Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi (PC, 1992)

Wing Commander II is an early example of space flight simulation that essentially began with the first installment of the Wing Commander series in 1990. Unlike the original Wing Commander, which focused mostly on being a fantasy flight simulator in space, Wing Commander II had a more in depth storyline along with some enhanced flight simulation features. Essentially, however, the game play itself has changed little from Wing Commander. Compared to the original Wing Commander, the graphics are only a modest improvement of the simulation and there are some new parameters in how combat takes place (i.e. capital ships can only be destroyed by fighters employing torpedoes). Certainly, this was an improvement to a game that was already one of the most exciting computer games of it's era. By far, what is most significant about Wing Commander II is the awesome story that unfolds as the player progresses through the game. I recall owning this game back in 1992 while I was in college. I stayed up many nights and even skipped a few classes because I couldn't wait till the next mission so that I could "see what happens next". The first time player is likely to find the plot addictive. Remember, this game was created prior to having Hollywood actors/actresses being cast in the parts of the storyline as was done in Wing Commander III. For the collector of old DOS games, this is definitely a "must have" as Wing Commander II was one of the most influential and popular computer games of all time. For those who are not familiar to DOS gaming (retro-gaming), be warned that the original Wing Commander II was shipped on older 5 1/4" or 3 1/2" diskettes that the vast majority of modern computers no longer support. In order to install and play the game on a modern computer, one will need DOSbox or a similar type of emulator (I recommend DOSbox). These emulators are free and require some knowledge of DOS in order to successfully run. Aside from these inconveniences, I would argue that Wing Commander II easily compares to any modern computer simulation game in terms of interest, challenge, and fun despite it's inferior graphics. Then again, having played this game in my youth, I am clearly partial to it and others like it. In some ways, I find myself appreciating Wing Commander II even more so than I did back then because modern computers are able to run the game much more efficiently than my old IBM PS/2 Model 30 computer with an 80286 processor. With that machine, I suffered considerable lag in the simulation because of my slow computer. In addition, 15 megabytes back then was a lot of storage space on a hard drive. My Macbook running DOSbox now emulates Wing Commander II fully and with no chop to the simulation. So get a flight stick, pull up a chair and enjoy an old classic.

Wing Commander II: Speech Accessory Pack is a Space Combat Sim game, developed and published by Origin, which was released in 1991.

In today's world of photo-realistic games its difficult to convey how computer games looked in the past. Origin's Wing Commander series pushed the envelope of what computer gaming could achieve at the time. The ship models had mass! The joy of playing in a world that seemed 3D was jaw-dropping. Wing Commander II pushed the limits further with massive space stations and battleships, that grew in proportion to your distance to them. Just don't take the fact that the aliens are kitties too serious! A must play.