Least Favorite Space Quest

[SteveHNo96]

I know this is going to be tough, given the fact that most of you guys probably love everything that came down the pipe, but was there one game that really made you go "Eh, kinda anti-climactic"... and it just didn't hold on as much as the others?

 

For me, this is a ridiculously easy choice, and it's sad because it followed what was probably my favorite game of the series. Space Quest V just left me feeling nonplussed. Maybe it was the fact that other than the beginning where Roger cheats on the test, there wasn't anything that was remotely as Roger-esque in it, or maybe it was the fact that later on there was no voice pack, and Gary Owens made SQIV hysterical, but all in all, I just wasn't as entranced by SQV as I was the other games.

 

(it should be noted that my answers may be subject to change as I have never played SQ III or VI.)

[MusicallyInspired]

I thought SQ5 was quite funny in many parts, but it is fairly removed from the classic vibe. It's a different kind of humour so it sticks out a bit, but I don't think it's weak because of that. I blame the lack of Scott. But I still enjoyed it. Similarly, I think of SQ6 as the weakest as the storyline was simply strange. But I do think of it as one of the funniest (if not the funniest) in the series, so saying it was the weakest is not really that bad. The usual title that gets the short end of the stick is usually SQ2, though.

 

Also, you've never played SQ3?

 

.....

 

That's regarded by a sizable sect of SQ fans as the best in the series!

[Harquimm]

For me this would have to be SQ6. Dont get me wrong I still enjoy playing all the SQ games (including sq6) but at times there seemed to be a lack of continuity and or cohesion.

[Intendant S]

I won't sugarcoat it. After SQ4 it felt kinda...meh. I've found SQ5 the weakest of the bunch, which I find funny since you'd think being a Star Trek parody I'd love it. It was great if you treated it as such, but it didn't feel quite like Space Quest. SQ6 was a lot better in regards to getting back to Roger doing what Roger does best...namely, bumbling around and unintentionally saving the day. At least, that's how it felt to me.

[Frede]

That's funny; Space Quest 5 is actually my favourite, though it's very closely followed by Space Quest 3 (which you do need to grab from GOG.com ASAP). Maybe it's because Mark often favoured slapstick in Space Quest 5, and those jokes are easy to grasp regardless of your English skills. I was decent at English back when I first encountered these games, but certainly not more than that, so I may have missed out on some of the more subtle nuances of Scott's humour.

 

Today, I find myself favouring Space Quest 5 because it, just for once, lets you be a genuine space hero, if a somewhat bumbling one at that. And the artwork and music are stunning all the way through. The design is pretty good as well. No puzzle ever comes off as too improbable or unfair. It does have that damn Goliath maze, though...

 

As for my least favourite, Space Quest 2 doesn't really do much for me. I've completed IA's remake, but I've never had the patience to make it through the original game itself. It's basically King's Quest In Space and I'm just not a fan of the early King's Quest games. Labion is a dull setting, the game somehow feels more cruel and unforgiving than usual (kissing alien, anyone?) and there's not that much humour in it.

 

Vohaul's asteroid fortress and the Alien-esque ending are both highlights, but the rest just doesn't cut it, in my opinion.

[tomimt]

I have to admit SQ5 is my least favourite of the bunch. It migth at part be because it is spoofing so heavily on Star Trek and I've never been that huge fan of the series (I don't dislike it, I just don't care that much of it). Then again it also might be because SQ4 is the strongest game in the series, so anything after that was bound to feel a bit lukewarm. Though on the same note, SQ6 is the one I have most mixed feelings of mostly because of the odd art direction.

[Troels Pleimert]

If pushed, I'll say SQ5 and SQ6. Although Dave Selle and Josh Mandel, respectively, did good jobs at crafting funny science fiction games, there was just something off about them in terms of the "spirit" of Space Quest for me -- and it all goes back to that age-old discussion of what kind of hero Roger is supposed to be. There's already a thread with that, though ("Roger Wilco as an idiot"), so I won't rehash it here. ;)

[Fronzel Neekburm]

I'll have to go against popular opinion and say that I disliked SQIV to such an extent I never even bothered to finish it. Storywise it's the best in the series, hands down! But in terms of gameplay, I found it an unnerving, endless barrage of dead-ends, trial & error and instant death for deviating even the slightest bit from the straight and narrow. Hell, even the copy protection manages to be bothersome to this day, thanks to those weird-ass hieroglyphs. I want to play these games for the fun, not for masochist kicks.

 

kissing alien, anyone?

 

The Alien dead end in SQII is actually the only dead-end in a Sierra game which I thought was memorable and fun. It gave me a nice feeling of "Should've seen that coming." instead of the usual "You've got to be fucking kidding!".

 

Chalk me up as a big fan of SQV as well, some of the dialogue is just beautiful. Plus, the graduation theme played im my head each and every every time I received my annual report card and it said that I won't be held back a year.

[MusicallyInspired]

If you're talking about the time pod codes, those hieroglyphs weren't copy protection :P. They were used as such in SQ1VGA, though.

 

Although, I don't believe there were really any dead ends in SQ4 as you could always go back to a certain spot to get what you missed. You can go from the end of the game at the Super Computer right back down to the city streets or the sewers if you wanted to. Or SQ1. Or Estros. Or the Galaxy Galleria. Anywhere was just a time pod code or a space shuttle stowaway ride away.

