star trek generations game

Download Star Trek: Generations (Windows)

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Star Trek: Generations

Windows - 1997

Description of Star Trek: Generations

If you haven't played Star Trek: Generations or want to try this strategy video game, download it now for free! Published in 1997 by MicroProse Software, Inc., MicroProse Ltd., Star Trek: Generations was an above-average licensed title title in its time.

External links

How to play star trek: generations windows.

The game runs poorly on modern systems, using DxWnd will solve several issues. Enable these options: "hook enabled", "hook all dlls", "use dll injection", "hook child windowproc". You can also use PCem with Windows 95 installed.

Hopefully, Biffman from The collection Chamber made an installer ready to use, get it from here: https://collectionchamber.blogspot.com/2019/04/star-trek-generations.html

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Comments and reviews

VGVeteran50 2024-03-29 0 point

GG I was thinking why Kirk said "oh my" just before he died. There must be some kind of sensation before death that is obviously unsettling.

The Boz 2022-08-12 2 points

I bought a few of the Star Trek games at the time, this was possibly the least memorable of the lot that I ended up playing. I can't say I was a fan, but loved TNG A Final Unity, Deep Space Nine Harbinger, Voyager Elite Force and Klingon Honor Guard. To me Generations was always a final farewell to the original cast of the previous couple of decades as sadly time moves on.

gg 2022-08-11 3 points

now I can experience burying Captain Kirk beneath a pile of rocks on a pre-industrial planet just like Picard did!

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Star Trek: Generations

Star Trek: Generations is a singleplayer first-person adventure and puzzle game in the Star Trek series.

The game is difficult to get running natively on modern operating system. Virtual machine usage may be required. [1]

General information

Availability

Essential improvements, compatibility profile, alternative installer.

• As original installer doesn't work on modern systems, alternative installer created by Suicide_Machine was developed to make the process of installation on modern systems easier. It contains custom compatibility profile for the game, missing video codec and files. It may not work with all releases.

Configuration file(s) location

Save game data location.

Localizations

Other information, system requirements.

• ↑ 1.0 1.1 When running this game without elevated privileges ( Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES% , %PROGRAMDATA% , or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA% \VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later ( more details ).
• ↑ Verified by User:Suicide machine on 2019-09-05
• ↑ Verified by User:Suicide machine on 2019-09-12
• ↑ BraSoft (archived). - last accessed on May 2023
• ↑ Nostalgia Pixelada (box shots) - last accessed on May 2023
• ↑ Official Spanish intro with voices - last accessed on May 2023
• One-time game purchase
• Singleplayer
• First-person
• Direct control

Star Trek: Generations

• Screenshots

• MicroProse Software, Inc.
• #6,677 on Windows

• The Star Trek: The Next Generation Collection (1999)

Description official descriptions

Generations was the 7th Star Trek film, and saw Captain Kirk rescued from the spacial nexus he was trapped in and joining the Next Generation crew. Their mission was to stop Dr. Tolian Soran from destroying a succession of planets, so as to return him to a paradise-like dimension called the Nexus.

All of this is brought to life in this game, with a succession of 12 away missions on various planets linked by strategic space combat, and Stellar Cartography planning to track Soran's next move. Away missions are in first-person 3D and feature action and puzzle solving. Each is played out by a different member of the crew, all of whom have their voices digitised. Some sub-plot elements and related video sequences from the stars (Patrick Stewart, William Shatner and Malcolm McDowell) are not in the film and have been added to the game.

• Inspiration: Movies
• Live action cut-scenes
• Setting: Space station / Spaceship
• Star Trek licensees

Screenshots +

Credits (Windows version)

108 People (100 developers, 8 thanks) · View all

Average score: 60% (based on 18 ratings)

Average score: 3.4 out of 5 (based on 15 ratings with 0 reviews)

Be the first to review this game !

In May 1997, PC Gamer UK published a CD-ROM Special called Star Trek: Generations , which included a rolling demo, the making of, interviews with the cast and screenshots.

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• MobyGames ID: 699

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Tony Van .

Additional contributors: Jeanne , Picard , Danfer .

Game added January 9, 2000. Last modified January 25, 2024.

Star Trek Generations Review

It's beginning to look like there will never be a truly great Star Trek game.

By Vince Broady on April 12, 2000 at 10:05AM PDT

It's beginning to look like there will never be a truly great Star Trek game. Despite the best efforts of design teams from a number of topnotch companies, re-creating the Star Trek experience in a computer game has proven to be an elusive goal. MicroProse's Generations is no exception. While arguably the best Star Trek game yet released, Generations ultimately falls short of delivering what it promises - namely, an immersive adventure that will appeal to both gamers and Trekkies alike.

Generations closely follows the plot of the movie of the same name, and as such, is able to incorporate copious footage from the film (some of which hasn't been seen before) and voice-overs by the actual actors, including Patrick Stewart and Malcolm McDowell. As in most Star Trek titles, the production values in Generations are quite high, and the interface graphics, audio tracks, and noninteractive cutscenes combine to create a fully authentic Star Trek atmosphere.

Unfortunately, the authentic atmosphere is Generations most compelling element - the game itself is solid but unspectacular. Not that MicroProse didn't try its best to make things interesting. Generations features a unique hybrid design, with three distinct game modes. These modes - Stellar Cartography, Tactical Combat, and Away Missions - offer you the chance to take part in three of Star Trek's most popular pastimes, namely galactic navigation, starship battle, and planetary exploration.

Stellar Cartography is the weakest of the three. Essentially a variation on solitaire, this mode requires you to visit and scan star systems in a search for the game's primary villain, Dr. Tollian Soran. This is accomplished by locating the planet that matches an audio clue, such as "Find a planet with a high level of Theta radiation." While this is mildly entertaining the first few times around, it becomes repetitive and tedious as the game progress. The problem is made more severe because the game does not allow you to store the results of your scans, meaning that unless you physically record every result, you'll find yourself scanning the same areas over and over again (an unthinkable occurrence in the actual Star Trek universe).

The Tactical Combat mode is better. Here you take command of the Enterprise's weapons systems, engaging in real-time battles with various Romulan and Klingon vessels. Commands, such as "Close on Target," "Evade Target," and "Full Stop," provide a reasonable degree of strategic freedom in battle, while phasers and photon torpedoes supply the firepower. Depending on your skill and the nature of the opposition, battles can result in a quick, surgical dismantling of enemy ships, or in hectic, toe-to-toe slugfests. While not perfect - the actual display of the conflict is somewhat lackluster - this combat system is the best yet in a Star Trek game, and it provides a welcome respite from the drudgery of Stellar Cartography.

But the real heart of Generations is its 12 Away Missions, and unfortunately, these first-person perspective levels are a decidedly mixed bag. On the plus side, the missions offer you a wide variety of challenges, from rescuing injured scientists to cutting off Solan's supply of Trilithium crystals. The environments themselves are also nicely balanced, including Klingon bases, tropical planets, and sterile cities occupied solely by robots.

Each mission combines action and adventure elements. As with most first-person games, the primary challenge lies in finding certain objects or locations, and in surviving the continual attacks of hostile inhabitants. But Generations takes things a step further, introducing complex, inventory-based puzzles to the mix - in fact, these are among the most sophisticated puzzles ever found in a first-person game. Even better, many of the puzzles are quite novel and require a fair amount of creative thinking to solve.

What, then, is the problem? Let's start with the graphics. While Generations is not attempting to compete with shooters such as Quake or Shadow Warrior, its graphics engine will inevitably be compared to both. And in such a comparison, it does not fare well. The graphic window is letterboxed (similar to Terra Nova), severely limiting the amount of viewable space, and thus the level of player immersion in the game. Yet despite this limited view, the frame rate is quite choppy, even on a 200MHz MMX system. In the indoor missions, the visuals are generally too dark (even with the brightness cranked up) and most of the objects and enemies are rather nondescript. The graphic engine also exhibits an uncommonly high degree of pixelization and image break-up, especially in the outdoor levels.

To accompany the lackluster graphics, the Away Missions use a rather unwieldy control system - notable chiefly for its omission of a mouse-look button - that makes the game much tougher than it needs to be. Experimentation with literally dozens of different keyboard assignments failed to produce a satisfactory control setup (although a number of them were better than the default setting). Even worse than the controls themselves is the intermittent lag between issuing a command and seeing it executed, resulting in an unacceptably high number of deaths that can legitimately pinned on the computer, rather than the player.

These problems become significant in light of the fact that you can't save progress within a given mission. Death (via early beam out) is a common occurrence, one that begs for the ability to save your progress along the way. But this option is not offered, and the result is mind-numbing repetition of the same sequences over and over again.

As 'save while you play' options have been around at least since Doom, one can only guess that the designers willfully chose to leave it out, perhaps viewing repetition as a means of extending the gameplay. Or perhaps they took a cue from Generations the movie, which contains a rather lengthy crash scene that is played once and then later repeated (and even that was a little tedious!). Either way, they made a serious mistake, one that greatly detracts from the overall experience of the game, keeping Generations in line with its predecessors when it should have risen above them.

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Star Trek: Generations - Beyond the Nexus – Guide and Walkthrough

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Guide and Walkthrough (GG) by Arguro

Version: 1.02 | Updated: 09/26/2018

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Video Game / Star Trek: Generations

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Star Trek: Generations is a 1997 PC video game, based very loosely on the plot of the 1994 movie of the same name . It was developed by Spectrum Holobyte and published by Microprose, and is something of a semi-sequel to their earlier Star Trek video game A Final Unity .

The game itself is split into several different genres: the linking device is the Stellar Cartography room seen in the movie, which exists as a kind of Strategy Game where you can plot Soran's next move and maybe get there before him. The main game segments are a First-Person Shooter (with Adventure Game elements), where a single specific crewmember takes on an "away mission", providing much story variety not seen in the movie (only two segments, the Armagosa observatory and the planet Veridian, are copied to the game; the rest is new content). In these segments, you are given an obligatory crewmember, and must complete a mission where you track down Soran on a planet and stop him from doing whatever it is he's doing. The third game style, less frequently seen, is a space combat mode with one or more enemy ships, using the same game engine as previously in A Final Unity (but this time without the ability to assign it to automatic).

The entire Next Generation cast returned to voice their characters in the game, as well as Malcolm McDowell as the villain, Soran; and William Shatner as Captain Kirk (in one of the game's two finales ).

The game has got a lot of variety, but was often overlooked due to its severely outdated game engine, and also the fact that it got released a whole four years after the movie it tied into.

