Last week we brought you the breakdown of the new Star Trek: Music From the Video Games album, released last month by BSX Records – and TrekCore’s gaming guru Bob Stutzman is here with our official review of this new soundtrack collection.

Star Trek: Music From The Video Games
Released by BSX Records • June 4, 2013
29 tracks • Running Time: 1:04:37
Reviewed by Bob Stutzman

As a huge fan of Star Trek video games, I was ecstatic when I heard about this special release from BSX Records, their second recent release of music from the Trek franchise. It’s great to highlight the music behind the games we grew up playing, since so many of those games have wonderful background tracks that never got the attention they deserved – and with Music from the Video Games, BSX managed to put some of the most memorable pieces in one collection. As I listened to it, fond memories sparked from playing the classic games like Starfleet Command, Starfleet Command III, Bridge Commander, Birth of the Federation, Elite Force, and Armada II.

It’s nice to match the music to a certain point in the video game while reminiscing about gameplay memories, and there were three tracks that immediately jumped out at me: “Kelshar” from Klingon Honor Guard is masterfully done, and evokes the same emotion and energy of a Klingon warrior. The “Main Theme” from Elite Force opens with that beautiful horn and instantly throws you back onto the bridge of the USS Voyager, and the Bridge Commander “Main Title” brings out the same sense of adventure you got when you were commanding the USS Dauntless. These are truly iconic tracks.

The majority of the tracks come from Star Trek: Borg, released by by Simon and Schuster Interactive in late 1996. The game’s credits include more than a few familiar names from the Star Trek franchise, resulting a long-form interactive movie – directed by longtime Trek mainstay Jim Conway and starring John de Lancie as Q. Dennis McCarthy, the composer of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Enterprise themes, was credited for the original music in the game; sixteen tracks from Star Trek: Borg were reproduced for this compilation. My favorite Star Trek: Borg tracks from the album are the “Main Theme”, “Battle At Wolf 359”, and “Club Q”.

John de Lancie as Q in 1996’s “Star Trek: Borg”

Of course, this album isn’t perfect – the Away Team intro seems to end too quickly before it really gets started; those unfamiliar with most of the games being represented may be left a little wanting when all is said and done. As with most soundtrack albums, it definitely helps to know the context from which the music is taken. But even with these minor issues, the album is still fantastic.

This is an excellent arrangement of soundtracks from several games, and the recording quality is top notch as well. So why should you get it? First of all, the themes were composed by some of the best musical artists from the Star Trek world. Secondly, there’s some really great songs on the album. And lastly, the music sounds both modern and classic at the same time.

All said, this is definitely an album to get if you liked the classic Star Trek video games and more importantly, appreciate their music – from me, this album comes highly recommended.

Star Trek: Music From the Video Games is available now through the Amazon MP3 store, with individual tracks listed at $0.99 / £0.89 / €0,99, and the full album at $8.99 / £7.49 / €9,89.

Other Recent Soundtrack Releases:
Music from the Star Trek Saga (BSX)
The Best of Both Worlds Expanded Edition (GNP Crescendo)
Star Trek Into Darkness (Varese Sarabande)
Star Trek Deep Space Nine – Collection (La-La Land Records)