With children in tow, gaming can be a bit of a minefield. As an adult, these games can be monotonous, mind-numbing, and dull. However, you don’t want your munchkins playing violent, rude, or unsuitable titles. Consequently, you must find the right balance to appease everyone. Thankfully, Outright Games understands its audience. Accordingly, this is apparent when you play Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova.
Developed by Tessera Studios and published by Outright Games, this is an action-adventure title. What’s more, it can be enjoyed solo or with another cooperatively. As such, it is the perfect game to enjoy with your mini-me or a like-minded friend. However, the repetitive action and OTT story may be too bothersome for some gamers. Subsequently, this will appeal to a niche audience.
Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova has familiar sci-fi tropes.
You’ll adore the audacious plot and colourful characters if you love Star Trek. Yet, if this isn’t your thing, you can still enjoy Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova on a base level. Thanks to its whimsical story, snappy one-liners, and exciting mechanics, you have enough to keep you occupied from start to finish. Moreover, there are plenty of collectables, some upgradable equipment, and a dashing of tactical nuance to keep you focused.
You control Dal R’EL and Gwyndala as they race against time to save their friends. This pair and their crew decide to borrow the Protostar in order to explore space. However, as they encounter a strange new star system, disaster strikes. Accordingly, the crew are teleported to the nearest planet, or so they think. Instead, a fault with the system sends each person to a random place. Following this, you must explore weird and wonderful locations and rescue your colleagues.
Basic mechanics, but a fun experience.
As a child-friendly title, I’m glad that the overall experience was fun. However, the basic mechanics will leave older gamers wanting more. The action focuses on simple combat and familiar weaponry. Furthermore, there are the usual adventure tropes and some easy-to-solve puzzles. Yet we still had a great time exploring each alien location and battling the array of unusual monsters.
If you play this solo, you can switch between either hero on the fly. Moreover, as you find each crew member, you unlock an additional ability to aid you on your journey. On top of this, you’ll unlock new gear and extra powers the further you progress. Though none of these elements was mind-blowing, they added a welcome change to proceedings.
Alongside this, each stage had a scoring system to keep things interesting. You compete against your partner across various categories. Furthermore, as a team, you are awarded up to 3 unique medals. As such, you may wish to return to find every secret and unlock every medal.
Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova is colourful and pleasant to the eye.
I’ve played many Outright Games titles. Therefore, I know what to expect. This publisher focuses on the gameplay rather than a high-end finish. However, this isn’t to say it looks dated or rough. No, instead, it isn’t ultra-realistic, nor does it deliver anything too original. Consequently, its colourful and interesting backdrops were familiar but pleasant to the eye. Alongside this, the action flows nicely; the animation is smooth, and the cinematic is functional. More importantly, we experienced no glitches or game-breaking bugs.
What wasn’t so great, sadly, was the audio. The acting is somewhat wooden; the soundbites are repetitive and annoying, and the sound effects won’t blow you away. Yet, it doesn’t ruin the end product or wow you. Rather, you are dragged through a loud and OTT endeavour of sci-fi noises and b-rated acting.
Nice controls.
A child-friendly game must have good controls. If they don’t, the end product is tiresome, uncomfortable, and a complete failure. Fortunately, Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova delivers nice controls that are easy to understand. What’s more, they are responsive, well laid out, and straightforward to master. On top of this, the tutorials are broken down nicely, so younger players can understand the fundamentals.
Though the action is somewhat repetitive, there is longevity and replay value. Thanks to the long list of collectables, and the scoring system, you can keep playing until you perfect each level. Moreover, the solo and cooperative action ensure this is enjoyable alone or with others.
Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova is an enjoyable but niche product.
I understand that Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova won’t be for everyone. What’s more, its stripped-back approach and repetitive nature will turn some gamers off. However, I think it’s an enjoyable, albeit niche, product. Alongside this, my kids loved the OTT and absurd story, the whacky characters, and how easy it was to play. Therefore, I can happily recommend that you buy it here! Can you save your friends and escape your impending fate? Explore each planet, solve the problems, and kill every alien you face.
