The peaceful M-Tron faction wouldn’t be left to their own devices for long. In 1991 Blacktron came back with a brand new look and, in the US at least, the sobriquet “Blacktron Future Generation”.

The namesake black fuselages were still around, but now their highlights were white instead of yellow and transparent red, and their windscreens turned trendy neon green. The overall effect is much less sinister and aggressive than the original Blacktron faction. Some of their vehicles even look… kind of cute.

The Blacktron 2 folks were also huge on octagons. Couldn’t get enough of them. Even their landing pad at their Alpha Centauri Outpost is octagonal. The octagonal pilot globes could be swapped interchangeably between a number of Blacktron 2 ships, much like the magnet canisters on the M-Tron ships.

While the Blacktrons were still technically considered outlaws and pirates, the Future Generation designs lost a little of the mystique of the original wave. That didn’t stop them from tangling with the next two themes to succeed them during their run from 1991 to 1992 though.