Space is the Place

Wolfenstein: The New Order is set in an alternate reality where the Nazis won the Second World War. Mondbasis Eins (“Moonbase One” for all you English-speaking peeps) is a lunar colony established by the Nazis after they achieved spaceflight in the late 1950s. The complex serves as the foremost center of research for the Third Reich, and it’s mostly populated by researchers, industrial workers, and military personnel. A decorated American soldier named B.J. Blazkowicz visits the base in search of nuclear decryption keys, and his mission feels like it was lifted from the pages of an Ian Fleming novel. Blazkowicz assumes the role of a Nazi science officer and tries to go unnoticed for as long as he can, but the station’s long, narrow hallways are patrolled by robots and soldiers alike. The Space Marines are especially problematic, and their experience in low-gravity environments gives them a built-in advantage over their American adversary. The cramped interiors of the facility are fascinating in their own right, but the highlight of the mission sees Blazkowicz stepping out onto the lunar surface for the first time.

Like its predecessor, Portal 2 centers around a woman named Chell who is forced to undergo a series of tests within the “Aperture Science Enrichment Center.” A talkative personality core known as Wheatley was supposed to ensure her well-being, but he fell into megalomania after gaining control of the facility half-way through the game. From this point on, Wheatley shows a complete disregard for “smelly humans” and becomes determined to catch Chell in a death trap. Wheatly isn’t especially intelligent, however, and his experiments never seem to pan out the way he expects them to. As Chell navigates through the test chambers, she makes use of her trusty portal gun to create wormhole-like connections between two surfaces. During Chell’s final encounter with Wheatley, an explosion rips the roof off of the Enrichment Center. This gives her a creative way of defeating her snarky opponent. After Chell fires a portal at the moon, the vacuum of space pulls Wheatley through the portal and onto the lunar surface. Chell is pulled through the portal as well (along with half of the facility), but our heroine holds on for dear life and makes it back through the portal before it closes. The trip to the moon doesn’t last long, but it’s a memorable excursion and an inventive use of space travel.

X-COM: UFO Defense places players at the helm of a planetary defense agency. Among other things, the agency is responsible for researching aliens, monitoring UFO activity, and developing new technologies. Most of the game takes place on Earth amidst an alien invasion, but the final mission centers around humanity’s first mission to Mars. As it turns out, the aforementioned aliens were merely doing the bidding of another race of aliens, known as the Ethereals. The Ethereals enslave other races through the power of mind-control, and they use the Cydonia region of Mars as their base of operations. You’ll need powerful weapons to launch an assault on their underground Cydonia base, so your knowledge of alien technology better be up to snuff by the time you gear up for the grand finale. The mission adds meaning to all of the decisions you made during the game, and you’ll only get one shot at the Mars offensive. (It’s an instant “game over” if you fail.) You spend most of the game playing defense, so it was nice to see some role reversal in the final mission.

The moon is a recurring location in the Final Fantasy series, and the Red Moon from Final Fantasy IV is especially significant. There are technically two moons in the game, but there’s something unusual about one of them. As it turns out, the Red Moon is actually a giant spacecraft that was constructed by an advanced race of aliens known as the Lunarians. When a dark sorcerer named Golbez departs to the artificial moon, you’re forced to follow your nemesis into space. It’s at this point that the game goes off the rails in the most spectacular way. After obtaining a whale-shaped airship capable of breaking through the stratosphere, you journey to the moon and gear up for the final battle. The moon’s surface is a barren wasteland for the most part, but it’s home to a sleeping race and a fantastical Crystal Palace. The moon is one of the most bizarre locations in the Final Fantasy series, but it’s the perfect setting for the game’s climax. Decades later, the unexpected trip to space is one of the most memorable things about the game.

The Moon from DuckTales was the first stage that came to mind when I started making this list. Capcom’s take on Disney’s beloved animated series is regarded as one of the best licensed games of all time, and the Moon is one of the game’s most memorable levels. The stage has a starfield background and features an alien ship, but the space theme is relatively understated. The gravity is no different than it is on Earth, for instance, and Uncle Scrooge doesn’t need any special equipment to explore the lunar surface. (The 2013 release of DuckTales: Remastered had some expository dialogue to explain how Scrooge could breathe in space, but we simply had to suspend our disbelief in the original version.) It may not be the most complicated level, but there’s a ton of treasure to find and plenty of aliens to jump on. Without question, the best thing about the stage was its incredible music. The level theme is one of the most iconic tracks of the 8-bit era, and it never fails to bring a smile to my face.