The video game provides examples of:

• Action-Adventure : The closest way to describe the away missions, although they do err more on the side of action than adventure most of the time.
• Abandon Ship : Unlike the movie, Captain Picard gets one last mission aboard the Enterprise, where he must personally make sure the self-destruct on the stardrive section is engaged after everybody else has already escaped in the saucer.
• Better to Die than Be Killed : The alternate ending has Soran killing himself rather than be apprehended by the Enterprise . Soran: They say time is the fire in which we burn. If I can't be the exception, then I might as well prove the rule. (BOOM!)
• The Cameo : Captain Kirk's segment feels even more like this, stripped as it is of any context whatsoever other than "Hey, come help me stop Soran", "Okay, let's go do it".
• Canon Foreigner : The Chodak, from Microprose's previous game A Final Unity , return in one mission.
• Changing Clothes Is a Free Action : Just like the movie, the characters change clothes seemingly at random. Picard and Data wear their DS9 jumpsuits in the Stellar Cartography game scenes, presumably to match their depictions in the Full Motion Video , but everybody is shown to wear the regular TNG uniforms during away missions, and the before mention full motion video sequences of course show the same disparity in uniforms as the movie they were ported from.
• A number of the planets visited in the game, such as Galornden Core, are traceable to actual episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation .
• Dropped a Bridge on Him : As in the movie, Captain Kirk's fate is sealed by faulty bridge construction.
• Dressing as the Enemy : Both the Worf and the Deanna Troi away missions do this.
• "Fantastic Voyage" Plot : The Doctor Crusher mission, with the twist being that Crusher is normal sized and the living organism she's going into is a planet.
• Full Motion Video : The game uses footage taken directly from the movie, but they get a little creative with it by avoiding many of the shots of the actor's mouths moving, and dubbing new dialogue over reaction shots instead.
• Genius Loci : The Doctor Crusher mission takes place on a living planet, with the doctor herself descending into the body of the creature . She must use her medical knowledge to cure the planet of its infections while avoiding Seeker White Blood Cells .
• Multiple Endings : The game provides two endings, one of which basically follows the film's ending with only one or two minor additions, while the other ending does almost the complete opposite of the movie (avoiding both Kirk's death and the Enterprise-D's destruction).
• Non-Standard Game Over : The Stellar Cartography segments have got a timer. If you take too long to track Soran down, you can only watch as he destroys several different stars and renders those systems uninhabitable. Let this happen too many times, and it's a game over for you.
• Planetary Parasite : The Doctor Crusher mission sees her dealing with these.
• Pragmatic Adaptation : While the events in the game must explicitly take place over a longer period than those depicted in the film, adding many new scenarios, the game also has the good sense of jettisoning any story elements that obviously wouldn't have functioned in the context of the game anyway (namely Picard's family loss, Data's emotion chip and the complete removal of the Duras Sisters ). One might say the game adapts the broader scenario of the movie, without ever adapting the exact plot...

• Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated : Invoked during the opening narration: "It would be 78 years for the galaxy to learn that the report of the death of James T. Kirk had been greatly exaggerated."
• Seeker White Blood Cells : The threat in the Doctor Crusher mission.
• Shop Fodder : Many of the items laying around the environment don't actually do anything, even though you can pick them up and carry them around in your inventory. Most are fairly obvious, being labeled some variant of "junk item".
• Shown Their Work : While only two scenarios from the movie get ported over to become levels in the game (Armagosa station and Veridian III), both stages very accurately replicate the actual sets from the movie. The Stellar Cartography segments are also quite accurate to how Stellar Cartography seems to function in the movie.
• Spanner in the Works : After a few different missions thwarting his evil schemes, Soran eventually calls the characters out for constantly doing this to him.
• Spared by the Adaptation : Captain Kirk and the Enterprise D both survive in the alternative ending.
• Another first person shooter game, this time based directly on Star Trek: First Contact and using the Unreal game engine to let the player shoot down Borg while defending the Enterprise, was in the works after this got published but ended up being abandoned (perhaps just as well, as it would've come out after Star Trek: Insurrection had been and gone in theaters). One follow-up game did however reach completion: Star Trek: The Next Generation - Klingon Honor Guard .
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left : Soran will do this when you fight him on the away missions, beaming away just before you can land the killing blow. If you can figure out where he's going to be next in the Stellar Cartography section and get there before he does, however, you can fight him in a incredibly hard ship battle and take him down, resulting in the alternate ending.
• Walk, Don't Swim : Contrary to what we are told in Star Trek: Insurrection , in one of his away missions it is clear that Data can not serve as a floatation device, and he must resort to walking across the floor of an ocean instead.
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Yet another Star Trek title reaches the shelves of software stores everywhere with claims of a great adventure and the name of its outdated movie title: "Star Trek Generations". I'd have to say it came up a little short.

While trying to outwit and stay one step ahead of Dr. Sorian, the villain trying to return to a paradise-like dimension by destroying entire solar systems, you play in 3 distinct styles of game play. Starting off in stellar cartography with an overall strategic view of the surrounding systems, you must decide what your next move is by using clues found by long and short-range scans, and predicting the Doctor's next attack.

Once you have decided upon a location, you may set course, and beam down to the surface, as you take on an entirely new 1st person shoot 'em up role armed with a phaser, tricorder, and any other necessary items. While down on the surface, you may encounter hostile targets, injured civilians, and mechanical droids, all of which serve a purpose and have something to do with your reason for being there. You must complete your mission objectives before returning to your ship, but luckily being under the kind, gentle, forgiving command of Capt. Picard, if you have been injured too much, you are beamed back safely to the Enterprise whether you have completed your mission or not.

If you thought bad guys are only down on the surface, think again. They also sail through space just like you and well, let's just say they're not the friendly type of people you'd like to run into. Being the worst of the 3 elements of game play, you are forced to fight enemies, ship-to-ship with phasers and photon torpedoes. This is the very least rewarding and almost entirely pointless part of the game. Adding nothing to the plot, I found it unnecessary and very unsatisfying.

The interface of this game was VERY poorly done. Taking up literally half of the screen, the control panels took away a great deal of action, and all for no point. I see no problems at all with reducing the interface, all Microprose would have had to do is reduce the size of icons and buttons that are far too big in the first place. The button setup was also bad. Having to use your mouse to aim a free moving cursor around the screen, while at the same time managing scattered keys to maneuver yourself from getting shot, they could have made the game a lot easier to play if they gave the same key setup as Doom (or even just the option to change keys).

The best part about Generations, that so many other adventure games have failed to include, is allowing your actions to have consequences. Not only does the plot unfold and continue on in different ways depending whether you fail a mission or not, but there also choices that you must make during actual away missions, and they also effect your progress throughout the game. The designers really excelled in having multiple ways of getting to a common goal, and splitting the plot into a few possible outcomes. Of course, the final word comes down to whether you prevented more than 1 solar system from being destroyed, but the many courses you can set to complete your mission is what makes Generations stand out from other adventure titles.

The game's graphic abilities are less than stunning, but nothing to sneer at. Understanding that you're dealing with a free 3D environment, you can't make huge 3D landscapes and expect them to run very smoothly. The texturing was very well done, and the variety of environments from a space station, to outdoors, to a starship, kept the primitive graphics fresh and comparatively interesting. However, Generations makes up for any lackluster graphics with outstanding cinematics including cast members: William Shatner, Patrick Stewart and many more. Not only does it include parts of the movie, but also unseen new footage specially made for the game.

The creators of Generations really went to all ends to make sure the sounds and music of the game were truly authentic. I must commend the Microprose for their ability to pay attention to detail because it's all there: from the sound of a firing phaser gun, to the pleasant sound of the computer voice.

For all you Trekkies out there, I'd consider throwing down some money for this game. I think it was a fairly good adventure for Star Trek fans, and I must also comment that while the game had a very close tie to the movie's plot, it didn't stick to the movie so closely that if you've seen it, you've played it. Generations does have plenty of original subplots that are unseen in the movie. However, I have a feeling that a less dedicated Trek fan, wouldn't be as enthusiastic about it. This game is definitely not the game to buy if you've never been interested in Star Trek, or have no familiarization with Star Trek at all.

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• Cast & crew
• User reviews
• Episode aired Oct 26, 1991

Wesley Crusher returns to the Enterprise on vacation from the Academy only to discover a mysterious alien game infiltrating and controlling the crew. Wesley Crusher returns to the Enterprise on vacation from the Academy only to discover a mysterious alien game infiltrating and controlling the crew. Wesley Crusher returns to the Enterprise on vacation from the Academy only to discover a mysterious alien game infiltrating and controlling the crew.

• Corey Allen
• Gene Roddenberry
• Brannon Braga
• Susan Sackett
• Patrick Stewart
• Jonathan Frakes
• LeVar Burton
• 30 User reviews
• 11 Critic reviews

• Captain Jean-Luc Picard

• Commander William Thomas 'Will' Riker

• Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge

• Lieutenant Worf

• Dr. Beverly Crusher

• Counselor Deanna Troi

• Lieutenant Commander Data

• Ensign Robin Lefler

• Chief Miles O'Brien

• Nurse Alyssa Ogawa

• Wesley Crusher
• (as Diane M. Hurley)

• Enterprise Computer
• Crewman Nelosn
• (uncredited)
• Crewman Garvey
• Crewman Martinez
• Ten Forward Waitress
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Did you know

• Trivia Though Molly O'Brien was born in the previous episode Disaster (1991) , she is first named in this episode.
• Goofs Since the game uses a visual interface, and works through the eye, and optic nerve, Geordi should have been immune to its affects, since his eyes and optic nerves don't work, and the game could not have been altered to work through his VISOR. However, the game is sending information to the brain, via the optic nerve. The VISOR 'sees' the same visible portion of the spectrum as others' eyes and sends the information to his brain. There is therefore no reason why the device shouldn't affect him too.

[Wesley has asked Picard about the initials 'AF' carved into an elm tree]

Captain Jean-Luc Picard : Wesley, if you meet someone, whose initials you might want to carve into that elm tree, don't let it interfere with your studies. I failed organic chemistry because of AF.

• Connections Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Fictional Video Games in TV (2015)
• Soundtracks Star Trek: The Next Generation Main Title Composed by Jerry Goldsmith and Alexander Courage

User reviews 30

• planktonrules
• Nov 22, 2014
• October 26, 1991 (United States)
• United States
• Official site
• Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (Studio)
• Paramount Television
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 45 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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The Game (episode)

• View history
• 1.2 Act One
• 1.3 Act Two
• 1.4 Act Three
• 1.5 Act Four
• 1.6 Act Five
• 1.7 Log entries
• 2 Memorable quotes
• 3.1 Story and script
• 3.2 Production
• 3.3 Cast and characters
• 3.4 Sets, props, special effects, and costumes
• 3.5 Continuity
• 3.6 Reception
• 3.7 Video and DVD releases
• 4.1 Starring
• 4.2 Also starring
• 4.3 Guest stars
• 4.4 Co-stars
• 4.5 Uncredited co-stars
• 4.6 Stand-ins and photo doubles
• 4.7.1 Library computer references
• 4.7.2 Deleted references
• 4.8 External links

Summary [ ]

" What is this? " " It's a game. "

Commander Riker is on shore leave on Risa , where he's been spending time with a Ktarian woman named Etana . In his room at the resort he is staying at, she teases him by taking his combadge , and then, to his disbelief, throws it out a window. While they lie down together, Etana introduces to him a game involving a device that fits over the ears and projects signals into the eyes. This creates in the wearer's field of vision an image of discs going into funnels. When a disk goes into one of said funnels, the player is "rewarded" by receiving pleasure signals from the device. Etana says that the game can go as far as the player will take it, and Riker decides to continue playing.

Act One [ ]

Riker enters the bridge and notices that things are starting to get busy around the Enterprise . He says that five new science teams have just beamed in from the USS Zhukov with quarters filling fast. Captain Picard adds that on top of everything else, they only have two weeks to complete the exploration – something that Riker doesn't like, as he thought they had five weeks. This is due to the recent addition of a diplomatic mission to Oceanus IV to the agenda. Picard tasks Riker to ensure that all the science teams have an equal chance to complete their research, which would be a tough juggling act, says Riker. Picard also tells the first officer that they also have a scheduled rendezvous with a shuttle carrying Wesley Crusher , who is on vacation from Starfleet Academy and could provide some much-needed extra help.

