Happy Birthday Wing Commander 2!

Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi, shipped to stores 25 years ago today, on September 4, 1991. It followed the original game by less than one year and just five months after fans enjoyed The Secret Missions 2 - a very good time for Wing Commander fans! Amid the flurry of major releases and expansions packs, I'm one of the Wingnuts that actually stumbled into the early games somewhat out of order. Picking a favorite Wing Commander title is excruciating decision, but for me, I always end up back at WC2. It was my first PC Wing Commander, and it represented a certain gaming ideal. The importance of WC1's revolutionary spaceflight engine or the incredible set pieces of WC4 can't be disputed, but WC2 just exuded charm and atmosphere from every seam. WC3's introduction is technically superior on every level, but the Emperor's speech to Prince Thrakhath still gives me goosebumps and can't be topped in my mind. Everything from the Emperor's red eye piece to the sway of Thrakhath's cape is just exquisite. With some presaging from SM2, the intro introduced many of the major characters that would go on to define the series for the next five years.

September 17th at 12pm PDT. We do this thing, again. Let's play. https://t.co/I4jZ9jefvi pic.twitter.com/ZW3Gxj1S5d

— Disco Lando (@discolando) September 5, 2016