onscreen colors
which is well within the console’s limitations. So while this isn’t an impressive game from
a technical standpoint, the developers definitely did a good job within the system’s limitations.
Although then again, some levels can look pretty ugly.
The music is generally good and once again, the game’s
soundtrack is not pushing the console in anyway. For example, the game isn’t even using its
secondary sound chip. Here’s what happens when I run the game using only the Master
System soundchip. Yep, complete silence, which means the game’s sound is coming entirely
from the Sega Genesis’ primary sound chip, meaning the game is only using 6 of the 10
available sound channels. Overall, Star Trek Deep Space Nine Crossroads
of Time isn’t as bad as people make it out to be. It’s definitely no hidden gem, as
the levels could have been easier, the checkpoint system is needlessly punishing to the player
and the combat is pretty weak. But despite that, the platforming segments are pretty
fun and I do like walking around the station and speaking to various NPCs from the Star
Trek Universe. I also like that the developers went the extra mile to add some variety to
their game while making it feel like a Star Trek experience. It may not be worth the expensive
ebay prices, but if you’re in the a mood for a kind of good Star Trek experience on
your 16-bit Mega Drive, you might want to check this one out.
Once again, a big thank you to Necrid for making a generous paypal donation to the channel
and making this review possible. If you have any requests or games you’d like to see
me review, let me know in the comments and I’ll get to them as soon as I can.
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