In Engineering , Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge is up to his neck in observation schedules and explains to Riker the biggest hurdle would be sensor availability, a task made more difficult since two new exobiologists and three stellar cartographers transferred from the Zhukov . Getting down to the business of availability, La Forge tells Riker that the lateral sensors are booked solid for planetary observation, and the gamma ray scanners are being reprogrammed by Ensign Robin Lefler . La Forge compliments her work in engineering, remarking that she's the specialist for this mission. Lefler explains to Riker that they're increasing the available bandwidth of the sensors so more science teams can use the sensors at once. This is done by multiplexing the array, and Lefler assures the first officer that it will be done before they arrive at the Cluster. Riker tells La Forge that he's brought something back from Risa that he has to try. La Forge reluctantly takes a pass as he is running a full sensor recalibration in ten minutes but promises to see Riker about it later.

In Ten Forward , Riker enters and immediately eyes Deanna Troi , who is sitting at a table enjoying a large chocolate sundae . Jokingly, he asks if she's depressed, to which Troi replies, " I'm fine, Commander. " She offers him a spoonful, but he politely declines, saying he doesn't like fudge . Troi smiles and tells Riker she never met a chocolate she didn't like. Getting technical, she describes the experience by explaining the best way to eat it and enjoy it, a detailed ritual which amuses Riker. " Chocolate is a serious thing ", she informs him. He then tells her about the game he brought back from Risa, which he promises would be " better than chocolate ".

Act Two [ ]

The Enterprise makes a rendezvous with the USS Cochrane , and Wesley is transported aboard and greeted by Chief O'Brien . He congratulates him on the recent birth of his daughter . O'Brien says that she's the spitting image of her father. He informs Wesley that the senior officers are currently in a meeting, and that Wesley can go to his mother 's quarters . At Wesley's request, O'Brien hails the bridge and confirms that it's all right for Wesley to drop into the observation lounge to say hello. Worf tells O'Brien that he supposes that that would be acceptable. Wesley thanks O'Brien and leaves the transporter room with a confused look on his face.

A darkened room awaits Wesley, who looks around in confusion. The lights go on and Doctor Beverly Crusher greets her son with a big hug, followed by Picard. He speaks to him in Latin and Wesley responds back; Picard credits that his Latin has improved. Troi compliments the uniform as he is looking handsome, and La Forge says the uniform probably "drives the girls wild". Worf offers him a Tarvokian pound cake which he made himself. Data then asks if their attempts to make him uncomfortable were effective. Wesley admits they were, having wondered if he was on the wrong ship. Riker asks Wesley to assist the crew with the Phoenix Cluster survey, a request that Wesley accepts without hesitation. La Forge wants him to settle in first and then to see him in engineering to get started. Beverly then asks Troi about the game, and she invites the doctor to come by her quarters to check it out.

Wesley and Data talk about his time at the Academy, which Wesley found surprisingly challenging, as there's much more to know there than starship operations . Data recounts his awkward early days at the Academy, during which his lack of Human understanding put him at a social disadvantage. One example was practical jokes , of which the android was a victim of several. Wesley completely understands and shares a practical joke that was played on him by fellow cadet Adam Martoni . Another social obstacle was the Academy's annual Sadie Hawkins Dance . It was an awkward experience for both. Wesley admits he's not a dancer, and Data shares that he personally learned to dance thanks to Beverly, a talented former dancer. He offers to share what he learned with Wesley.

Getting right to work, Wesley begins to modify the planetary scans while keeping the datalines open for the stellar physicists . Seeing that he's having difficulties with the sensors, Lefler walks over and gives him a hand. They introduce themselves, but before they can chat, Lefler points out that Wesley's neutrinos are drifting, leaving Wesley scrambling to get back to work. Wesley looks at her as she leaves, then turns back to his work. Lefler takes a look back at him as well.

Conflicts arise between the stellar physicists and the planetary evolution team, with both of them wanting to be the first to use the thermal imaging array , Data reports. La Forge suggests they flip a coin , as they won't be able to finish the mission without working together. Data is then called away to sickbay by Beverly, who needs assistance. As he enters, she is working on an experiment using bioactive silicon and needs her tricorder modified to a certain specification. Data agrees to help, but as he works on the tricorder, Beverly shuts him off. Troi and Riker enter sickbay and Riker carries him to a bio-bed , and has the computer secure the doors. Beverly then takes a cutting tool , opens a panel on the back of Data's head, and begins to work on the android.

Act Three [ ]

Enjoying some tea with Picard, Wesley details his instructors at the Academy: Novakovich for anthropology , Walter Horne for creative writing . Picard is pleased to hear that Wesley met Boothby his first week, as he had suggested the year before . When asked how he was doing and mused that Boothby may have told Wesley some stories about Picard in his Academy days, Wesley admits Boothby didn't remember Picard until he saw an old yearbook picture. Boothby was very proud that Picard had become captain of the Enterprise and showed Wesley a grand tour of the gardens – the very same tour Picard got when he was at the Academy. Wesley then asked about the initials "A.F." that Boothby caught Picard carving in his prized elm tree , which Picard admits was an old acquaintance of his. His preoccupation with her cost him a passing grade in organic chemistry . Picard advises Wesley that whenever he meets someone whose initials he would carve in that elm tree, it should not interfere with his studies. Picard is then summoned to sickbay by Beverly.

Beverly explains to the captain that Data was complaining about a servo malfunction , and although her scans came up negative, he collapsed. La Forge determines that his higher signals are intact, but none of them are entering the rest of his body through his positronic brain , leaving him in an almost comatose state. Picard wants to be kept up-to-date on the situation.

In Data's quarters, Riker and La Forge end up with a dead end with no evidence to support a shutdown. The personal , diagnostic , and duty logs all show normal and a standard security sweep shows nothing out of the ordinary. Riker assures the troubled La Forge that Dr. Crusher has everything taken care of, and suggests that La Forge takes a break to unwind. La Forge agrees, which opens the opportunity for Riker to introduce him to the game.

Still working on the sensors, Lefler shares with Wesley her view of conduit configuration quoting her personal Law #36: " You have to go with what works ". The laws are her personal rules: whenever she learns something new, she makes a law so as not to forget it. To date, she has 102 laws . She credits Wesley's reputation for being good. Wesley realizes that Lefler knows more about him than he realizes. She admits she's heard about him from a few friends at the Academy. She also wants to know about the revenge prank he played on Adam Martoni. Wesley mentions there is another side to the story, and then Lefler inquires about his birthmark . Wesley complains he is at a disadvantage, as he hardly knows Lefler. While he needs to work on the sensor relays, he offers a chance to even the score. He invites her to meet him for coffee , but she counters with a dinner proposal, which he accepts.

Beverly clears a challenging level of the game in her quarters , but is interrupted by Wesley, who inquires about it. Embarrassed, she concedes that the game was meant for him, but she couldn't resist trying it out. When offered a chance to try it, Wesley passes and instead asks about Data's condition. She says La Forge has everything under control, and stops Wesley from going to help out, reminding him he's on vacation. Running late for his date with Lefler, Wesley promises his mother he will have time to spend with her while he's on board. She then becomes adamant for her son to try one round of the game, but he insists he needs to get ready for his date. She tells Wesley to have a good time and sets the game down on a table.

Lefler begins to talk about her life in Starfleet ; her childhood involved frequent moving, as her parents were highly in demand as plasma specialists . As a child, she enjoyed playing with a tricorder , as Wesley did with a warp coil . She concedes her parents didn't have much time to spend with her, even when she needed them, which prompted her to make her first law: You can only count on yourself . They begin to discuss the game. Lefler says everyone in engineering are going crazy over it. They glance over at a crewman at another table playing the game in a trance-like state. Lefler dismisses it as a fad, but Wesley wants to find out more before playing it. They team up to look into it, and as they leave Ten Forward, another crewman in a command red uniform begins playing while seated at the bar .

The two begin to study the game, and what it does to the brain . The highest concentration of activity is in the pleasure center of the brain, a key component in the game: it's addictive. Another unusual reading comes from the prefrontal cortex , which handles reasoning. Wesley concludes he needs to inform the captain about this discovery.

In the captain's ready room , Wesley explains to Picard what he and Lefler discovered, having concluded that the game is psychotropically addictive. Picard is even further concerned when he learns the game affects the brain's reasoning center. Picard says that he'll start an investigation immediately, and thanks Wesley for bringing it to his attention, mentioning how good it is to have him back. As soon as Wesley leaves, he turns around, picks up the game he had hidden when Wesley arrived, and resumes playing.

Act Four [ ]

By now, the game has spread through most of the ship. Wesley meets Lefler in Ten Forward and the two discuss how they're constantly being approached by people who are almost desperate to get them to try the game, as Chief O'Brien had a moment ago. Wesley tells Lefler that he's told the captain, however a crewmember interrupts asking them why they're not trying the game and is about to force hers onto Lefler's head before the two leave, but not before deducing that only Data would be immune to the game and how convenient it was that he suffered a mysterious "malfunction" just after it arrived. Wesley and Lefler look over Data's systems and determine that someone has severed a connection between his positronic brain and the rest of his body. Wesley is disturbed and tells Lefler that only two people on board the Enterprise have the training and experience to disable Data in this way: La Forge and his mother. They deduce that he has been deactivated to be kept out of the way so that the game could be spread throughout the rest of the susceptible crew.

The Enterprise arrives at some designated coordinates, and Picard sends the senior staff to see to it that the few unaffected crewmembers left are introduced to the game, reminding them not to forget about Wesley. Worf and Beverly go to see to it that Wesley plays the game, only to find that he and Lefler have already seemingly succumbed to it. Satisfied, they leave, only for Wesley and Lefler to return to normal, having replicated dummy devices to fool the rest of the crew. They agree that no one can be trusted now, however Robin has to leave to report for duty, knowing that her absence could arouse suspicion. Wesley asks her to access the codes for the security tracking system as he has a plan, and she tells him to watch his back.

Now believing the entire crew has played the game, Captain Picard summons all the senior offices to the bridge. Worf tells Picard that an alien ship is approaching and is hailing the Enterprise . Picard asks Worf to put the message on the video screen. It is Etana Jol, the woman from Risa who originally gave the game to Riker during his shore leave . She is in fact a Ktarian commander, and she now asks Captain Picard for a report. Picard answers " The Enterprise has been secured. We await further instructions ".

Act Five [ ]

Etana is delighted with Picard's response, and it is now apparent that her encounter with Riker back on Risa was designed to be more than just a romantic interlude but was part of her plan to addict Riker to the game to the point that he would bring it back to the ship. Over time, the game's addictive and mind control properties would allow Etana to gain control of the Enterprise and its crew. The true intention of the game is also clear now: it is part of a Ktarian "expansion project" and a plot to help the Ktarians take over the Federation . She now orders various members of the crew to visit nearby Federation outposts and installations to distribute the devices there, and also to make sure that all other ships in the sector get the game. In a reference to Wesley, Picard also informs Etana that they may be able to get the devices to Starfleet Academy. Etana closes the transmission by saying the crew will all be rewarded when the "expansion" is completed.

