Sidereal Wanderer Reviews

I didn't expect too much, but it simply lack of any challenge, your ship is too powerful, also you can flee anytime. If you stop next to an allied space station, you can even restock and repair in a turn meanwhile the enemies firing at you. Cute, but boring.

It takes a bit to get used to moving/aiming. But once you do you're left with a great strategy experience that that feels fresh with every playthrough.

[h1]It's the old Star Trek strategy game, simplified in RPG Maker![/h1] Eons ago, when dinosaurs roamed the earth and you had to solve a text adventure (and occasionally a math puzzle) to start playing computer games, an old strategy game was going round the world on dial-up modem BBS and shareware disk: STAR TREK! As with most MS-DOS games, it was hellaciously complicated but fun. That game, and this game, share the same overall premise and structure: Defeat all enemy starships in a long, protracted campaign involving clearing the galaxy sector by sector, don't die. You are the only ship available in a grid-based galaxy that has to defend starbases and defeat all enemy starships and bases, while making sure not to be destroyed or run out of energy, both of which give you a game over and send you back to the title with a vague sense of shame. With the exception of Navigation and Combat, most of your options are easy to see and straightforward. Scanning, repairs, crew assignments are all button and sub-menus. Navigation is done by entering a heading on a 360 degree compass, and how many tiles you intend to move. Combat is also a bit complicated. You are the only fighting ship of your faction. At your ships disposal are missiles, which have to be aimed VERY carefully using a numeric angle measurement, beams, which automatically hit every enemy in range for a varying amount of damage depending on what amount of energy you put into it, and your loyal crew! You can also dock with stations to reload missiles, recharge energy, and heal crew. [h1]What's different in this specific version?[/h1] Well for one thing, it's a hell of a lot easier to actually play! This version of the classic game is moderately easier overall thanks to RPG Maker, which means you don't have to type BASIC programming commands into the screen to do everything. Options are pretty evident and an in-game manual explains details if you need it. Also, combat is more informative when aiming with missiles thanks to a GUI. It also has crew stats, and boarding craft as an option. The original EGATrek just assumed you were Kirk and your crew was the Enterprise crew. In this, your captain is randomly generated every mission, with their own ratings, and you can actually recruit and assign crew members from starbases. The crew will have different ratings at different tasks that help your ship perform better, from helm to missiles, to boarding. Friendly starbases don't seem to be targeted by enemies, and you have a somewhat easier time than the original getting repairs and supplies. You can board ships and bases to destroy them in a turn based RPG battle, with a crewman of your choice going up against the enemy commander in a simple 1 v 1 turn based fight. This endangers that crew member, but saves on damage and missiles. [h2] Overall, it's a fun but not overly deep game, good for a lunch break or two. Just like EGATrek![/h2]

Sidereal Wanderer is fun as a distraction during the coffee break, but waiting for enemy turns to finish and inputting coordinates got tedious after a while. A few shortcuts and an option to speed up enemy turns would've been welcome.