In a brilliant design decision, Binary Systems built Starflight so that the initial plot seemed, at first, fairly one-dimensional and linear. The end result, however, consisted of space opera of epic proportions containing shocking plot twists and deep mysteries. The RPG-esque gameplay consisted largely of mining, alien diplomacy, and ship combat and managed to enable gamers to, in a sense, re-enact scenes remarkably similar to Star Trek. Moreover, the game contained a subtle underlevel of humor, such as an encounter with the Starship Enterprise, infrequent but consistent messages between two disgruntled smugglers, and a race using binary code to reveal the telephone number of the developers' home office.
Starflight is widely known among the game industry as being one of the games responsible for pioneering the open-ended gameplay more modernly featured in games such as Grand Theft Auto
Starflight also spawned a sequel, Starflight 2: Trade Routes of the Cloud Nebula, and was very much the spiritual predecessor to the more popular, but invaribly similar, Star Control 2. One of the games' head designers, Greg Johnson, later crafted the Toejam & Earl series for Sega.