Nurse Ogawa playing the game

Wesley meets up with Lefler in Engineering, where he tells her he's prepared a site-to-site transporter program in case of an emergency and asks how she's been doing with the security system. However, he then notices that she's staring at him blankly. He realizes something is wrong as Lefler reveals she's been exposed to the game and tells Wesley it's his turn. Riker and Worf have been hiding in order to perform an ambush. Wesley manages to escape from engineering and makes a run for it with Riker and Worf in pursuit. When further progress is blocked by a force field , he activates the transport program. He is beamed to Transporter room 3, on Deck 6. In order to prevent the crew from tracking his whereabouts, Wesley ditches his combadge and deactivates it as he flees the room.

After working through some of Wesley's sabotage , the crew tracks him to deck six and traps him with force fields. Wesley takes out a type-1 phaser and sets it to randomly fire on the force field. This activity is detected, tricking the crew into thinking he was trying to cut through it and buying him time to get away. He escapes into the Jefferies tubes , but they scan for his body heat in that quarter of the saucer section . Knowing where he's going, Worf and Riker corner Wesley in a Jefferies tubes junction and capture him. Even though he grabs onto a grate to anchor himself, they eventually manage to drag him to the bridge, struggling the entire way.

Held down into the captain's chair , he is forced to use the game device, his head held still and at Picard's encouraging, his eyes forced open by Riker and Worf. Wesley still fights them while his mother encourages him to just relax and let the game play itself. In fact, the game does play itself: Wesley refuses to throw the disks into the funnels, but the funnels stretch toward the disks and pull the disks into themselves, triggering the same effects that would have been triggered if Wesley had voluntarily thrown the disks into the funnels. It would seem that he is now addicted – and Ktarian control of the Enterprise is now complete.

Data foils the Ktarian plot.

At that moment, the lights on the bridge go out, plunging the room into darkness. Data appears from the turbolift and, using a palm beacon , flashes an optical burst pattern into everyone's eyes which disrupts the games effects and returns everyone to normal. He has the lights turned back on before telling Worf to lock onto the Ktarian ship with the tractor beam . As Worf goes to do so, Data asks Picard if he is alright, and the shaken captain says "I think so, Mr. Data."

As soon as Etana's ship is captured, she angrily hails the Enterprise , demanding an explanation. When Picard says that her plot has failed, she threatens to open fire on the Enterprise , but Worf scans her ship and pointedly reports that with her ship's limited defenses, she is not a threat at all. After making it clear to Etana that she cannot escape, Riker closes the channel on a speechless Etana.

Riker is curious of how Data is working again despite being disabled. Wesley explains that he had managed to reconnect Data's positronic matrix before he went to Engineering. After learning of the situation, Data had set to work in finding a way of counteracting the game's mind control (eventually modifying the palm beacon), while Wesley distracted the crew for as long as possible with his wild goose chase. As for the rest of the crew, Data had programmed the computer to send the same coded burst patterns to all of the display screens, work stations, and terminals throughout the ship, which should cure everyone. With the conspiracy over, Picard decides to take the Ktarian ship to the nearest starbase .

Lefler is helping Wesley prepare to leave the Enterprise . His vacation is over – back to the Academy and his studies. Riker informs Wesley that his ship is waiting, and he should report to the transporter room. Wesley acknowledges that he'll be there shortly. But first he and Lefler say their goodbyes to each other, they kiss , and she gives Wesley a going-away gift – a copy of her 102 laws written down. Wesley decides to add "Law 103… A couple of light years can't keep good friends apart". She nods her approval and Wesley is transported to the USS Merrimac that will return him to Starfleet Academy. Lefler watches Wesley longingly as he leaves.

Log entries [ ]

• Captain's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D), 2368

Memorable quotes [ ]

" You see the disk and the cone? " " Yeah. " " Concentrate. Make the disk go into the cone. " " How do I do that? " " Just let go. "

" Would you like me to leave the two of you alone? "

" I never met a chocolate I didn't like. "

" Chief O'Brien to bridge. " " Bridge here. " " Wesley Crusher has arrived and wants to know if he can stop by the observation lounge to say "Hi." " " I suppose that is acceptable. "

" Wesley… Tarvokian pound cake . I made it myself. "

" Chocolate is a serious thing. "

" No, thanks. I don't like fudge. "

" Quomodo tua Latinitas est? " (Translation: " How's your Latin? ") " Praestat quam prius. " (Translation: " It's better than before. ") " Oppido bonum. (Translation: " Very good. ") Your Latin has improved. "

" Report. " " Welcome, Etana. The Enterprise has been secured. We await your further instructions. "

" Your neutrinos are drifting. "

" It's your turn. Play the game, Wesley. "

" Geordi, a conflict has started between the planetary evolution team and the stellar physicists. Each wishes to be the first to use the thermal imaging array. " " Well, tell 'em to flip a coin . We've got to work together on this mission otherwise we're never gonna get it done. " " A coin. Very good. I will replicate one immediately. "

Background information [ ]

• Final draft script: 23 August 1991 [1]
• Filmed: 28 August 1991 – 6 September 1991
• Additional day of second unit filming: 3 October 1991
• Premiere airdate: 28 October 1991
• First UK airdate: 25 January 1995

Story and script [ ]

• Like " Darmok ", the story for this episode had a somewhat tumultuous path to the screen. It had originally been pitched by Susan Sackett and Fred Bronson during the fourth season . However, as Ronald D. Moore recalled, " 'The Game' kicked around for quite a while and went through lots of permutations. " Many writers had taken many approaches to the story, including two drafts that were abandoned. ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 230-1)
• Bronson recalled, " It was based on the fact that I had a Tetris game on my computer at home. Whenever I wanted to […] distract myself I would play Tetris and it was very addictive. " ( Starburst Special #29, p. 58)
• Michael Piller was convinced the premise couldn't be saved. However, Rick Berman reminded Piller that he had been concerned about the lack of science fiction premises on the show. Berman thus suggested giving the story to Brannon Braga , as his first assignment after joining the writing staff. Braga took the pitch in a darker direction, summarizing his treatment as " Wesley's come home and his family's out to get him. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 230-1; Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., p. 181))
• Braga compared the plot of this episode to Invasion of the Body Snatchers . ( Intergalactic Guest Stars , TNG Season 5 DVD special features) Jeri Taylor commented, " Through an evolutionary process – without really intending to ape that movie – this insidious spread of a game had its origins in kids being addicted to video games now, and what happens to them. That was the original intent and that's what drove the final story and script. That insight followed the development. " Braga added, " It's ironic to have the adolescent come back to find all the adults are addicted to a game which is something you'd expect the other way around. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 230)
• Braga observed, " We were going for fun and high concept. It's an atypical show in some ways and a lot of people had trouble believing Picard would become addicted and all these people would get hooked, but that's the story. Either you tell it or you don't. Not that we didn't give a lot of thought to how the characters became addicted. The characters only become addicted because they were getting the game from people they trusted, which is exemplified in the notorious chocolate scene, which had a very mixed reaction, but I had a lot of fun writing it. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 230)
• Braga saw this episode as a chance to make the character of Wesley Crusher "a little hipper", by giving him a girlfriend and by showing him to be a cadet capable of pulling practical jokes. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., p. 181)) Braga remarked, " When I was writing the teleplay, I tried to relax him a little bit and took the opportunity to make him a more relaxed character with some personality and some spunk. He's more savvy because he was at the Academy and has gone through some changes and he'll pick up on Robin Lefler. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 230)

Production [ ]

Director Corey Allen instructing Brent Spiner and Wil Wheaton

• "The Game" was filmed between Wednesday 28 August 1991 and Friday 6 September 1991 on Paramount Stage 8 , 9 , and 16 . On Monday 2 September 1991 , the production was off for Labor Day Holiday. An additional day of second unit filming was on Thursday 3 October 1991 on Paramount Stage 9 and 16.
• While at Dragon Con 2011, Brent Spiner recalled that during production of this episode, the scene wherein Data is deactivated by Dr. Crusher and falls down onto a bio-bed, Spiner actually hit the bed so hard he cut his chin and had to go to the hospital. After returning to the set, director Corey Allen immediately asked Spiner to do the scene again. [2]
• On Thursday 29 August 1991 , a camera crew from CBS This Morning visited the set and interviewed the cast members.
• "The Game" was the first episode to air following Gene Roddenberry 's death on 24 October 1991 .

Cast and characters [ ]

• This was the second and last appearance of Ensign Robin Lefler ( Ashley Judd ). After her first appearance, in " Darmok ", the writers had been looking for a vehicle for her return, and this story was seen as a perfect fit. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., p. 181))
• Wil Wheaton fondly remembered working with Judd, noting that he was Judd's first on-screen kiss. ( Intergalactic Guest Stars , TNG Season 5 DVD special features)
• Brannon Braga admitted that he hit on Judd during filming, and was "dutifully ignored". ( Star Trek: The Next Generation 365 , p. 227)

Sets, props, special effects, and costumes [ ]

The optical extension of the Jefferies tube behind Worf

• The headpieces for the Ktarian game were created by property master Alan Sims , using telephone headsets . ( Star Trek: The Next Generation 365 , p. 226)
• A suite on Risa , as it appeared in " Captain's Holiday ", was recreated for this episode. It has the same architecture and similar decorations (including a horga'hn ) as Captain Picard's room and even features the Risian ocean, seen through the window.
• The engineering laboratory is a re-use of the sickbay lab, also seen as the tactical laboratory . It includes the star chart seen behind Dexter Remmick in " Conspiracy ".
• The Ktarian vessel is a re-use of the Zalkonian warship , which itself was a redress of the Tarellian plague ship .
• Several parts of the bridge of the Ktarian ship, including the chair and the viewscreen, also appeared on Romulan ships.
• This is the first appearance of Wesley Crusher 's cadet -style Starfleet uniform . The Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., p. 181) notes that Wesley's cadet uniform lacks pips, as was later established in " The First Duty ".
• The blue-grey shirt that Wil Wheaton wore as Wesley in this episode was sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay. [3] [4]
• This is the first appearance of a matte painting as optical extension of the Jefferies tube . The call sheet features the note "Art/Graphic – translight backing of tube".

Continuity [ ]

• Data references the events of TNG : " Data's Day " when he tells Wesley that his mother recently taught him how to dance. This also means that Data broke his promise to Doctor Crusher that he keeps this fact between the two of them.
• Deanna Troi 's love of chocolate was established in " The Price ".
• Wesley and Picard also discuss Boothby , who was first mentioned by Picard in TNG : " Final Mission ".
• While in a turbolift , Nurse Alyssa Ogawa comments to Wesley that she is on level 47 of the Game, repeating the theme of including that number in the series.
• This episode was the second time the sonic shower was referenced and the first to mention it by name, though it was several years before one was seen again, on Star Trek: Voyager .

Reception [ ]

• Michael Piller commented, " I thought it was a great episode. That was an episode that dealt with my fascination in watching my two sons with their obsession for video games and doing a show that dealt with a non-world shattering issue but people's obsession, almost addiction, to certain types of games. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 230) Piller praised Braga's efforts, and thought it showed that he had promise as a writer. " He delivered that script and did some wonderful things. He wrote scenes that didn't depend on action but went straight to character; and a two minute scene with Troi and a chocolate sundae which was wonderfully written. He has an extraordinary talent to find the moments in [a] script where you can throw in character development and spend the time doing that for the sheer delight of getting to know the character better – and not interrupting the flow. " ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., p. 181))
• Brannon Braga remarked, " It was corny, even at the time. But I enjoyed writing it. It was fun to realize that Picard had been seduced by the game, and it was fun to watch Beverly Crusher attempt to entice her son. The script was produced exactly as I wrote it, so it was an extremely positive experience for me. " ( Star Trek: The Next Generation 365 , p. 227)
• Jonathan Frakes also enjoyed "The Game", commenting, " That's a fun episode… It was like O.D.'ing on Nintendo . " However, he was disappointed with the computer graphics used to depict the Ktarian game , stating " They told me it was going to be this incredible graphic, and all it was… was a tuba on a checkerboard ". ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 231)
• Writer Marc Scott Zicree was not impressed by how this episode developed the character of Wesley Crusher. Commented Zicree, " He falls in love with a girl and they share chocolate mousse – give me a break. " ( The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years , p. 106)
• A mission report for this episode by John Sayers was published in The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine  issue 18 , pp. 38-41.

