Star Trek: The Next Generation (1994 video game)

Did You Know?

• A version for the Atari Jaguar was announced in early 1994 and was in development by Spectrum HoloByte but never released.
• A version for the Sega CD was announced and previewed by magazines but never released.
• The game's intro mimics the intro of the television series.

Plot

The USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D orbits a red giant star near the Neutral Zone, monitoring increased Romulan activity after a Romulan vessel lost contact. Starfleet offered assistance, which the Romulans refused, leading to heightened border patrols. At the start of play, the Enterprise receives a distress signal from Dr. T'Laris, a Vulcan geologist on Codis Mu VI, whose dig site was attacked by Romulans. The Enterprise responds. The player learns about the missing Romulan vessel's mission and the IFD, an artifact that reshapes matter and energy. The Enterprise encounters the hostile Chodak, mollusk-like aliens, and learns of the extinct Senatorious, who sent the IFD ten thousand years into the future for altruistic reasons. The gaunt Eunacians, encountered once, tell Picard of the IFD Trials after the Enterprise repairs their ship; with their vessel crippled and their race in the Gamma Quadrant, they entrust the Federation with recovering the IFD.

Gameplay

Star Trek: The Next Generation is an adventure game where the player controls the crew investigating the IFD. The main bridge offers interactivity: the player controls Captain Picard, interviews crew members, and uses terminals including the Conn for navigation, communications, engineering for ship repair, the main computer for research, and access to the transporter room and conference room. The conference room provides briefings that function as a hint system. In the transporter room, the player selects away team members, each with stats affecting tactical, technical, strength, and health tasks. At destinations, the player controls each character individually and uses items like phasers, tricorders, and medical equipment. Events are shown through conversations on the viewscreen, in-person away missions, and animated cinematics. The game has three settings: Bridge, where players navigate, start missions, and access a password system for saved games.

Reception

Electronic Gaming Monthly praised the sound effects for emulating the TV show but found the gameplay slow-paced and boring at times, though they called it a must-have for fans. GamePro criticized the SNES version for failing to capture the show's spirit, particularly the lack of negotiation options, and cited poor collision programming, but called it a solid action-packed adventure. In Japan, Famicom Tsūshin reviewers gave mixed opinions: one found it old-fashioned, another said Trekkies would be disappointed, one enjoyed the puzzle sequences, and another found the action sequences poor. The Genesis version was less well received; Electronic Gaming Monthly gave it a 6.25 out of 10, citing frustrating controls and gameplay design, while GamePro recommended the SNES version over the Genesis version.