The Retro Shack, a YouTube channel “where we look back at the golden age of computing and where I dive into retro computers”, recently hosted a 20-minute retrospective on Space Quest, Sierra On-Line’s six-game series of adventure titles by Scott Murphy and Mark Crowe. Only the first two games in the series, The Sarien Encounter (1986) and Vohaul’s Revenge (1987), were released for the Apple IIGS before the franchise dropped support for that platform. This video is a fun opportunity to see where the series went after that.
The sixth and, to date, final game in the Space Quest series was released in 1995. The original three games can be bought and played on a modern Windows machine for US$9.99 from GOG.com.
In 2012, Murphy and Crowe reunited to form the company Two Guys from Andromeda and launch a Kickstarter (that I backed!) for SpaceVenture, a spiritual successor to Space Quest. Like many Kickstarters by independent creators, the promised game has been oft delayed.
For more about the history of Sierra On-Line, listen to the Open Apple podcast’s interview with historian Laine Nooney.
Hat tip to the email newsletter 8bitnews.