There's something about Master of Orion that grabs you. It's not the crafted story, because you decide how the story plays out. It's not the graphics, which were hardly passable for it's time. And it's not the sound or the controls. It's the same thing that still fascinates us about space to this day: the unknown. You never know what is going to happen from turn to turn. What technologies will you have access to research this game? Is that yellow star down there already settled? If so, are they so far behind in the arms race that I can wipe them out completely with my colony ship escort, or have I just awakened a sleeping technological giant? Will all of the races join together to oppose me in the vote for the galactic leader? And which one of these stars is the legendary Orion? You honestly never know the answers to any of these questions beforehand.
Master of Orion allows a rare blend of complete control and complete randomness. You could research the weapons to build the best ship in the galaxy, but run across the Guardian too early and it's toast. Feeling smug about that new colony you just snatched from the Alkaris? Well here comes a space amoeba to wipe the smile off your face. It stays interesting to this day because of this balance. You can have the best strategy in the world as far as research, espionage, and ship design, but there's always something that can foil your plans, and you never know when it could hit, who it could hit, or where it could hit.
I remember playing this game with my uncle when I was about 10 years old. I was fascinated by the concept of designing personalized ships to make a fleet, and giddy with excitement when I would watch the ships we designed head into battle. 15 years later, that feeling is still there. This game proves that graphics and sound are not the defining attributes of good games. Good games have an "X" factor, something that makes a game fun to even think about playing, and this game has it in spades.