According to the Scott Bizar, the founder of FGU, "I wanted a SF rpg and I gave the job to Ed Simbalist.

During the process I’ve never met Ed, nor Phil McGregor and Mark Ratner, who lived in the Canadian west, Australia and the east of the USA, respectively.

[2] Phil McGregor sent some technology and space ship related stuff which Simbalist liked so much that he incorporated it in the finished product.

This called for a game to handle the future warrior and mercenary, the free-trader, the asteroid miner, the planetary explorer and first contact man, and the member of the diplomatic corps/spy service.

As if this weren't enough, the decision was made to base the game on the grand tradition of Space Opera, in the vein of E.E Doc Smith and most recently Star Wars from George Lucas.

[4] The number of random rolls is limited, but the player has discretion in how points are applied and many choices among skills.

[5] Player characters can belong to any of the following races: Human, Humanoid, Transhuman, Pithecine, Canine, Feline, Ursoid, Avian, and Warm-blooded Saurian.

[5] Other capabilities, such as Carrying Capacity, Damage Factor, and Stamina (based on Personal Characteristics) help to further define the character.

[5] In the Career path the character goes through the recruitment process, participates for a random number of tours-of-duty, has opportunities for promotion, and finally musters out, in some cases with severance pay, pension benefits, savings, and personal gear.

Characters who are open and Psionically attacked or have contact with a raw PK Crystal can awaken and learn skills by trial and error.

Space Opera also includes Mini-Computers at higher tech levels that are comparable to today's smartphones.

Many other innovative sci-fi technologies are included, for example: Artificial Gills, Still Suits, medical and anti-aging drugs, Electro-Binoculars (1000 Lightyears range), ECM for communication and sensorscans, belt-size personal force-screen generators, power assisted personal armor, grav/jump belts, robots of every type, laser/blaster guns, laserswords & lightswords, anti-robot positronic brain disruptors (APROBDIF), etc.

The Space Opera core game consisted of two volumes and four double-sided 8x11" data sheets, in a box.

Similarly, the expense of legally recovering the right to publish Space Opera isn't worth it.

Apart from a highly inflated value placed by FGU on the game (actually on the NAME), why would I wish to purchase several thousand copies of a recent reprint that just won't sell in the current market?

"[12][13] Andy Slack reviewed Space Opera for White Dwarf #25, giving it an overall rating of 8 out of 10, and stated that "this is an extremely complicated game which will take a very long time to set up properly.

[15] Barton commented that "for those who liked Space Opera originally or for those who thought it had potential but were turned off by the typos, omissions, etc., the 2nd edition is definitely worth having.

Marin noted that this complexity especially was felt during space combat, and recommended that both the gamemaster and the players each have a calculator.

Marin concluded with a positive recommendation, saying, "Space Opera is a very complete SF role-playing game; and the simulation is very good.

"Every part of the game's mechanics is based on complicated routines — a simple scenario can take a weekend to complete."