Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday

Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday was one of my most cherished possessions on the genesis. It followed the story of a group of NEO (New Earth Organization) setting out to do their part to help re-establish the earth after years of pollution and desecration by RAM (Russo American Mercantile). A word of warning though, for those who have experienced the version on the genesis and loved it, this older version brings both intrigue and disappointment. Later on I will provide greater detail of the differences between the two since the genesis version seems to be the dominant version.

You start of creating your team of six and selecting personal attributions such as gender, career path, physical and mental statistics as well as species. I use the word species because yes, you can be an alien if you’d like, though there really is no point, one or two stand out as the best.
A dice rolling system to determine stats was predominant during the era and Buck Rogers is no exception. If you've ever played Might and Magic I, II, or III you’ll have a good idea of what I’m talking about. It can be a tedious process to get decent stats and the process isn’t made very entertaining, all that you'll see is a few numbers change. Actually "re-rolling" gets to be irritating after a while and chances are your going to stuff it up at least once.
It then begins to diversify based on what career path you have chosen for each comes with its own unique skills that you can develop (e.g. warrior in leadership, pilot in...well piloting). This diversification only reaches a certain extent, that is to say that pilots and warriors do have some common ground. It actually gets pretty tricky.
From here on your ready to rock, you start at Chicago, a city/base on earth and are ready to depart to Salvation on your waiting rocket. But as you get close, it gets blown to bits.
"You’re thrust headfirst into a raging battle...” The game is EXTREMELY text based and non-combat movement is INDENTICAL to that of games such as the might and magic series, the dungeon view in the original fantasy star, and as a really desperate example you could compare it to something like Doom, though the game is much more "boxed", things are done in squares really. The screenshot of the game says it all.
Skipping forward fairly quickly, you save the city get hailed heroes then get sent to Salvation and expect to get some serious work, only to be told that you'll be in a prissy little tug as you explore the debris in the earths atmosphere. Here you find a derelict ship, who's crew (oh yes and they are in league with RAM) has been annihilated by these aliens that were meant to be dumped on the earth to wipe out the populous. So yes, yet again you have to save the earth and as a reward you get to keep the ship. That’s right, NEO is cheap. I must warn its fairly easy to get lost, the 1st person view isn’t the best way to go for a game that requires exploration and you cant even use a map for certain places.
At least now you can explore the galaxy up to the asteroid belt, though movement in space is very...pacman. Here you can buy new weapons from the galaxy’s many shops, have a drink it the odd bar and do battle against RAM spacecraft. I'd tell you more about the rocket, but I should leave some element of mystery.
Here is actually where it gets interesting because you now have the freedom to do what you like at your own pace. Eventually though you need to visit 4 RAM installations, one on a giant asteroid, [mind you it’s actually the real name given to the biggest asteroid in the belt - someone did their homework :)] another on mars, one on Venus, and then on a space station orbiting Mercury. Why do all this? Well without spoiling too much, after you capture your ship you find details of a RAM plan to destroy the earth. Each installation provides clues which lead to the next and no you don’t need to solve these yourselves you just get told where to go.
There are other secondary missions that I recommend you do to get the full picture of the game as well as some of the benefits like amours and weapons.
Overall, I was really disappointed with the graphics and playability. Its a far cry from the genesis version, and overland as well as intergalactic movement is also very draining. There is less variability in terms of challenges, and yet so much more complexity in aspects that aren’t so important. It’s almost as if they’re trying to confuse new players. It’s something for the RPG fan and if you know might and magic, well imagine it with lasers and you've got yourself Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday.