That's all well and good, however, whilst you were talking about the actual styles, and weapon values of the game as a group, we had the greater experience, I have, indeed, been playing FS1, and 2, since they were both released, online only about err.. must be 5years now.
I don't claim things I don't know for sure, unless stated 'I ain't sure but' or whatever, but with gameplay, it is as such...heh, point is, you take diamond for example, he plays only to test, and avoids that too eh? 'yup it shoots pretty beams and doesn't crash, ok good enough for me' uhm... =P
Storyline wise, as I think I said earlier, I had to take FS1 apart at great lengths, and then had to expand upon that taking FS2 into account, Suprisingly enough, the group, and the teacher, prefered FS1, simply, because the story whilst simpler, is a better, and easier thing to convey, the game itself does it brilliantly, which is my point, FS2's storyline is just a mishmash of various elements, the transending plot isn't really very uhhh... hmm, can't think of the word..lol.. it doesn't keep it's focus...
You can see a student trying to explain this, "You desperately engage your after burners and try to make up the gap to the Lucifer, pushing your ship as hard as you can, getting to the node, you engage your subspace drives, and hope to hell that you can handle what's going to be on the other side, knowing you'll have no shields, knowing that there could be hundreds of fighters, vs your small taskforce of twelve fighters and bombers, you fight bravely, and strongly, to keep the enemy fighters down while your team mates go to work on the reactor subsystems, hoping you can buy them enough time to take the ship out before it gets to Sol...Earth...Home... With only a few minutes before the Lucifer reaches earth, you blow the final reactor, and break out of the subspace corridor into the Sol System, hitting your burners again you run from the blast of the Lucifer, deadly to your small ships, and so you make it home, to a hero's welcome, except you have been sealed in this small system, all alone...."
Or...Alternately...
"Messing around with the plot, more messing around, more messing around, ok, now we get to the main point"
"OH CRAP WE STOMPED ON A KILLER ANTS MOUND RUN!!!!"
"Hundreds of Sathanus Juggernauts pour out of the node, making their mysterious way to the Cappella star, completely unstoppable by anything we have in our arsenal (cough cough liars...you just don't know how to fight), we decide because we cannot possibly hold even a candle to these ships that we will evacuate, during the evacuation, whilst you're fighting with their forces, you receive a warning from command, the Capella star has gone super nova... you have to get out, you have to leave the others, there's nothing you can do but jump....you jump as the tidal wave of gravitational, radiation, and heat passes by the point your ship had previously occupied, you make it home, losing Capella, but you have gained a possible ticket home...Earth....32 years....I wonder what she'll be like...."