Have you played… Captain Forever?

Sure, you could play Captain Forever Remix, if you want to be flashy and modern and fun about it. But I still remember a darker age. I remember the REAL Captain Forever.

This was the simple shmup about putting your ship together on the fly. A sci-fi Legolike about surviving for as long as possible with a ramshackle vessel made of blocks and boosters. I remember its creepy white-on-black DOS intro. The lifebuoy bot who’d warn you about pirates. The reflection of your pilot’s face flashing on the screen every time you fused a new piece of hull to your ship. The one-shot kills. The careful dismantling of a foe’s ship. The bit-by-bit destruction of your own. “Get me out of here!” shouts Captain Forever, as she dies in a blast of electric. But you’ll never leave, Captain. You’ll never leave.

You can still play as the proto-Captain for free. The screenshake, cartoon dogs and happy atmosphere of the Remix bring a silliness to the Captain that she perhaps needed. But I’ll always appreciate the uncertain, command-promptesque vibe of the first Cappy.