User Rating: 9.3 | Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares PC
I found this game in its Macintosh version in about 1998. My brother and I were hooked from the start, If you are a reasonably bright person, you will not find this game overly complex. This incredible, deep and fun game can be had for 10 or 15 bucks and is the best money a strategy gamer can spend. It is better than SimCity, the Civilization games, and its closest cousin in terms of gameplay would probably be Medieval: Total War. I say this because the Macro scale of running the empire is turn based. But when combat begins, while it is also turn based, it is intimately in the player's control. The sound is fun and cute. Th graphics are dated--but I invite you to look at what the Master of Orion III team turned out, and ask--are these worse or better? The gameplay is addictive and fun, and has that 'one more turn' vibe like no other game. In all, this may be my favorite strategy game of all time, and perhaps deserves consideration as best game of all time, period, in its balance, replayability, and sheer fun. I have also found the stability issues to be greatly exagerrated, especially is you apply the patch.