The final map in Call of Duty: Black Ops‘ “Rezurrection” pack gave players the opportunity to battle zombies on the Moon! As you struggle to eliminate undead creatures, you’ll experiment with all kinds of futuristic technologies. The “wave gun” will electrify zombies on contact, the “Gresh device” creates powerful gravity wells, and the effects of the “quantum entanglement device” are completely random. You’ll also have access to a pressurized suit that will increase the amount of time you can survive on the lunar surface. You’ll deal with low-gravity environments and areas with no oxygen, and giant excavators threaten to breach the man-made infrastructure that shields you from the vacuum of space. Your zombie opponents are as relentless as ever, and this is especially true of the new astronaut zombies. These guys will headbutt you if you get too close, and they have the ability to teleport to random spots on the map. They also explode violently upon death, and this will send you flying if you’re in a low-gravity area. It’s not the most authentic experience, but it’s entertaining all the same.

The Gran Turismo games aim to emulate the appearance and performance of real-world automobiles. Well over a thousand vehicles have been featured in the series, but the Lunar Roving Vehicle is truly out of this world. The LRV is a battery-powered buggy that was used on the Moon during the last three Apollo missions in 1971 and 1972. The vehicle was designed by Boeing, and it was highly maneuverable since it had separate front-and-rear steering motors. The LRV was developed specifically for the lunar surface, however, and its wire-mesh tires wouldn’t be appropriate for typical roads. Thankfully, the Lunar Exploration special events in Gran Turismo 6 allow you to drive the LRV where it was intended to be driven. The vehicle is remarkably light and compact, and it’s surreal to experience 1/6th of Earth’s gravity in a racing sim. The LRV tops out at 17mph, but keeping the rover upright when you’re racing downhill is tougher than it sounds. If nothing else, Polyphony Digital should be commended for doing something different. No other racing sim allows you to experience the lunar surface from the comfort of your couch!

It kind of feels like I’m cheating by mentioning Super Mario Galaxy. The entire game has an overarching space theme, after all, and this is a list of best space levels rather than a list of best space games. The space motif isn’t used in every stage, however, and most of the levels have themes (like fire or water) that are completely unrelated to outer space. Battlerock Galaxy is one of the few stages that truly embraces the space theme. The level features many floating metallic saucers, and each one has its own gravitational pull. There are several objectives to complete in the stage, but the most exciting ones involve the Battlerock itself. The giant rock sits at the center of the stage and is equipped with dozens of cannons. As you make your approach, you’ll have to avoid a barrage of attacks and navigate around electrical barriers while your saucer moves forward at its own pace. You’ll often find yourself walking to the underside of the saucer to avoid taking damage, and the difficulty ramps up significantly during the stage’s “purple coin” challenge. The level has some really great music too, but that’s kind of a recurring theme on this list.

The main objective in Blast Corps is to clear a path for an automated truck that’s carrying nuclear warheads. To that end, you’ll have to demolish buildings, move obstacles, and create makeshift bridges to make sure the carrier doesn’t crash into anything. After flattening cities around the country, the “final” mission gives you a slightly different objective. Instead of worrying about a nuclear missile, you have to clear a path for a space shuttle to land. Just when you think the game is finished, the government hires you to destroy their moon bases in an ridiculous bid to eliminate harmful human debris. The moon mission feels completely different than any of the 50+ missions that took place on Earth. The reduced gravity changes the physics of your vehicle, and it becomes much easier to build momentum while power sliding. (I swear you’d get more traction on a Teflon pan!) You’re top speed increases too, and you can get serious distance by using craters as veritable ramps. It’s incredibly satisfying to take out buildings by landing on top of them. “Increasingly farcical interplanetary challenges” await you after you complete the moon mission, but the first trip to space was completely unexpected.

The final chapter in LEGO City Undercover involves a trip into outer space. A criminal businessman named Forrest Blackwell and an ex-con named Rex Fury had escaped to a secret moon base to pursue a life outside of the LEGO City PD’s jurisdiction. Chase McCain knew he had to bring them to justice, however, so he made a quick stop at the Apollo Space Center and constructed a space shuttle. After reaching his destination, Chase uses various disguises to infiltrate Blackwell’s moon base. He also builds himself a moon buggy for good measure and uses a giant mech to fight a mechanical dinosaur skeleton. Blackwell manages to escape with his life, but Chase neutralizes his cronies and arrests Rex Fury after a dramatic showdown. For the big finale, Chase finds himself in a state of free fall after the platform he was on becomes unstable. Chase has to avoid space debris and explosions while diving back down to Earth, and this scene is way more spectacular than it has any right to be. LEGO games are entertaining and lighthearted, but the closing moments of LEGO City Undercover are downright epic. I was completely taken aback by the music too, and it sounded like something out of a Christopher Nolan movie. You’d have to see it first-hand in order to understand, so I encourage you to take a look at the video.