Star Trek Generations: Beyond the Nexus
Star Trek Generations: Beyond the Nexus is a Star Trek video game released for the Nintendo Game Boy and Sega Game Gear in 1994. It was developed under the title "Star Trek the Next Generation: The Advanced Holodeck Tutorial",[1] changing to its final title just prior to release. It was both developed and published by Absolute Entertainment.
| Star Trek Generations: Beyond the Nexus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Absolute Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) | Absolute Entertainment |
| Platform(s) | Game Boy Game Gear |
| Release | 1994 |
| Genre(s) | Action Strategy Puzzle |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
Plot
The game loosely followed the plot of the then-recently released Star Trek: Generations motion picture. Notable departures included an additional battle against Tholian forces, a Romulan ambush involving both space and ground combat at Amargosa Station, and a different resolution to the capture of Geordi La Forge.
Gameplay
The game combines three different styles of play with minor differences from level to level. Spaceflight is done in a primitive pseudo-3D environment. Players steer their ship from a first-person point of view, moving between markers or using phasers and later photon torpedoes to attack enemy vessels. On-foot levels are played from a top-down perspective and involve either phaser combat or labyrinth-like pathfinding. The remaining levels consist of simple puzzles such as symbol matching.
Differences between platforms
The Game Boy and Game Gear versions of the game are identical, save for their colour palette: while the GB version is limited to monochrome graphics (or a limited palette when played through a Super Game Boy adapter), the Game Gear version features full colour visuals.
Reception
Reviewing the Game Gear version, GamePro commented that the game is extremely difficult, but would be enjoyable for fans of the series due to its strong graphics and faithful recreation of the source material.[1] They panned the Game Boy version, saying that the mediocre controls make the opening combat sequence so frustratingly difficult that most players will give up before seeing the bulk of the game. They also criticized the graphics.[2]