These are the voyages of the SCS Eureka. Their mission, to scrub, sanitize, and mop the universe and to gallantly clean where no being has cleaned before ...Yes, it is the fifth installment of Sierra On-Line's Space Quest series, and even though it is six years old, it is still a blast to play. The Next Mutation has all the elements of a classic adventure game--a great plot that pulls the player in and challenging and logical puzzles.

In the simplest sense, Space Quest 5 is a gigantic spoof of the 1960s television series, Star Trek. Even the opening scene (and the subtitle) of the game resemble it. Not that that is bad. The plot of Space Quest 5 is much more intriguing and immersive than most new games in all genres. Basically, Roger Wilco, the hero/janitor/all-around great guy of the Space Quest series, has enrolled in StarCon shortly after the events chronicled in Space Quest 4. Unfortunately, the StarCon Academy is very difficult for him, the main reasons being that it requires actual work to complete and the fact that he has gotten on the bad side of the toupee-wearing captain on the station, Captain Quirk. By some extreme luck, he manages to graduate (thanks to his roaming eyes on the final exam and a computer breakdown) and becomes captain of the garbage scow Eureka. With his trigger-happy gunner and green-skinned helm officer, Roger Wilco must survive a homicidal female android set to kill him and solve the mystery of unauthorized trash dumping, which obviously leads him to saving the galaxy. The game is controlled with a console, the commands being walk, use hands on, look, inventory, talk, and order. With these controls, the game is easily playable. Except for a few arcade sequences, the game is played in third-person view with a fixed camera (in essence, there is no scrolling from screen to screen). For the most part, the puzzles in Space Quest 5 offers a fair challenge and are logically placed. With the exception of a few guessing puzzles that are more of a nuisance than fun, it hardly seems like there are any puzzles because of their integration with the plot. Because of this, I give the plot an A, the gameplay an A, and the puzzles an A-.

Since the game was released in 1993, Space Quest 5 is obviously not going to have state-of-the-art graphics. For their time, the graphics would have been considered breathtaking, but even nowadays, they are sufficient for the game. The game looks and plays like a comic book, complete with word bubbles and a narrator. The graphics are bright and colorful, but they are also horrendously pixelated. Because they are dated, I give the graphics a B. There are almost no sound effects to speak of in Space Quest 5, save some annoying ones that sound like they were ripped from The Simpsons (Roger saying d'oh, farting sounds when Roger sits in his chair). However, the music is, simply said, amazing. It mirrors what is going on in the game flawlessly. The theme and closing music are a spoof on Star Trek and they have an annoying little habit of getting stuck in one's head and not leaving. Though the sound effects are horrible, the music saves this category's rating. I give them a B-.

Overall, Space Quest 5 is a must-have, despite its age. The immersive plot, logical puzzles, and great music concoct a great and addicting game.

Space Quest 5 final grade: A

System Requirements:
DOS 6.0+
486
8 MB free HD space
Sound Card