Space Trek review

Space Trek on WiiWare is a funny game. It’s not because of the in-game dialogue and quips of main character Captain Jay; they aren’t funny and straddle the line of downright horrible. But the game itself is funny because it’s so terrible that it warrants a chuckle at the developers’ expense. Simply put, Space Trek is a game that promises a grand shooting adventure and fails on every conceivable level. A few gamers may have been tracking the title’s release, hoping it harks back to Star Fox 64. Don’t be fooled, though. This is no Star Fox 64 clone.

You play as Captain Jay, a blue-haired space pilot sent to a distant planet in order to rescue a group of survivors. Who these survivors are is never made clear, but if the game’s trailer is correct, then they’re apparently Captain Jay’s “homies.” The main obstacle for Captain Jay is the alien race known as the Knagar, who pilot enemy fighters and try to impede his progress.

The game is split up into two parts: rescue missions and chase missions. For rescue missions, you’re in charge of guiding Captain’s Jay’s fighter through large maps and seeking out survivors, collecting weapon pick-ups along the way. In your way are enemy drones and locked areas that can only be accessed after picking up keys. Survivors on the three rescue maps are scattered everywhere, and all you have to do to save them is hover above them until your ship automatically beams them up. Chase missions aren’t open-ended like rescue missions. These are one-way levels where your goal is to shoot down a set number of enemy drones.

And that’s all there is to Space Trek: six levels that alternate between rescue and chase missions, none of which are very entertaining, and all of which are hampered even more by overly sensitive steering controls. This is the kind of game that seems decent at first but soon disappoints. Don’t be surprised if you catch yourself saying, “Let’s get this over with” along with Captain Jay, although you’ll be saying it for different reasons.

Visually, the game leaves as much to be desired as the gameplay. Textures are ugly, everything looks blocky, and there are far too many 2D objects onscreen. This may not be the clone of a popular Nintendo 64 game, but it does have Nintendo 64 era graphics. The sound is equally bland, featuring poor voice acting and no real in-game music save for some goofy chime at the beginning and end of every level.

With only six stages, there’s not much substance provided. You’re likely to breeze through this download in less than an hour, which basically means 700 Wii Points is a rip-off. Space Trek has multiple difficulties, but it’s unlikely you’ll want to play through the story multiple times. The developers threw in a Survival Mode, but shooting down waves of enemies is boring enough in the game’s primary mode, and you won’t want to even bother with this pointless addition.

Space Trek is the kind of game you hope turns out well, but doesn’t surprise you when you discover just how bland it is. Navigating through the large maps in rescue missions as you search for survivors grows tiresome almost immediately, and chase missions are boring, straightforward affairs. The game’s Operations Manual promises high-res visuals, solid controls, and great dialogue. It doesn’t take five minutes to realize that all of these aspects are flawed in one way or another. Spend your Wii Points elsewhere and avoid Space Trek at all costs.