Video and DVD releases [ ]

• Original UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video ): Volume 53, 5 October 1992
• UK re-release (three-episode tapes, Paramount Home Entertainment ): Volume 5.2, catalog number VHR 4761, 22 July 2002
• As part of the TNG Season 5 DVD collection

Links and references [ ]

Starring [ ].

• Patrick Stewart as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard
• Jonathan Frakes as Cmdr. William Riker

Also starring [ ]

• LeVar Burton as Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge
• Michael Dorn as Lt. Worf
• Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher
• Marina Sirtis as Counselor Deanna Troi
• Brent Spiner as Lt. Commander Data

Guest stars [ ]

• Ashley Judd as Robin Lefler
• Katherine Moffat as Etana
• Colm Meaney as Miles O'Brien
• Patti Yasutake as Alyssa Ogawa
• Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher

Co-stars [ ]

• Diane M. Hurley as Woman
• Majel Barrett as Computer Voice

Uncredited co-stars [ ]

• Arratia as Alfonse Pacelli
• Rachen Assapiomonwait as Nelson
• Joe Baumann as Garvey
• Cece Bell as command division officer
• Bowman as civilian
• Michael Braveheart as Martinez
• Camara as operations division officer
• Victoria Cameron as Ten Forward waitress
• Max Cervantes as operations division officer
• Cullen Chambers as command division officer
• Tony Cruz as Lopez
• Denise Deuschle as science division officer
• A. Flores as science division officer
• Goldie Ann Gareza as civilian
• Keith Gearhart as science division officer
• Melba Gonzalez as command officer
• Eben Ham as operations division ensign
• Linda Harcharic as command division ensign
• Grace Harrell as operations division officer
• Melanie Hathorn as sciences officer
• Gary Hunter as science division officer
• Joly as command division ensign
• Kast as command division officer
• Alex Landi as operations division officer
• Mark Lentry as science division lieutenant
• Debbie Marsh as command division ensign
• Michael Moorehead as science division ensign
• Randy Pflug as Jones
• Greg Poole as civilian
• Bill E. Rogers as operations division officer
• Noriko Suzuki as operations division ensign
• Curt Truman as command division officer
• Guy Vardaman as Darien Wallace
• Dru Wagner as Daniels
• Christina Wegler Miles as civilian
• Garvey (voice)
• Male civilian
• Ten Forward waiter #1
• Ten Forward waiter #2

Stand-ins and photo doubles [ ]

• David Keith Anderson – stand-in for LeVar Burton
• Cameron – stand-in for Gates McFadden
• Foster – stand-in for Wil Wheaton
• Debbie Marsh – stand-in for Marina Sirtis
• Tim McCormack – stand-in for Brent Spiner , Wil Wheaton , and Colm Meaney
• Lorine Mendell – stand-in for Gates McFadden , Katherine Moffat , and Ashley Judd
• Diane Reilly – stand-in for Ashley Judd
• Richard Sarstedt – stand-in and photo double for Jonathan Frakes and stand-in for Colm Meaney
• Dennis Tracy – stand-in for Patrick Stewart
• Guy Vardaman – stand-in for Wil Wheaton
• Dana Vitatoe – photo double for Brent Spiner
• Steve Voboril – photo double for Wil Wheaton
• James Washington – stand-in for Michael Dorn
• Anne Woodberry – photo double for Gates McFadden
• Diane York – photo double for Katherine Moffat

References [ ]

" a juggling act "; A.F. ; access code ; addiction ; advice ; alien ; announcement ; anthropology ; antimatter regulator ; astronomical survey ; bandwidth ; bearing ; bioactive silicon ; biosystem ; birthmark ; blade ; body ; Boothby ; bow ; brain ; brain activity ; bypass ; cadet ; calibration ; cat ; chance ; cherry ; chili sauce ; chocolate ; chocolate chips ; chocolate fudge ; chocolate ice cream ; chocolate sundae ; Cleon system ; Cochrane , USS ; coffee ; coin ; coma ; communicator ; computer ( main computer ); conduit ; cone ; coordinates ; corridor ; cortex processor ; course ; course (education); Creative Writing ; Crusher One ; dad ; damage ; dance ( dancing ); " Dancing Doctor, The "; data line ; date ; deception ; deck ; depression ; detector ; device ; diagnostics ; dinner ; diplomatic mission ; disc ; display screen ; duty logs ; ear ; effect ; elm ; Endeavour , USS ; engineering laboratory ; " even the score "; event ; exobiologist ; experience ; experiment ; expert ; explanation ; exploration ; exposure ; eye ; fad ; Federation ; feeling ; first year cadet ; " flip a coin "; friend ; forcefield override ; frontal lobe ; fun ; gadget ; Galaxy class decks ; gamma ray scanner ; gift ; " give me the creeps "; grass ; hail ; higher functions ; higher reasoning ; holodeck ; horga'hn ; Horne, Walter ; Human ; hundred ; ice cream ; illumination ; information ; initials ; instruction ; intercept course ; internal security sensors ; investigation ; Jefferies tube ; junction ; kiss ; Ktarians ; Ktarian game ; Ktarian vessel ; lateral sensor ; Latin ; Lefler's Academy friends ; Lefler's parents ; Lefler's parents' sector ; lesson ; light ; light year ; location ; long-range array ; luggage ; malfunction ; Martoni, Adam ; medical program ; medical team ; meeting ; Merrimac , USS ; Midsummer Night's Dream, A ; minute ; mission ; mission specialist ; mom ( mother ); mud ; multiplexing ; name ; nervous system ; neural output ; neurochemical analysis ; neurological behavior program ; neuroreceptor ; neutrino ; Novakovich ; nurse ; O'Brien, Molly ; Oberth -class ; observation schedule ; Oceanus IV ; online ; opportunity ; optical burst pattern ; optical sensor ; Organic Chemistry ; palm beacon ; panel ; partner ; personal logs ; phenomenon ; Phoenix Cluster ; photo ; physics lab ; place ; planetary evolution team ; planetary observation ; planetary scanner ; plasma specialist ; playing field ; positronic brain ; positronic link ; positronic matrix ; power cell ; practical joke ; prefrontal cortex ; processor ; problem ; psychotropic drug ; quarters ; region ; rendezvous ; research ; reticular formation ; Risa ; ritual ; Robin's Laws ; rumor ; Sadie Hawkins Dance ; scan field ; Science department ; science team ; sculpting ; section 23 ; section 25 ; section 29 ; section 52 ; security alert ; security containment field ; security sweep ; security tracking code ; security tracking system ; senior officer ; senior staff ; sensor array ; sensor pad ; sensor recalibration ; sensor relay ; septal area ; serotonin ; serotonin cascade ; servo ; shutdown ; shuttlebay ; shuttlecraft ; side effect ; signal breach ; signal flow ; site-to-site transport ; site-to-site transporter program ; size ; sleep ; social gathering ; sonic shower ; spoon ; specification ; Spot ; starbase ; Starbase 67 ; Starbase 82 ; starboard ; Starfleet ; Starfleet Academy ; starship operations ; status ; stellar cartographer ; stellar physics ; stellar physicist ; story ; subcommand ; subprocessor ; subroutine ; survey ; synapse ; synaptic activity ; tactical analysis ; Tarvokian pound cake ; taste ; tea ; teaching ; terminal ; testing ; " the spitting image "; thermal imaging array ; thermal sensor ; threat ; three-dimensional chess ; tour ; tractor beam ; tradition ; transporter room 2 ; transporter room 3 ; transporter system ; tricorder ; " try it on for size "; turbolift ; unconsciousness ; understanding ; " up to my neck in "; vacation ; victim ; viewer ; warp coil ; " watch your back "; weapons system ; week ; work station ; year ; yearbook ; Zhukov , USS

Library computer references [ ]

• Federation Star Chart ("The Explored Galaxy") : Aldebaran ; Alfa 177 ; Alpha Carinae ; Alpha Centauri ; Alpha Majoris ; Altair VI ; Andor ; Ariannus ; Arret ; Babel ; Benecia ; Berengaria VII ; Beta Aurigae ; Beta Geminorum ; Beta Lyrae ; Beta Niobe ; Beta Portolan ; Camus II ; Canopus III ; Capella ; Daran V ; Delta Vega ; Deneb ; Eminiar ; Fabrini ; First Federation ; Gamma Canaris N ; Gamma Trianguli ; Holberg 917G ; Ingraham B ; Janus VI ; Kling ; Kzin ; Lactra VII ; Makus III ; Marcos XII ; Manark IV ; Memory Alpha ; Mudd ; Omega IV ; Omega Cygni ; Organia ; Orion ; Pallas 14 ; Phylos ; Pollux IV ; Psi 2000 ; Pyris VII ; Regulus ; Remus ; Rigel ; Romulus ; Sarpeid ; Sirius ; Talos ; Tau Ceti ; Theta III ; Tholian Assembly ; Vulcan

Deleted references [ ]

External links [ ].

• " The Game " at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• " The Game " at Wikipedia
• "The Game" at StarTrek.com
• " "The Game" " at MissionLogPodcast.com , a Roddenberry Star Trek podcast
• "The Game" script  at Star Trek Minutiae
• 2 Reaction control thruster

Star Trek: The Next Generation's 'Skin of Evil' Explained

This controversial episode from Star Trek: The Next Generation's first season helped forge the series' reputation.

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What happens in 'skin of evil', how does 'skin of evil' end, the reputation of 'skin of evil' and its impact on the star trek franchise.

“Skin of Evil” remains one of the most shocking and controversial episodes in the long-running saga of Star Trek . More often than not, the different eras of the franchise have taken a while to find their space legs, and that’s particularly true of the first live-action sequel to The Original Series . Star Trek: The Next Generation may have presented a more enlightened Federation of the 24th century than its 1960s predecessor, but its first year was notoriously troubled.

The show suffered from a revolving door of writers, with many falling out with Star Trek ’s creator Gene Roddenberry, who kept a tight grip on the series' direction. Roddenberry rewrote 15 episodes of the first year’s run, which also included some blatant remakes of The Original Series episodes. The result was a dysfunctional environment that found actors like Denise Crosby, who played Security Chief Tasha Yar, unhappy with their character development. Crosby’s decision to end her contract during The Next Generation’s first year resulted in the events of the 23rd episode of the first season. The repercussions of “Skin of Evil" would be felt for a long time.

Star Trek: The Next Generation - 10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Show’s Production

“Skin of Evil” finds the crew of the Enterprise-D attempting an unusual rescue mission. When a shuttlecraft transporting Counselor Deanna Troi and Lieutenant Ben Prieto mysteriously crashes on the deserted planet Vagra II, the Enterprise crew is blocked from beaming up their missing personnel. An away team comprising Data, Dr Crusher, and Lieutenant Tasha Yar, led by Commander Riker, discovers why: A sentient ‘oil slick’ that calls itself Armus is using its impressive powers, including psychokinesis and teleportation, to block access to the crashed shuttlecraft.

