Shore Leave is the non-Trek culture arm of the Deep Space Spines website, posted every other Tuesday and made possible by donations to the site’s Patreon.
Only one item this go-around, and it’s only because I got sick enough to stay home from work that I had time to check it out: Romhacking.net recently posted a new translation of Gargoyle’s Quest, the Game Boy Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins spin-off adventure released in 1990.
This week, Riker takes a temporary transfer to troubled terraforming territory. His seemingly unhinged replacement wants you to know how he got these scars, but he’s not much of a joker. While Troi tries to figure out the new guy’s whole deal, Riker ventures where the Wild Things are when some old friends of his go missing in the boonies. Has Galaxy-class life made Riker soft? Will anyone ever appreciate the chuS’ugh? Whose idea was it to let O’Brien into the poker game? It’s the book that somehow passed the psychological exams.
This week, when most of the senior officers wait in a busted shuttlecraft for the sweet embrace of death, they decide to pass the time by telling tales out of school. Kirk can’t accept failure, Chekov goes lone wolf, Sulu deals with a death in the family, and Scotty stays spectacularly on brand. How much does it cost to build a starship? What counts as a “young” death in the Trek universe? Would anyone really waste that much paper in the 23rd century? It’s the book that passes with flying colors.
(This is really late, I know. Christmas and all. Sorry to anyone who was invested in it!)
Picking up immediately where the previous mission left off, it’s clear right off the bat we’re not in Kansas anymore. Geometric shapes stand out against a dense star field, and a giant three-eyed head of lettuce presides over the group. This is it: the final test.
This week, Picard yet again vetoes Riker’s call on not joining the away team, and gets his brain wiped for his trouble. While he and a few other senior officers make uncredited cameos in the planet’s televised war games, Riker has to deal with standoffish leaders, planetary shields, and an assistant doctor with different priorities. Is Riker just chopped liver or what? Does Picard really care about his friend’s daughter? How much research should you do before you throw a coworker under the bus? It’s the book that desperately needs a ratings boost.
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