SPACE QUEST I: THE SARIEN ENCOUNTER
EGA REVIEW
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YEAR: 1986
SIZE: 23 MB
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+ The very first Space Quest game - a legend is borne
+ Hilarious exploits
+ Some puzzles have multiple ways to solve them
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- Frustrating, un-skippable arcade sequencesy
- Easy to miss vital items
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STORY
You waken from your nap - or rather, you’re woken from your nap by an
alarm blaring loudly - right in the middle of a glorious dream. How
inconsiderate of the alarm to disturb you like that! As you step out of
your hiding place in the closet, a voice blares through the intercom that
your starship, the Arcada, has been boarded by invaders.
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INVADERS??? Bu… But… Who? What? Why? How? What do they
want?
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You are a janitor! Your job is to… mop the floors… empty bins… keep
supplies topped up, etc. You didn’t sign up to deal with INVADERS!
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To make matters worse, the AutoDesctruct has been activated. The
entire ship is going to blow up in 15 minutes!
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As you try to make sense of it all, you see the bodies of you crew-mates
scattered throughout the corridors you know so well - after all, you’ve
mopped those corridors enough times. And you can’t help wondering…
how on earth are you gonna clean all this up?
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You come across a scientist, severely wounded from the attack, who
informs you that the invaders are a race called the Sariens, and they
plan to steal the Star Generator from the Arcada. The Star Generator is
an advanced piece of technology that turns a dying planet into a
blazing sun, thus reviving the neighbouring planets and creating life
again. However, in the wrong hands (like the Sariens), it can become a
deadly weapon. Then he takes his last breath, leaving you as the sole
survivor aboard the Arcada.
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You’re the only one that knows what’s happened here. You’re the only
one that can save the Star Generator technology. You’re the only one
that can stop the Sariens causing mayhem and destruction, thus saving
the entire Xenon race. You can do this! You can be… A HERO!
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But first thing’s first… you just need to get off this starship alive…
　
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GAMEPLAY
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Space Quest I: The Sarien Encounter is the very first Space Quest game.
This is where a legend is borne! However, as we grew to know and love
that janitor known as ‘Roger Wilco’, here, in the first game, he goes un-
named. You get to type in your own name at the start, instead.
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The game uses a combination of the traditional text parser (meaning
you type in commands through your keyboard), and a menu-based
system (click your mouse at top of the screen) to interact with the
game world.
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The text parser controls your actions, and you have the freedom to try
anything you want. For example, if you want to ‘Dance With Guard’, go
ahead. Or how about ‘Kiss The Orat‘, or ‘Hit Bartender',or ‘Lick Droid’.
You can try anything you want, although you may not always like the
result. Press the Tab key on your keyboard gives you a list of items you
are carrying, while ‘Examine [Inventory Item]’ gives more of a
description of it. Pressing F3 on your keyboard repeats the last thing
you typed, which is very handy if you weren’t quite in the correct
position.
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Movement is controlled by using the Cursor keys, or by clicking your
mouse where you want to move.
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The menu-based system (click your mouse at top of the screen to see
it) allows you to Save, Restore, Restart, or Quit your game. I
recommend you Save your game often, using different Save slots,
because you can die in this game. A lot. Personally, I find looking for
the various ways to die is half the fun - there are so many hilarious
Death messages! The Speed Menu has 4 different pre-set options -
Normal, Slow, Fast, Fastest. You can change Speed at any time, to suit
your preference.
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It should be noted that there is an un-skippable arcade sequence in the
game. You have to race your skimmer along the desert, avoiding rocks,
until you reach the Ulence Flats. It’s a frustrating sequence, but if you
set your Speed to Slow, and Save at quiet moments, it’s manageable.
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There are also some dead ends, in that if you don’t pick up Item X you
won’t realise you need it until ages later, and by then, it may be too late
to go back and get it.
　
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GRAPHICS
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Graphics are fairly blocky by today’s standards, but still very pleasant to
look at, and the animation is nice and smooth. I love seeing the Sariens
as they take over your starship. And the red alarm lights flash non-stop
until you escape (or until the ship goes KABOOM!, hehe). The spider-
droid on Kerona was a bit creepy, with those long legs darting every-
where. The Orat beast was just adorable though. I also loved the bar at
Ulence Flats - there is a live band on stage (ZZ Top, Blues Brothers, or
another alien band), and if you leave the bar and come back, you could
often see a different band. Roger getting trapped in the washing
machine in the Deltaur ship, and the shocked expression on his face as
the washing machine is turned on, is just priceless.
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Text is displayed at bottom of the screen, while conversations
are shown in a text box in middle of the screen. Inventory items can
be examined for clues when you EXAMINE an item.
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There is so much to explore and love about Space Quest!
　
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SOUND AND MUSIC
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The game begins by playing some funky theme music while opening
credits show on screen, and you‘ll be humming that theme tune long
after the game is finished. However, apart from that, there is not
much sound. The alarm at the start blares out for a few seconds.
Doors and lifts slide open and closed. Pulse rays blasting at you. Acid
drips in the underground cave in Kerona. The spider droid lets you
know it is still lurking around. Some cute beeps are heard when you
fall. My favourite is definitely the bands in the Ulence Flats bar!
Nothing much by today’s standards, but back in 1986, when this was
made, it was incredible!
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Give the game a try - you won’t be disappointed!
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