Dune

Finding a modern equivalent is harder. The Dune games, based loosely on Frank Herbert's mixed series of books are pretty good (though not a patch on the book. Dune effortlessly combines an epic family saga with Lawrence of Arabia, impressive pseudo-spiritual texts, and wonderful atmosphere on the desert planet Arrakis), but I'm going to plump for Mechwarrior 2 in its latest incarnation, Mercenaries. This is a land-based battle game, but again the simple sequence of follow a mission and return to base is expanded by a business aspect to the game as you build a team of mercenaries to take on missions and make money. While lacking the video impressiveness of a Wing Commander, Mercenaries is wonderfully compelling.