After the QL, I bought VoidExpanse, hoping it would be much like Escape Velocity: Override. For those who weren't into the Mac shareware scene in the late 90s, Escape Velocity: Override is a cult classic combining 2D space combat, quest lines with a decent plot, trade, and a whole slew of different ships & weapons that I would still be playing today if it worked on anything more advanced than OS9*. (Its sequel, Escape Velocity: Nova, works on both OSX and Windows, but I found the plot so abysmal and easy to complete by turning yourself into a space god it killed all my interest in the game.)

VoidExpanse is a reasonable facsimile of Escape Velocity, but it's no Escape Velocity. There's less variety to the ships, the plot and factions feel bland, and the space combat suffers from difficulty telling where your ship's pointing and the firing arcs of your weapons. It's a fun diversion, but I personally prefer S.P.A.Z. over it. If you haven't played S.P.A.Z. yet, go play S.P.A.Z. instead; if you have and are itching for more, play VoidExpanse.

*I found out that a fanmade conversion of Escape Velocity: Override had been released for Escape Velocity: Nova, giving you a way to play this classic on modern Macs & Windows... provided you buy Nova and manage to find the conversion.

P.S. For those of you that are curious, here's my Top 3 Classic Mac Games You Should Play:

• Marathon 2: Durandal
• Escape Velocity: Override
• Exile 3 (rereleased as Avernum 3)

Each of them is great games in their own right and has something that was lacking in the Windows game market.

Marathon 2: Durandal is a Doom clone that differentiated itself by doling out story through computer terminals scattered throughout each level. Here you can witness the seeds of Bungie's love affair with space marines, hostile alien empires, enigmatic ancient civilizations, and rampant AIs. Any Halo fan should try out this game to see where it all began. (Personally, I prefer Marathon's plot over Halo's. Marathon's plot is simultaneously more intriguing than Halo's, with a deep rabbit hole of hidden connections and meanings to dive into, and more humorous, since your mission control for most of the game is a half-mad rampant AI.)

Escape Velocity: Override is an open-world space game that ran on nearly anything and was easy to get into, yet quickly sucked you in. I'd call it Freelancer with less fat.

Exile 3 is the spiritual successor to the Ultima series. Specifically everything up to Ultima 7, skipping the train wreck that series became. A large, sprawling RPG with good battles and player choices for dirt-cheap prices. (Seriously, the whole series is for sale on GOG for $12. That's about 300 hours worth of content for the price of a meal out.)