[Troels Pleimert]

If you're talking about the time pod codes, those hieroglyphs weren't copy protection :P

 

I think maybe he means that asinine copy protection that was on the disk version. It was omitted from the CD version, which is only a shame because the music that played during it was actually pretty cool.

[MusicallyInspired]

Yeah, I know of it. But they weren't the hieroglyphs. :P :P Unless he's calling the math formulas from the actual copy protection hieroglyphs, which in that case I suppose is accurate enough.

[Troels Pleimert]

Yeah, I know of it. But they weren't the hieroglyphs. :P :P Unless he's calling the math formulas from the actual copy protection hieroglyphs, which in that case I suppose is accurate enough.

 

Whatever they were, that copy protection sucked. ;)

[MusicallyInspired]

True. What copy protection doesn't?

[Intendant S]

Chalk me up as a big fan of SQV as well, some of the dialogue is just beautiful. Plus, the graduation theme played im my head each and every every time I received my annual report card and it said that I won't be held back a year.

 

One of my favorite lines in SQV was the homage to Trouble With Tribbles. "But, captain. He called the ship a garbage scow." "Cliffy, it IS a garbage scow." Or something to that effect. That line cracks me up every time.

[MusicallyInspired]

SQ5 had a lot of great lines. lol

[Fronzel Neekburm]

My favorite SQV-exchange would have to be:

 

“What set of happy circumstances left the Eureka Captain’s chair open for me?”

“Well, our last Captain blew himself out of the airlock...”

“That’s too bad.”

“If you say so, sir.”

 

And yes, I was referring to the time pod codes. Didn't know what the hell else to call these... things.

[Collector]

True. What copy protection doesn't?

 

KQ6? I actually found the Logic cliffs rather fun, even if you did need the manual for the ancients' alphabet. But, yeah most CP does suck.

[MusicallyInspired]

Yeah, if you didn't mind going through all the cool stuff in the box, that sort of copy protection was more fun. Similar to the Conquest games, whose copy protection taught a lot of the mythology or whatever with it. Anything that's more intelligent than just "what is the seventeenth word of the third line of the second paragraph?" The KQ3 spellbook was another decent way to do it.

[Fronzel Neekburm]

Laura Bow II, which made you guess Egyptian deities, was also pretty cool in that regard.

[Troels Pleimert]

Yeah, I liked* prefer copy protection that feels seamlessly integrated into the game. That's why SQ5, in my mind, somehow has a better scheme than SQ4, even though they're the exact same thing. Because in SQ5, you needed the codes every time you wanted to go somewhere, whereas in SQ4 it's only the first time pod that for some reason has a security system. So, in SQ5, it feels integral to the story -- whereas in SQ4, it was just tacked on.

 

I kind of like creative modern copy protection gimmicks, too. Anyone heard of the giant invincible red scorpion in Serious Sam III? Or the guns that shoot only chickens in one of the Far Cry games? It's sort of the same principle, wherein the game will let you get a taste of what you could get if you paid for it -- but it won't let you get to the end (or, really, anywhere).

 

* Edited, because, hell, I don't fucking like copy protection. I hate it. But if you must have it, at least be creative about it. ;)

Edited October 21, 2013 by Troels Pleimert

[Johnathon]

that would be Scott and Mark's black sheep child (SQ2) for me. And, while I'll admit SQ5 was an acquired taste for me, I did learn to love it.

 

P.S. I still love SQ2, but yeah, it's probably my least favorite.

[Collector]

Sierra's worst copy protection was CPC. It requires low level access to the floppy drive, so it fails on modern systems. At least Sierra cracked those AGI games on their collections.

[MusicallyInspired]

Riiight! I remember that. So it was twice the copy protection for some games. Lol I remember trying to crack that as a kid. I owned the disks but I wanted the games to run on the HDD without the disks because I was afraid of the disks failing after a while.

[Dat Engineer]

Hoo boy, this is a hard question to answer since I enjoy the games mostly equally.

 

Space Quest 5 is one with a troubled history. It was the first game with "minus one guy", and as we also learned, is infamous for having one of the fastest-developed soundtracks (yet still pretty good sounding) in music game history due to contractual shenanigans. Methinks that if the game had none of the Sierra/Dynamix politics surrounding it, things might have been more favorable? With all that being said, I will not bestow it the title of "least favorite Space Quest" since it's actually among my top 3, if not my most favorite with just how atmospheric and sci-fi-esque the game is. I first played it when I was 3, back when I was completely unaware of the concept of Star Trek parody, so perhaps that had something to do with it.

 

My least favorite Space Quest must be Space Quest 2, actually, if only for its unforgiving difficulty. However, even then I am still not ready to condemn the game as bad. Something tells me that the game was designed to be extremely difficult.

[Troels Pleimert]

My least favorite Space Quest must be Space Quest 2, actually, if only for its unforgiving difficulty. However, even then I am still not ready to condemn the game as bad. Something tells me that the game was designed to be extremely difficult.

 

Huh ... I actually found SQ1 harder. There's a lot of insta-deaths in SQ2, sure, but there's only one crashed shuttle glass shard. ;)