Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, March 15, 1992                   TAG: 9203120231
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: E-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LARRY BLASKO ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

STAR TREK FOR PCS IS OUT OF THIS WORLD

Twenty-five years ago, the USS Enterprise warped into a new universe of the imagination when Gene Rodenberry's "Star Trek" appeared on television. Now, Star Trek: 25th Anniversary, by Interplay Productions, allows you to be Capt. James T. Kirk, commanding officer of the most famous non-existent ship since the Flying Dutchman.

As Scotty, the original series engineering officer might observe, playing the interactive adventure requires some serious IBM-PC computing muscle. You need an IBM-PC or compatible with a hard disk and at least 8 million characters of free storage. You also need a color monitor (Tandy, EGA and MCGA-VGA) and a computer that runs at least 10 megahertz. To really enjoy the game, you need a mouse or a joystick and one of the popular sound boards - Ad Lib, Roland, Pro-Spectrum and Sound Blaster.

Those are the minimums, and more is seriously better. I ran the game on a 16-megahertz and a 20-megahertz machine, and the faster machine was noticeably smoother. (Megahertz is millions of cycles per second and one measure of computer chip performance.)

The adventure game takes place either on the bridge of the Enterprise or as part of a landing party exploring new worlds on a mission from Star Fleet command.

Beyond the logic and reasoning skills required of many adventure games, Star Trek: 25th Anniversary begs for a fighter pilot's reflexes and instincts. Three-dimensional combat is harder than you might suspect. The opposing ship may be in front of you - but also dropping rapidly and rolling to the right or left. Quick! Where do you aim the photon torpedoes so they will arrive at the same moment and place in space as the target? Or is it better to use the phasers, which aren't as powerful but are more rapid?

The result of your decisions shows on main systems status displays, and you have the opportunity to repair the damage from the bad ones. (Disastrous decisions need no repair - you and the Enterprise are atomized.)

Sound effects are top-notch and the video is excellent, colorful and varied. There's enough challenge and surprise in the game to sustain interest even among the computer-game aristocracy. Seventeen-year-old Kevin, whose mind has been forever warped by 10 years of computer gaming, says it's a good job of animation and mixing aerial combat and adventure elements. (That's like Julia Child asking you for a recipe - no small praise.)

Installation is easy, but bring along a good book: mine took 90 minutes while the system uncompressed the files packed on five 5.25-inch, 1.2-megabyte disks. Bottom line - it was well worth the wait and the $59.95 price.

For information: Interplay Productions, 3710 S. Susan, Suite 100, Santa Ana, Calif. 92704. Or call (714) 549-2411. To order toll-free, (800) 969-GAME.