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Star Trek: The Kobayashi Alternative

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Star Trek: The Kobayashi Alternative
Cover art by Robert Pearlman
Developer(s)Micromosaics
Publisher(s)Simon & Schuster[2]
Designer(s)Mark Sutton-Smith
Alain Benzaken
Artist(s)Josie Koehne
Writer(s)Diane Duane
Platform(s)Apple II, Commodore 64, Macintosh, IBM PC
Release1985[1]
Genre(s)Text adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Star Trek: The Kobayashi Alternative was a Star Trek themed computer software game by American studio Micromosaics, designed for the Apple II Plus, Apple IIe, and Apple IIc. The game was also available for the Commodore 64, Macintosh and IBM PC. This text adventure was first published in 1985 by Simon & Schuster. The player assumes the role of Admiral James T. Kirk. As Kirk, the player commands the actions of the Enterprise crew, as well as the Enterprise itself.

The plot is based on the idea that Starfleet is replacing the Kobayashi Maru scenario with a new test based on a mission from the Enterprise logs. The player is supposedly testing this "Kobayashi Alternative Command Performance Evaluation" for a Starfleet admiral.

Reception

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Computer Gaming World's Scorpia criticized Kobayashi for many bugs and poor documentation, while approving of the game's design and its portrayal of the crew.[3] She reported that version 1.1 for the Apple with improved documentation still had bugs, including a serious one when visiting Orna, and concluded "I cannot recommend it".[4] Joyce Worley in Ahoy! called the Commodore 64 version's user interface "a landmark advance for the text adventure genre". She said that the story "would probably work well as the basis for a Star Trek script", but was less interesting than the opportunity to explore the Enterprise and interact with its crew.[5]

References

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  1. ^ Carrington, Karlynn (December 9, 1986). "Secret guide uses wit to unmask details on computers". Hartford Courant. p. 27. Retrieved November 21, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ Gross, Steve (November 21, 1985). "Commercial Star Trek's difference from underground game good, bad". Star Tribune. p. 35. Retrieved November 21, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Scorpia (March 1986), "Star Trek: The Kobayashi Alternative", Computer Gaming World, pp. 36–37, 42, 45
  4. ^ Scorpia (August 1986). "Kobayashi Revisited". Computer Gaming World. p. 30.
  5. ^ Worley, Joyce (April 1986). "Star Trek: The Kobayashi Alternative". Ahoy!. pp. 49–50. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
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