Picard frowns at Riker’s description of Armus as “Trouble,” but the Enterprise’s first officer is soon proved right. When Yar attempts to cross to the craft, Armus lashes out, apparently killing her instantly. Despite Crusher’s best efforts on board the Enterprise, the ship’s security chief is pronounced dead.

Star Trek Fans Explain Why The Next Generation Cast Should Never Return

The remainder of the episode is split between somber scenes aboard the Enterprise and return trips to the planet as the crew desperately tries to rescue their hostage shipmates without any further loss of life. While taunting Troi, who’s conscious aboard the crashed craft, Armus reveals itself as a single-minded, rage-filled creature driven by loneliness and emptiness. As the counselor discerns that it’s the rejected side product of an alien culture that managed to separate and maroon their “dark and vile” side, the enterprise notices power fluctuations in the shield Armus has projected around the craft.

The game of oily cat and Starfleet mouse continues, including some haunting visuals when Riker is sucked into the creature and held captive. It ends when Picard beams down to confront the creature, and Armus reveals its goal is to leave the planet to rejoin those who abandoned it. Picard bargains a meeting with Troi, confirming his suspicions that the creature’s powers diminish as its rage grows. He then taunts it into a fury that weakens its shield enough for the Enterprise to beam up everyone safely . Armus, the skin of evil, is left raging on the surface as Picard orders the remote destruction of the shuttle so there’s no chance it can ever leave its prison planet.

Star Trek: The Next Generation's Most Boring Episode

Despite declaring Vagra II off-limits and ensuring Armus cannot escape, Picard admits that "the damage has been done." The senior crew steps into a blue-skied paradise aboard one of the ship’s holodecks, where the captain conducts a short and emotional memorial to his lost Security Chief. In a farewell unlike any Star Trek fan had seen before, Picard hands over to a holographic recording of Tasha Yar.

In a moving speech, she praises each of the assembled crewmembers for their contributions to her life, explaining that she had expected to die quickly and on duty. It’s a lovely narrative move that makes good use of the innovation of the holodeck, although it doesn’t stand up to scrutiny unless Yar regularly re-recorded it during her year aboard the Enterprise-D.

Where it succeeds is putting an emphasis on the crew she’s left behind, with “no goodbyes, just good memories.” That’s summed up in the final lines of the episode when Data queries why his thoughts are not with Tasha but how empty he will feel without her presence. Picard simply confirms that the android’s “got it’.”

Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Best Data Episodes

Unsurprisingly, “Skin of Evil” was instantly controversial, and its bad reputation has persisted for 30 years. Star Trek supremo Gene Roddenberry intended Yar’s blunt and senseless death to show the dangers facing security officers. However, the general response was that the result was that Yar’s death just felt pointless. It’s even worse that it fails to add any real threat to the villain Armus, who, despite some ingenious physical effects, is barely remembered beyond being a relatively shapeless dark blob.

The decision to kill Yar was prompted by Crosby’s disappointment with the character’s development over the season. However, it was fitting that the show’s eulogy turned attention to the surviving crew. With Worf’s immediate promotion to Acting Chief of Security, taking point behind the command chairs, the core crew started to resemble the one the show became famous for.

Geordi La Forge would become Chief Engineer in the second year, and Yar’s departure allowed secondary characters like Chief Miles O’Brien to become more prominent. It was this restructured team that helped propel the series’ massive success. However, Tasha Yar’s death also provided the show’s creators an opportunity they couldn’t resist, leading to one of The Next Generation ’s classic episodes.

Star Trek: The Next Generations 'Cause and Effect' Explained

In the third season’s “Yesterday’s Enterprise, ” the USS Enterprise-D’s crew is amazed to see the long-destroyed USS Enterprise-C emerge from a spacetime rift. However, the ship’s arrival in 2366 immediately transforms the 24th-century timeline. Picard now commands a warship in a fleet locked in a devastating war with the Klingons, with a crew including a survived Tasha Yar as tactical officer. Only the El-Aurian bartender Guinan senses something is wrong and that Yar shouldn’t be there — a neat touch, as Whoopi Goldberg’s Guinan was a female character introduced to fill the gap left by the departure of Denise Crosby.

“Yesterday’s Enterprise” is regarded as one of Star Trek ’s greatest time travel episodes , featuring a solid meditation on fate and choice. Picard must wrestle with the decision to restore a timeline he doesn’t remember by sending the crew of the Enterprise-C back to its death, including volunteer Tasha Yar, who realizes she doesn’t quite belong. However, this great episode was also a clever way for Crosby to retain a role in the franchise.

Star Trek: The USS Enterprise's Best Commanding Officers, Ranked

Future seasons brought the actress back as the villain Sela, the half-Romulan daughter of Yar, born from the paradox of her mother being sent back in time to 2344 and captured before the destruction of the Enterprise-C. Sela’s vengeful masterplan as a Romulan commander was the backbone of the Season 4 cliffhanger two-parter “Redemption,” and she would later become a primary antagonist in Star Trek: Online .

For a little-loved episode, overshadowed by a significant but poorly received death, “Skin of Evil” had major repercussions for Star Trek: The Next Generation . Yar never gained the chance to enjoy the celebrity of her crewmates, but her death was more than the repeat of Spock’s legendary death five years before in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan . This was the first time Star Trek permanently killed a regular character, and thanks to the show’s time-twisting potential, her tragic journey didn’t stop there. The Security Chief is one of very few Star Trek characters with the tragic distinction of dying twice.

Star Trek is a space exploration franchise originally created by Gene Roddenberry. The series has spanned shows like The Original Series, The Next Generation, and Voyager. More recently, developer Scopely came out with Star Trek Fleet Command, a mobile title where you get to be captain of your own ship.

Star Trek: 5 Deaths That Rocked The Franchise's Foundation

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Star trek: discovery’s tng connection explained - "the chase" & who are the progenitors.

The Progenitors were one of Captain Picard's most profound discoveries in Star Trek: The Next Generation, now Burnham resumes the chase in Discovery.

WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episodes 1 & 2!

• Star Trek: Discovery season 5 continues the story of the Progenitors discovered by Captain Picard 800 years ago.
• Captain Burnham embarks on a treasure hunt to uncover the Progenitors' technology with potential for peace or conflict.
• The legacy of the Progenitors in Star Trek: Discovery raises questions of power, unity, and morality in the 32nd century.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5 is a surprising sequel to the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Chase", continuing the story of the enigmatic Progenitors 800 years after they were discovered by Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). As Discovery is set 800 years after the TNG era, it can often feel forced when the show tries to marry up these two ends of the Star Trek timeline . However, the magnitude of Picard's discovery about the Progenitors justifies the secret being hidden for centuries, and it could have fascinating implications for the future of Star Trek 's 32nd century.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 1, "Red Directive" opens with Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) exploring an 800-year-old Romulan scout ship at the behest of Dr. Kovich (David Cronenberg). Kovich was less forthcoming than usual with information about the USS Discovery's "Red Directive" mission , forcing Burnham to seek help from Lt. Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) in learning more. Tilly uncovered recordings left by the Romulan scientist Dr. Vellek (Michael Copeman), revealing Discovery 's links to Star Trek: The Next Generation 's original Progenitor treasure hunt, led by Captain Picard.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Returning Cast & New Character Guide

Picard’s original progenitor treasure hunt in tng explained.

In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 6, episode 20, "The Chase", Picard's former archeology teacher, Professor Galen (Norman Lloyd) asked the Enterprise captain to join him in solving a 4.5 billion-year-old mystery. Picard initially declined Galen's offer, but circumstances forced him to reconsider when his mentor's shuttle was attacked. Galen left behind files that contained huge blocks of numbers that were indecipherable without further information . Picard had the Enterprise retrace Galen's journey in the hope of finding out more about the archeology professor's strange code.

"The Chase" was directed by Jonathan Frakes, who returned to direct the penultimate episode of Star Trek: Discovery season 5.

Eventually, Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) discovered that the numbers refer to DNA strands of multiple different alien species. The combined strands form a shape that resembles an algorithm, a program implanted in the DNA of multiple species, for reasons unknown . It quickly became clear that Picard was not the only person seeking answers about Galen's mystery, as the Cardassians and Klingons also sought to understand what this ancient program could be. Negotiating a truce between the two factions, Picard and Crusher gained enough information to lead the Enterprise, Cardassians, Klingons, and Romulans to the planet Vilmor II, where they make a monumental discovery.

TNG’s Progenitors Created All Humanoid Life In The Star Trek Universe

The treasure on Vilmor II was knowledge about life itself, delivered via a holographic message left behind by an ancient humanoid species. The sole humanoid species in the universe, these aliens wanted to leave a lasting legacy after their own extinction. And so, 4.5 billion years earlier, the ancient humanoids seeded their DNA across multiple planets in the Star Trek universe , influencing the evolution of countless species. Star Trek: Discovery reveals that since Picard revealed his findings, Starfleet have been calling the ancient humanoid species The Progenitors.

The Ancient Humanoid in Star Trek: The Next Generation was played by Salome Jens, who would go on to play the Female Changeling in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine .

Not unlike the broken treasure map from Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 2, "Under the Twin Moons" , the Progenitors' message was broken into fragments and contained within multiple alien species' DNA. The Progenitors' intention was that, upon coming together to piece the fragments together, the disparate alien races would unite under their common origins. Sadly, this wasn't the case in Star Trek: The Next Generation , as the Klingons and Cardassians refused to believe that they could possibly originate from the same species . However, the Romulans were more thoughtful, setting up Discovery 's season 5 premiere.

Star Trek: Discovery's Huge Season 5 TNG Connection Explained By Showrunner

Discovery’s romulan scientist and his tng link explained.

At the end of Star Trek: The Next Generation 's "The Chase", Captain Picard discusses the Progenitors' message with a surprisingly open-minded Romulan commander. The message has had an effect on the Romulan, who tells Picard that he hopes to one day stand alongside humanity as friends. Star Trek: Discovery reveals that one of the members of TNG 's Romulan landing party, Dr. Vellek, continued to research the Progenitors and eventually found where their ancient technology was hidden. However, Vellek was very aware that such technology could be as deadly as it is profound, and went to extraordinary lengths to hide his findings .

Both the crew of the USS Discovery and intergalactic outlaws Moll (Eve Harlow) and L'ak (Elias Toufexis) have access to Vellek's journals. However, both parties have very different intentions for the Romulan scientist's life's work. Captain Burnham hopes that recovering the Progenitors' technology will provide a sense of meaning, while Moll and L'ak are attracted by the price tag . Vellek remained hidden for 800 years, until his corpse was discovered in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, which proves just how desperate he was to keep the location of the Progenitors' technology a secret.

What Does Star Trek: Discovery’s Progenitor Link Mean For Its Final Season?

In Star Trek: The Next Generation , the Progenitors had hoped the truth about humanoid life in the galaxy would bring a new era of peace and understanding . However, rather than become inspired by their commonality, the Klingons and Cardassians instead feud with each other, disgusted that they could be somehow genetically related. 800 years later, and in the wake of the hostilities caused by The Burn, the Progenitors' message could be the very thing that finally unites the galaxy in Star Trek: Discovery 's finale . However, it may not be that simple.

For one thing, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will continue the story of the 32nd century, and the Progenitors' message of commonality will dramatically reduce any sense of conflict in the universe. More interestingly, Dr. Kovich seems to want to get his hands on the technology, not the message. The Progenitors' technology would allow Starfleet to influence the evolution of other species , power that would set them up among the gods. This feels like too much power for a shifty character like Kovich to possess.

Whoever possesses the Progenitors' tech in Star Trek: Discovery season 5 has the very building blocks of life itself. In the right hands, that could lead to profound discoveries that lead to renewed peace and prosperity for the Federation in the 32nd century. In the wrong hands, enemies of the Federation could use those building blocks for their own nefarious purposes. That's a huge concern as Burnham and the crew of the USS Discovery continue their treasure hunt. Sooner or later, Captain Burnham will have to make a choice about how she deals with the legacy of Star Trek: The Next Generation 's Progenitors.

Star Trek: Discovery streams Thursdays on Paramount+

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Star Trek: Discovery is an entry in the legendary Sci-Fi franchise, set ten years before the original Star Trek series events. The show centers around Commander Michael Burnham, assigned to the USS Discovery, where the crew attempts to prevent a Klingon war while traveling through the vast reaches of space.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: The Next Generation is the third installment in the sci-fi franchise and follows the adventures of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew members of the USS Enterprise. Set around one hundred years after the original series, Picard and his crew travel through the galaxy in largely self-contained episodes exploring the crew dynamics and their own political discourse. The series also had several overarching plots that would develop over the course of the isolated episodes, with four films released in tandem with the series to further some of these story elements.

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Why are younger generations embracing the retro game revival?

Retro video games and aesthetics are having a moment, but it’s not just gen X and older millennials reliving their heyday: younger millennials and gen Z are getting in on the nostalgia too

T he bouncy, midi melody of Nintendo’s Wii theme descends into a drill beat . A Game Boy Colour opens up into a lip gloss case . A$AP Rocky goes “full Minecraft” in a pixelated hoodie, and a panting man bobs up and down with his arm stuck in a bush . This is not a glitch. Both online and IRL, pop culture is embracing the sounds, visuals and experience of retro gaming.

On TikTok, #retrogaming videos have amassed over 6bn views. On YouTube , uploads have increased 1,000-fold. Spotify users are creating 50% more retro-gaming-themed playlists than they were at this time last year, and live streamers are cashing in on the repetitive catchphrases and mechanical movements of NPCs (non-player characters). So why, in this age of hyperrealistic graphics and ever-expanding technological possibility, are younger generations captivated by an era of technological limitation?

For Kingsley Ellis, a millennial raised on the bleeps and bloops of Sega Mega Drives and N64 cartridges, the allure of retro gaming is simple. “It’s all about the nostalgia,” says Ellis, whose TikTok account, UnPacked , has 1.5 million followers. He says his interest lies mostly in old gaming hardware. His most-watched videos revisit the gloriously bizarre world of retro peripherals – those often ridiculous attachments designed to enhance (or overengineer) the gaming experience, such as screen magnifiers and foldout speakers clipped on to consoles.

“Some of the attachments I wasn’t even aware of as a child blow my mind,” he says – for example the PediSedate snorkel, which allowed paediatric dentists to deliver doses of nitrous oxide to their patients while they played games, or the Game Boy-controlled sewing machine . Ellis’s content offers a winning combination of innovation, discovery, novelty and nostalgia. “I think the current wave of tech will almost be disregarded in the future,” he says. “I don’t feel the nostalgic properties are there.”

This sentiment seems to resonate with a growing segment of gen Z and gen Alpha, too. The popularity of channels such as Ellis’s reflect a broader fascination with retro tech that’s evident in the rise of reaction videos , the resurgence of web 1.0-era Frutiger Aero aesthetics (think futuristic optimism, glossy buttons, gradients and Windows XP screensavers), a filter transforming people into PS2 characters, and the increasing adoption of Y2K-era devices by young consumers. Last year, Urban Outfitters sold out stock of refurbished iPod Minis, and a 20-year-old Olympus digital camera was dubbed the “ hottest gen Z gadget ”. Among the ubiquity and instant gratification of tech today, Ellis suggests that the charming limitations of retro devices foster a “hack and discover” mentality that leads to a longer-term satisfaction.

Thanks to the memetic nature of the modern internet, this thrill of discovery extends beyond gameplay, as video game soundtracks and graphics increasingly find life in new contexts. Gaming has long been a source of inspiration for artists – think Jay-Z’s Golden Axe sample on Money, Cash, Hoes ; Lil B ’s use of Masashi Hamauzu’s Final Fantasy score; and D Double E’s Street Fighter Riddim . On the independent online radio platform NTS, which boasts a dedicated audience of millions, video game music is part of regular programming. NTS’s monthly Otaku show dives into specific games or themes, from iconic franchises such as The Legend of Zelda to the history of video game sampling in rap.

The show’s curator, Thierry Phung, says: “Our passion stems from the belief that video game and anime music often doesn’t receive the recognition it deserves.” For him, and other children of the 90s, video games were a gateway to musical discovery . Genres such as jungle and breakbeat were first encountered by many kids while battling virtual foes. PinkPantheress’s viral hit Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2 , Phung suggests, sounds like something straight out of a PlayStation ad, and Charli XCX soundtracked a commercial for Universal Studios’s Super Nintendo World with producer Galantis.

Earlier gaming electronica is also experiencing a revival via YouTube DJs such as Ryland Kurshenoff – whose PlayStation jungle mix has garnered over 2.4m plays in the past year – and Slowerpace 音楽 (Slowerpace Music), who imagines vaporjazz soundtracks to fictional games . Through these kinds of creative retrospectives, gaming – an activity often dismissed as a frivolous waste of time by boomer parents – is being positively recontextualised and appreciated.

And plenty of artists and content creators are taking familiar retro game elements and spinning them into something new. On TikTok, the whistle synths of the G-funk-inspired Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas theme and the whimsical Mii Channel music now soundtrack thousands of videos – some gaming related, but many not.

There’s also been an uptick in actors and dancers behaving like NPCs, such as Pinkydoll, with her 1.7 million followers, and gen Z choreographers @dem_bruddaz, who take this trend and transform it into a kind of urban cosplay, acting as NPCs in streets, carparks and other public spaces. “They take slow-moving, superfluous and unimportant [pedestrians] that no one’s paying attention to, and transform them into front-and-centre characters,” says gamer and esports talent agent Britt Rivera, who works for Pinkydoll’s agency. “She’s on this futuristic platform, acting like she’s in the past, and it’s such an unexpected marriage … it has a really strong foothold because it’s the pioneer style of gaming. There’s something cool about this world being brought into a contemporary context.”

But for Gabi, 27, (known on TikTok as @babesgabes ), and a growing community of so-called cosy gamers, the appeal of older games lies not in their modern interpretations, but the comfort and simplicity of the past. Though cosy gaming can encompass recent titles too (“It’s like comfort food – different for everyone,” Gabi says), the crossover is common. “I game for nostalgia,” she says. “[It] eases my mind and lets me escape into a different world. [It’s] an excellent stress and anxiety-reliever.” A 2022 study revealed that half of gen Z said gaming improves their mental health.

In a world of relentless technological advances and increasing AI anxiety, Rivera wonders whether gen Z’s affinity for retro gaming is connected to its stability. “It provides a constant – it’s not going to morph into something else tomorrow,” she says. Given the continually disrupted times that this generation has grown up in, it’s not hard to see why younger players might find something comforting and unthreatening in pixelated graphics, the janky character animations of an early Grand Theft Auto, or ever-predictable NPC soundbites.

And as technology fixates on the latest and greatest, retro gaming offers a refreshing break, perhaps a comforting idealisation of simpler times. But more than that, the games of the 80s and 90s are the foundation on which the gaming giants of today were built. “The music, the graphics, the dialogue, the clothes – it’s a whole experience,” says Gabi. “There is a deeper cultural significance. It’s a piece of history.”

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Why ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Built Season 5 Around a Classic Episode From a Legacy Series

By Adam B. Vary

Adam B. Vary

Senior Entertainment Writer

• Why ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Built Season 5 Around a Classic Episode From a Legacy Series 4 days ago
• ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Star Sonequa Martin-Green on the Show’s Unexpected Final Season, the ‘Pressure’ of Representation and Taking the ‘Trek’ Cruise 5 days ago
• Jerrod Carmichael Was Terrified of Being Seen, So He Made a Reality Show: ‘This May Be Unhealthy. It Is a Little Dangerous’ 2 weeks ago

SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot developments in Season 5, Episode 1 of “ Star Trek : Discovery,” now streaming on Paramount+.

By the end of the episode, however, the mission has pushed Burnham and her crew to their limits, including slamming the USS Discovery into the path of a massive landslide threatening a nearby city. Before they risk their lives any further pursuing this object, Burnham demands that Kovich at least tell her why. (MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW.)

Kovich’s explanation evokes the classic “ Star Trek: The Next Generation ” episode “The Chase” from 1993 in which Capt. Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) — along with teams of Romulans, Klingons and Cardassians — learn that all humanoid life in the galaxy was created by a single species that existed billions of years earlier, and seeded thousands of planets with the DNA to pass along their legacy. (Along with presenting a profound vision of the origins of life, the episode also provided an imaginative explanation for why almost all the aliens in “Star Trek” basically look like humans with different kinds of forehead ridges.)

Kovich tells Burnham that the Romulan scientist was part of a team sent to discover exactly how these aliens — whom they call the Progenitors — made this happen; the object they’re seeking winds up being one part of a brand new “chase,” this time in the 32nd century, to find the Progenitors’ technology before it can fall into the wrong hands. 

“I remember watching that episode and at the end of it just being blown away that there was this huge idea where we all come from,” Paradise says. “And then they’re going to have another mission the next week. I found myself wondering, ‘Well, then what? What happened? What do we do with this information? What does it mean?’”

Originally, Paradise says the “Discovery” writers’ room discussed evoking the Progenitors in Season 4, when the Discovery meets an alien species, the 10-C, who live outside of the galaxy and are as radically different from humans as one could imagine. “As we dug deeper into the season itself, we realized that it was too much to try and get in,” Paradise says.

Instead, they made the Progenitors the engine for Season 5. “Burnham and some of our other characters are on this quest for personal meaning,” Paradise says. Searching for the origins of life itself, she adds, “feels like a big thematic idea that fits right in with what we’re exploring over the course of the season, and what our characters are going through.”

That meant that Paradise finally got to help come up with the answers to the questions about “The Chase” that had preoccupied her when she was younger. “We had a lot of fun talking about what might’ve happened when [Picard] called back to headquarters and had to say, ‘Here’s what happened today,’” she says. “We just built the story out from there.”

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Why Star Trek: Discovery Chose That Classic Next Gen Storyline To Explore In Its Final Season

Shields up! This article contains major spoilers for the season 5 premiere of "Star Trek: Discovery."

Who knew that "Star Trek: Discovery" would be saving its biggest reveal for last? After being responsible for kickstarting the new era of "Trek" on streaming , the fifth and final season is signaling the beginning of the end for the flagship series. But as fans would expect, the opening episode proves the writing team has no intentions of taking its final bow without crafting one last adventure worthy of Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), Mr. Saru (Doug Jones), and the rest of the Discovery crew. (For more on that, you can check out /Film's "Discovery" season 5 premiere review by Jacob Hall here .) So perhaps it was inevitable that the biggest twist of the young season would have its roots in one of the most game-changing hours of "Trek" lore ever.

