Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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A playthrough of Ultra's 1992 license-based action-adventure game for the Nintendo Game Boy, Star Trek: 25th Anniversary.

Three distinct games bearing the name "Star Trek: 25th Anniversary" were released in 1992. Interplay made a point-and-click graphic adventure for the PC, and Konami published games for both the NES (youtu.be/zH0CXmisRzo) and Game Boy. Beyond the license, the three have a lot in common: they're episodically structured and play out across multiple planets, they feature the likenesses of the show's stars, they split their gameplay between adventure and action sequences, and they all showed up late for the anniversary party. Star Trek started in 1966 and turned 25 in 1991. Oops.

Though the three appear to have been born out of the same design proposal, each one represents a wildly different take on the concept. The Game Boy game, developed by Visual Concepts (the people behind ClayFighter, Weaponlord, and Sega's 2K sports games), is the most action-oriented game of the trio.

A mysterious "Doomsday Machine" has been galavanting around the galaxy, destroying planets. The federation knew that it was coming and had prepared a weapon to deal with it, but when the Klingons learned of the existence of the "Proto Matter Fusion Disruptor", they immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion. Believing that the federation planned to use it against the Klingon Empire, they stole the weapon, disassembled it, and scattered its twelve pieces across three worlds.

Under Starfleet orders, it's now up to Captain Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise to find the pieces, reassemble the disruptor, and destroy the Doomsday Machine before it purges any more civilizations from existence.

Every level begins with a shoot 'em up section in which you'll have to safely navigate the Enterprise through asteroid fields; giant space amoebae; and massive battlefields packed with Klingon, Tholian, and Romulan ships. Providing you reach the planet in one piece, you'll then be beamed down to the surface for an adventure-style away mission. On the ground, you'll wander hither and tither as you learn about the local plant life, chat with Dr. McCoy and Spock, shoot stuff with your phaser, and scan for the weapon pieces with your tricorder. Once you've finished a planet, you'll return to the Enterprise to begin the cycle anew.

The Game Boy game is simpler than the NES version. It doesn't focus on the story or its characters, there's little in the way of dialog, and there are no major puzzles to speak of. It's a horizontally scrolling shmup that was welded to an overhead action-adventure and given plenty of Star Trek window dressing. I didn't find it as compelling as the NES and PC games, but for a 1992 Game Boy title based on an ancient TV show, it's not bad.

*Recorded with a Retroarch shader to mimic the look of the original hardware.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

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