Hearken to this, my fellow retro gaming sickos: Nintendo is finally catering to our very unusual tastes with the latest updates to the Nintendo Switch Online retro game library. This time, we've gotten a pair of N64 games that I'd wager you've either never heard of or entirely forgotten up until this moment.
After 32 years, the 1992 open-world space game that helped inspire Mass Effect is getting a proper sequel
17.04.2024 - 00:57 / gamesradar.com / Mike Laidlaw / Dustin Bailey
The devs who founded Toys for Bob are going back to finally build a proper sequel to their beloved 1992 open-world space game, and while they no longer have the rights to the original game's name, the Kickstarter for this new title has smashed its $100,000 goal in less than three hours.
Free Stars: Children of Infinity is a sequel to Star Control 2 in all but name, and like its predecessor it's an open-world space game where you captain a ship, explore the galaxy, and have dialog tree conversations with all sorts of alien characters. You control your ship from a top-down perspective, flying around and shooting enemies in action sequences, but the real draw is the open-ended freedom you have to change your relationships with the characters you meet along the way and forge your own way through the galaxy.
If that sort of setup sounds familiar, it probably should. Star Control 2's "inspiration is all over the Mass Effect series," as former BioWare dev Mike Laidlaw once told Hardcore Gaming 101. "Rich stories, featuring a human who finds themselves thrust into a galactic conflict against dire, overwhelming foes bent on universal extinction is a great common theme. And of course we can’t forget the Mako, which was a direct nod to the lander gameplay of Star Control II."
Star Control 2 is a beloved classic, and with Free Stars: Children of Infinity promising a similar adventure from the original developers, it's little wonder that the game's Kickstarter managed to smash its $100,000 goal less than three hours after the project launched. "This is the ultimate, best feeling in the world," as the devs say in an update post.
If you're not familiar with Star Control 2, you might be wondering why this game features an entirely different title, and why I'm completely ignoring the multiple other sequels that have appeared in the years since the original game's release. Well, buckle up, because this is a long, strange history lesson.
The original Star Control was the first game from Toys for Bob, initially an independent studio founded by Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford. That first game is well-regarded, but it wasn't until the sequel and its added open-world sandbox elements that the studio produced an instant classic. Reiche and Ford did not want to do another sequel, so publisher Accolade contracted another studio - Legend Entertainment - to create Star Control 3, and while that game reviewed well, it never held up to its predecessor in the eyes of hardcore fans.
And that's where things get weird. The rights to the game eventually reverted to Reiche and Ford, but the Star Control trademark stuck with Accolade. In 2002, Reiche and Ford made all the original content of Star Control 2 open-source, leading to a free
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gamesradar.com
24.04.2024 / 11:41
The ESA says its members won't support the one form of game preservation that might actually work
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gamesradar.com
21.04.2024 / 06:11
After 13 years, Minecraft's most legendary journey to the Far Lands has just passed the final milestone before the end
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gamesradar.com
20.04.2024 / 19:26
Super Mario Maker fans got to say goodbye to their game, but Sony just unceremoniously pulled the plug on LittleBigPlanet and 16 years of community creations
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gamesradar.com
18.04.2024 / 19:19
This Nintendo Indie Showcase debut had platformer fans calling it a Pizza Tower clone, but they're both inspired by the same 2001 GBA classic
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gamesradar.com
17.04.2024 / 19:41
An incredible XCOM-like strategy game is finally getting a sequel after 9 years - the latest in a criminally slept-on series that's never seen a bad game
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gamesradar.com
17.04.2024 / 15:43
After 42 years, one of Atari's weirdest, best games is getting a cyberpunk, anime, Metroidvania sequel
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gamesradar.com
16.04.2024 / 20:45
After 18 years, PlayStation's year-round E3 trailer resurfaces on Facebook Marketplace for $70,000, from a vendor who apparently has no idea what they're selling
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gamesradar.com
16.04.2024 / 15:39
After 41 years, Star Wars Outlaws is the first video game to feature the franchise's iconic but nearly abandoned card game
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gamesradar.com
16.04.2024 / 01:39
Palworld fixes "an issue that caused all Pal attacks to deal only half the intended damage," confirming the survival game community's suspicions
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gamesradar.com
12.04.2024 / 21:41
After 26 years stuck in Japan, Nintendo finally releases forgotten SNES Mario worldwide on Switch
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gamesradar.com
12.04.2024 / 17:09
After 25 years, the lost N64 game that could've been Nintendo's answer to Tomb Raider has been preserved online
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