Trekkies will no doubt remember the classic "Next Generation" episode "The Chase," which first introduced the extinct race known as the Progenitors. Responsible for seeding humanoid life throughout the galaxy, these ancient beings were meant as an in-universe explanation for why almost every alien race encountered by Starfleet looked mostly like, well, ourselves ... give or take a few random ridges on foreheads and such. This also had the side effect of linking even the biggest enemies — humans, Romulans, Cardassians, and even Klingons alike — on a foundational genetic level.

"The Next Generation" mostly breezes past this revelation and reverts to business as usual in later episodes, despite the startling implications, so leave it to "Discovery" to pick up this major dangling thread and weave it into the fabric of this new season. At the season 5 world premiere, producer Michelle Paradise addressed why the show's creatives went back to this  storyline in particular.

'Huge ideas and huge themes'

How do you raise the stakes even higher than the time-traveling shenanigans of "Discovery" season 2, the mysterious dilithium "Burn" of season 3 that caused the breakdown of Starfleet, and the impossibly advanced species of extraterrestrials that put the entire galaxy at risk in season 4? Well, going all the way back to the origin of life as we know it is definitely one way to get the job done and end things with a bang.

It took until the closing moments of the season 5 premiere for the full picture (or part of it, at least) to round into shape, but what a twist it is! As it turns out, the pair of scavengers who absconded with an item of top priority to Starfleet couldn't have possibly picked a more important piece of "Trek" lore: the leftover Progenitor tech that helped them create humanoid life in the first place. So why tie things back to that underrated "The Next Generation" episode , of all things? At the SXSW premiere of "Discovery," producer Michelle Paradise had this to say:

"'The Chase' is an episode that had stuck with many of us because it addresses such huge ideas and huge themes. Where do we come from, the creation of life. And then it was this one episode, and then that was it [...] And it just left us with many, many questions."

That's putting it mildly. Even for a sci-fi franchise like "Star Trek," those are some incredibly heady ideas to attempt to tackle. It's one thing for a random episode in the early 1990s to suddenly establish such a massive change to canon. It's quite another for "Discovery" to double down. According to Paradise, however, this was done with character and theme in mind.

Tackling the big questions

Arguably more than any other ongoing series, "Discovery" has always worn its heart on its sleeve. That doesn't appear to be changing in season 5, but it's only fitting that the final adventure for this cast digs deeper into the psyches of the characters than it ever has before. The biggest question on the minds of the creative team, as it turns out, revolved around ideas of meaning and purpose for Burnham, Saru, and all the rest. According to Michelle Paradise, those are existential topics that translate naturally from the events of "The Chase," set hundreds and hundreds of years before the future timeline of this current season of "Discovery." She went on to say:

"And so when we were thinking about this season in particular and what we were going to be doing thematically and our characters looking at questions of meaning, questions of purpose. It felt like that was a really great place to go back to as a launching point for this adventure and that it was going to have that resonance."

For a crew that's been stranded in the future and cut off from everyone they used to know, these are poignant issues that previous seasons of "Discovery" have sought to explore. After having rebuilt Starfleet to something close to its former glory and putting the officers of the Discovery through the wringer, the rest of season 5 is now primed and ready to push these characters where they have never gone before.

New episodes of "Star Trek: Discovery" season 5 premiere on Paramount+ every Thursday.

Den of Geek

Discovery Season 5 Easter Eggs Bring Back Tons of Classic ’90s Star Trek Lore

Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and more are front and center in the first episodes of Discovery season 5.

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This Star Trek: Discovery article contains spoilers.

Since 2017, Star Trek: Discovery has been the flagship of the reborn Trek franchise on TV. Call it “NuTrek,” call it the continuing mission, call it “Star Trek Phase 3.” It doesn’t really matter. The fact is, Disco has been the focal point of new Trek canon since it hit nearly seven years ago. Now, with season 5, Discovery will be ending its journey, leaving Strange New Worlds and the forthcoming Starfleet Academy as the two live-action Trek shows for the foreseeable future.

But about that canon. As executive producer Alex Kurtzman recently said in an interview with Den of Geek magazine , any new Trek film created outside of the streaming TV shows will have to “have to honor all the canon we’ve created since Discovery .” To be clear, this doesn’t just mean outright new events and characters, but all the ways that Disco has interacted with preexisting Trek canon. From the Klingon war in 2017, to Spock and Pike in 2019, to the far-future events that began with season 3, Discovery touches all corners of the Trek canon. (And yes that even includes the Kelvin movies, since season 3 included the first overt reference to that timeline in a Trek TV series!)

Now, with the two-episode debut of season 5 , Discovery is even bringing in lore from a The Next Generation storyline, as a treasure hunt for an ancient Progenitor artifact begins. Here are the very best easter eggs and canon connections…

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The Founding of the Federation

Near the start of the episode, the crew is celebrating a “millennium celebration” for the Federation. A waiter brings Tilly, Burnham , Adira, Culber, and Stamets a round of cocktails which represent the flag of the Federation. Tilly mentions that this marks “the founding of the Federation, it’s been a  thousand years…” Season 4 ended in roughly the year 3190, and it seems season 5 is in 3191.

So, how is this 1,000 years since 2161? Shouldn’t it be 1,030 years? Well, the waiter explains simply: “Give or take a few decades. Hard to celebrate during the Burn.” This references season 3, in which we learned that the galaxy was fragmented for over a century after a catastrophe essentially dissolved the the Federation. The era of Federation’s isolation ended in roughly 3189, partially thanks to the help of the Discovery crew. But, in 3161, at the exact millennium celebration, the Federation was still living in the post-Burn era.

Canonically, the year of “Federation Day” was established in The Next Generation episode “The Outcast” when Troi mentioned the year during a game of poker. The Enterprise finale “These Are the Voyages…” is thought to depict the signing of the Federation charter in 2161, though it’s not made entirely clear in that episode.

To be clear, this is not the same as “Frontier Day” from Picard season 3. Taking place in 2401, that holiday was supposed to commemorate 250 years since the first, most important mission of Starfleet, not the Federation. The first mission of Starfleet (pre-Federation) also occurred in the series Enterprise ; in the debut episode “Broken Bow.”

Tholian Republic and the Breen Imperium

In conversation with Saru, President T’Rina mentions concerns about the Tholian Republic and the Breen Imperium. The Tholians are the crystalline aliens first glimpsed in “The Tholian Web” in The Original Series . The Breen are aggressive enemies of the Federation, first mentioned in the TNG episode “The Loss,” but they didn’t appear until the Deep Space Nine episode “Indiscretion.”

Interestingly, because we don’t know what the Breen look like under their humanoid-ish suits, it’s possible they aren’t actually humanoids. The Tholians are also possibly not humanoids at all, either. These references seem particularly pointed since the entire story of Discovery season 5 involves species created by the humanoid Progenitors. Although this is just a theory, it’s very possible (likely?) that the Breen and Tholians are among many species not created by the Progenitors. After T’Rina mentions the Breen in the first episode, Rayner brings them up again in the second episode, saying, “The Breen are in-fighting over a new leader.” Will we see the Breen again in this season of Discovery ? It’s possible? That’s certainly a lot of Breen chatter!

Romulan science vessel from 800 years ago 

The Romulan science ship that Kovich sends the crew to investigate is from “800 years ago.” This means it’s from the late 2300s, sometime between 2380 and 2390. In other words, it’s from the TNG/DS9/Voyager era. And as we see in “Red Directive,” the design of this small, green Romulan ship is nearly identical to a TNG era Romulan scout ship. This style of ship first appeared in the episode “The Defector.”

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Fred, the android

Played by J. Adam Brown, the antique dealer is revealed to be a Soong-type android, who, very specifically, is reminiscent of Data. We later learn that this “Synth” was built based on the designs of Altan Soong, Data’s human brother first introduced in Picard season 1.

Fred mentions he hasn’t seen a specific puzzle box like the one containing the Romulan journal for “622.27 years.” This would mean that Fred has been around since at least 2569. Still Culber calls him a “surprisingly old model…dozens of generations before the kind of tech used for Gray’s body.” So, this means that Fred could be from the generation of androids that Altan Soong created before Soji and Dahj. Perhaps he was even a contemporary of Sutra, which would make it possible that he was present on the planet Coppelius in the Picard season 1 finale, “Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2.”

Then again, Stamets implies that perhaps Fred was built by someone else, who merely “honored” the designs of Altan Soong. This is, of course, a little weird, since Altan Soong was using designs created by his father, Noonian Soong. So, was Fred created in the late 24th century before Picard season 1? In the 25th century? Or the 26th? We’ll likely never know, but, as Fred says — in a perfect Data imitation — the questions around Fred’s creator are “intriguing.”

Self-sealing stem bolts

Among other “vintage tech,” Moll and L’ak are also trying to sell some “self-sealing stem bolts.” These thingamabobs date back to Deep Space Nine , where their exact purpose was shrouded in vagary. In reality, the self-sealing stem bolt is one of Trek ’s oldest inside jokes. In the episode “Progress,” Chief O’Brien admitted he didn’t even know what they did. 

Rayner, the Kellerun

Captain Rayner — played by Battlestar Galactica veteran Callum Keith Rennie — has some pretty specific alien ears. But he’s not a Romulan or a Vulcan. Instead, Rayner is a Kellerun. This is a super obscure Star Trek species, who, until now, only appeared in the DS9 episode “Armageddon Game.” This episode followed O’Brien and Bashir as they dealt with unwieldy bio weapons, and was written by Trek legend Morgan Gendel, perhaps most famous for his TNG script, “The Inner Light.”

The Progenitors 

The big revelation at the end of “Red Directive” is that the secret mission is all connected to a 24th century scientist named Dr. Velleck. As Kovich tells Burnham, this guy was in the background when Picard and Crusher discovered a hidden message from ancient humanoids called “The Progenitors.” As Kovich puts it, “We’ve been calling them the Progenitors. They created life as we know it. You. Me. Saru. Every humanoid species in the galaxy.”

This revelation originally comes from The Next Generation episode “The Chase,” though, in some ways, it retconned elements of The Original Series episode “The Paradise Syndrome,” in which Spock and Bones discussed the possibility that “the Preservers” were responsible for several humanoid races throughout the galaxy. Either way, Discovery season 5 is taking this TNG canon and running with it.

Next stop, somewhere on Trill 

The clue to the Progenitor tech will lead the crew to Trill in the near future. This will be the second time Discovery has gone to the Trill homeworld. The first visit happened in season 3, but of course, the Trill date back to TNG ’s “The Host.” Meanwhile, the planet Trill itself was first seen in the DS9 episode “Equilibrium.” Interestingly, with a return to Trill this season, Discovery will have more actual visits to this planet than any previous Trek series. 

A second chance 

When Burnham asks Rayner to become her first officer, following the inquiry that gets him removed from his own command, she says, “I got a second chance once, this is yours.” This echoes Burnham’s journey from season 1 of Discovery , during which time she went from being a prisoner, to becoming a science specialist, and eventually, first officer, and then, Captain. The concept of second chances is integral to all of Discovery , so, it’s fitting that as the final season begins, another Starfleet character is getting the same kind of opportunity that shaped Burnham, and the entire crew, seven years (and several centuries!) ago.

Ryan Britt is a longtime contributor to Den of Geek! He is also the author of three non-fiction books: the Star Trek pop history book PHASERS…