Video game:Star Trek: Klingon Academy

Few series, if any, have made as large a pop culture impact as "Star Trek." When it first aired in 1966, the television show failed to make a large impression, and NBC cancelled it after only three seasons. However, over the years it has amassed a cult following, several spin-off shows, a movie series, and a library of novels and comics. Beginning with a board game in 1967, developers released many forms of interactive entertainment involving the beloved "Star Trek" characters.

Mike Mayfield developed the first "Star Trek" video game in 1971. Entitled simply "Star Trek," this text-based computer game spread to most home computers by the end of the 1970s, and became the first of its kind to sell more than one million copies. It showed that games based on the series could be successful, and paved the way for the release of many more video games.

In 1997, Interplay released "Star Trek: Starfleet Academy" for Windows and Mac computers. This game gave players the opportunity to learn how to fly a starship and move through the Starfleet ranks to ultimately become a captain. Critics and players praised the game, and in 2000, Interplay released a follow-up entitled "Star Trek: Klingon Academy." Like its predecessor, "Klingon Academy" follows a cadet as he trains to become a captain of his own ship, however, as in the 1996 game "Klingon," the protagonist takes the form of the classic "Trek" enemy-the Klingon. Like other "Star Trek" games, actors Christopher Plummer and David Warner from the movie "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" provided their voices and likenesses for the game.

Due to a large amount of bugs present in the final version of the game, "Klingon Academy" received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the game's graphics and story, but were distracted by the glitches. Nevertheless, gamers found "Klingon Academy" very enjoyable. In his review, Thomas L. McDonald of "Computer Gaming World" magazine wrote, "after years and years of giving us awful Trek' games, Interplay has atoned by creating one of the best. Against all odds and expectations, Klingon Academy' emerges as a terrific, entertaining experience."

More than four decades after the original "Star Trek" series aired, the franchise remains popular. J.J. Abrams and Paramount released a rebooted movie version of the series in 2009, followed by its sequel in 2013. Over fifty different video games featuring the beloved "Star Trek" characters exist, allowing fans to go "where no one has gone before."