History VideoGame / SpaceQuestITheSarienEncounter

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: The remake added a new item that lets you rig the Slots-o-Death machine, and made the skimmer sequence optional.

* UpdatedRerelease: Gets a VGA remake in 1991.

* LuckBasedMission: To get off Kerona, you need a spaceship. To get enough money for a spaceship, you have to clean out the slot machine in the bar. Not only is it easy to lose money instead of making it, though (which might be the worse of the alternatives), you can actually die playing the slot machine.

->''"You serve as a member of the crew of the Arcada as a janitor."''

** [[SomethingWeForgot Forget to destroy the Star Generator]] when leaving the Deltaur? [[ItsAWonderfulFailure You come back to Xenon, only to watch it be destroyed.]]
* NonStandardGameOver: When you take your ship to the Deltaur, your navigation robot suggests you get outta there. If you agree, you run away and leave the galaxy to fend for itself against the Sariens.
* RaygunGothic: The background graphics in the 90s remake deliberately evoke this design aesthetic.
* SelfDestructMechanism: The alien menace aboard the Arcada wants to use the mechanism as part of their plan.

** From ''Franchise/StarWars'': Crash landing on a desert planet on a escape pod.

* AlwaysClose: In the VGA version, once you escape the Arcada [[spoiler:and the Deltaur]], it immediately explodes regardless of how much time is left.

You play as hapless janitor Roger Wilco, who discovers that the vessel he's on, the Arcada, has been overrun by the Sariens, who plan to use the ship's star generator to destroy the planet Xenon. Roger must find a way off the Arcada, recuperate for a while on an alien planet, and get up to the Sariens' mothership to foil their plot.

** Similar to ''VideoGame/KingsQuestIIRomancingTheThrone'', there is a rock bridge on Kerona that must be crossed repeatedly, but will break if you cross it one too many times.

** Some of the droids for sale at "Droids B' Us" include [[Series/TwilightZone Robbie]] [[Series/LostInSpace the]] [[Film/ForbiddenPlanet Robot]], [[Series/DoctorWho a Dalek]], [[Film/TheBlackHole Maximillian]] and a [[TabletopGame/BattleTech Rifleman]] (or an [[Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross ADR-04-Mk.X Destroid Defender]] considering the nature of a once Unseen 'Mech at the time, lampshaded as the robot is named the DEF-TECH).

** On Kerona, the Sarians release a robotic spider that will explode if it gets near you. You have to destroy it by dropping a rock on it. You have one chance, so it you miss, you can't proceed. It is technically possible to get past the spider, but extremely difficult.

** On Kerona, the Sarians release a robotic spider. You have to destroy it by dropping a rock on it. You have one chance, so it you miss, you can't proceed.

** Similar to ''VideoGame/KingsQuestIIRomancingTheThrone'', there is a rock bridge that must be crossed repeatedly, but will break if you cross it one too many times.

* UnwinnableByDesign: Oh so much. Most notably, when someone offers to buy your hovercraft, if you accept his first offer, you'll miss out on a jetpack needed to maneuver in zero-gravity later in the game. And if you forget to take the ignition key from your skimmer after declining the man's first offer, he'll simply steal it from you.

** Also from ''Star Wars'', the shot of you flying to the Deltaur makes it look like your flying an X-Wing with a view from inside the ship.

* NeverSayDie: Double-subverted by the many graphic descriptions of the dead crew members of the Arcada... which still never actually describe them as "dead."

** Forget the cartridge? You get praised for saving the galaxy from the Sariens, but the whole solar system is still doomed to freeze to death. [[YouSuck "Oh well, you're just a janitor."]]

''Space Quest: Chapter I – The Sarien Encounter'' (also simply known as ''Space Quest 1'') is the first game in the ''VideoGame/SpaceQuest'' series. It was released in 1986 and followed a lot of the same [[AdventureGame gameplay formulas]] as the first two ''Franchise/KingsQuest games'', ''[[RecycledInSpace but in space!]]'' [[MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness It's not the hardest sci-fi]], but it's still epic in scope when it comes to space travel and a variety of alien creatures.

* [[AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs All Your Ship Are Belong To Us]]: The beginning of the game. Those Sariens don't fool around!

** [[SomethingWeForgot Forget to destroy the Star Generator]] when leaving the Deltaur? [[ItsAWonderfulFailure You come back to Xenon, only to watch it destroyed.]]

* {{Padding}}: The gambling minigame is a blatant example, likely taking up at least a third of the time it takes to beat the game.

* AlwaysClose: In the VGA version, once you escape the Arcada, it immediately explodes regardless of how much time is left.

->''"You serve as a member of the crew of the Arcada as [[AlmightyJanitor a janitor.]]"''
->''"[[SubvertedTrope That's right, a janitor.]] [[ThisLoserIsYou And not a very good one.]]"''