For nearly sixty years (the show premiered on September 8, 1966), has dominated the pop culture landscape. This monumental science fiction show has become one of the most influential multimedia franchises of all time. It also shares a great deal in common with video games, as both of them often combine philosophical questions about humanity with cutting-edge technology, and Star Trek has been the basis for some truly incredible gaming experiences.

Some of the best Star Trek games are the ones that let players recreate the huge, epic ship-to-ship battles seen in the franchise's various TV shows and films, as many of them have taken inspiration from classic entries like The Wrath of Khan and First Contact. Some of them combine the large-scale ship battles with more thoughtful gameplay, while others are built almost entirely on spectacle, showcasing the breadth of this revolutionary franchise. These games have been ranked based on their design, combat systems, and contributions to the Star Trek series.

Developed by Interplay to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the debut of The Original Series, this outstanding Star Trek game often feels like a fan's dream come true. Featuring the voices of the original cast and digitized music from the TV series, combines compelling adventure game design with some excellent space combat. It's broken up into episodes, utilizing fantastic pacing and variety between the adventure segments and space combat, making it feel like the classic show come to life.

Taking place from a fantastic perspective that showcases the whole bridge in action, Star Trek: 25th Anniversary's thrilling outer space combat sections are still massively fun to play. It really captures the tension and sense of dread that permeated the space battles seen in The Original Series, which were built more around what was hidden in space versus the all-out spectacle of later shows. It's difficult to compare to contemporary space combat games, but for a title looking to recreate Star Trek's epic space battles on limited hardware, it's still a very impressive effort.

Taking place in the reboot universe created by JJ Abrams, is an incredible VR game that allows four players to take control of their own section of the ship, each with their own unique responsibilities and challenges. It was the type of experience that VR was made for, allowing fans to step directly into the world of Star Trek and experience the thrills of commanding a starship during an intense battle.

Star Trek: Bridge Crew is still one of the most compelling VR games ever made, fulfilling the promise of the hardware by allowing one to fully immerse into another world. The communal aspect adds an extra layer of authenticity, as teamwork and being prepared makes it feel like a genuine experience. Bridge Crew is perhaps the closest one can find to engaging with the Star Trek franchise in a fully realistic way, paying homage both to the Abrams-led reboot and the classic franchise by offering DLC based on The Next Generation, pitting players against the nefarious Borg. Several months after launch, developer Red Storm Entertainment made Bridge Crew playable without VR, expanding the scope of the game to more players.

takes place after the Dominion War, shortly before Nemesis, and features some rather high production values for a game of its era. Several members of the cast of The Next Generation reprise their roles, as Bridge Commander places the player in command of the USS Dauntless, often requiring the player to fully embrace the prospect of being a Captain. It is an incredibly intricate, detail-oriented game that relies on the player at least being somewhat familiar with Star Trek, while more hardcore fans will get an absolutely incredible experience out of it.

Bridge Commander offers several ways to view and partake in the action, either from a first-person view that scans the bridge, or the more exciting strategic view that takes place outside the ship. It's here where the slow-paced, more methodical ship-to-ship combat that Star Trek is known for comes into play. Keeping the ship healthy is paramount, as players must contend with maintaining shield power, and maneuvering their vessel into position for an attack. All the brilliant Star Trek presentation is intact, as well, with music and sound effects that feel perfectly aligned with the productions of the era. It is a wonderfully authentic Star Trek experience, capturing the thrills of space combat and the political diplomacy that goes along with it.

After dominating film, television and video games during the 1990s and early 2000s, the iconic scifi franchise finally found itself out of the public eye by the time launched in 2006. Star Trek: Enterprise's fourth and final season had concluded a year earlier, which made the prospect of what Legacy was offering even more interesting, as it was designed to celebrate the enduring spirit of the franchise by bringing back every Captain from the series to take part in sections taking place in their respective eras.

William Shatner, Patrick Stewart, Kate Mulgrew, Avery Brooks, and Scott Bakula all reprise their roles, resulting in one of the most delightful and lovely tributes to the franchise of all time. Star Trek: Legacy features absolutely fabulous ship-to-ship combat, with each vessel feeling weighty and each maneuver feeling important. The ships themselves are nearly flawless one-to-one recreations, clearly created with love and admiration, while the music, sound effects, and overall presentation are all top-notch. Each Captain gets their due, as well as an appropriate time to shine in the spotlight, as this incredible exploration of Star Trek's impact on pop culture is still one of the most outstanding space combat games in the franchise's history.

Following its cancellation in 1969, the space-faring franchise would return to television with Star Trek: The Next Generation, redefining the series for an entirely new generation of fans. And with its massive popularity came video game tie-ins, with the best of them being , which feels like the culmination of the 25th Anniversary game that launched three years prior. It takes everything that game did but far better, featuring the entire cast of The Next Generation and a much more engaging set of gameplay systems and some fantastic ship combat.

As Star Trek is a series built on tiny details and the combination of philosophical musings with action, A Final Unity takes that to heart, crafting an experience that is perhaps still the most authentic way to visit this fabled scifi franchise. The mix of excellent point-and-click adventure game design with highly-detailed and complex ship combat — where the player has direct control over the shields, weapons, and everything else that goes into these battles — is truly mesmerizing. Hearing the cast of The Next Generation at their prime, engaging with the game's outstanding ship battles and solving its myriad of puzzles and diplomatic encounters, is simply breathtaking, and it is still one of the finest Star Trek video games ever made.