Welcome to Blizzard Week at ROG Retro. This week we will take a look at a different classic Blizzard game each day. We will kick things off with a game that is flawed but has a unique charm: StarCraft 64
Starcraft 64 is a mixed bag in many ways. It is a very inferior version of the original game, but has its own high points. This was the only console port ever made of Starcraft 1 and the work put into it really is amazing. The fact that the developers were able to put both Starcraft and Brood War onto a single cartridge is a technical marvel to behold. The downside however, is that there were numerous compromises and concessions that needed to be done. These concessions included a much lower video resolution which destroyed a lot of graphical detail and made the large maps difficult to follow. Numerous changes to the audio files such as dialogue and sound effects being dropped and music butchered. This isn’t even mentioning what was done to the FMV scenes, which often affected any ability to follow the story.
There were also some serious changes to the gameplay, both for bad and for good surprisingly. When it comes to the bad, there is only a two player mode an for competition or co-op. Bad enough as it is, but ad in the video resolution on the split screen and you have some serious problems. The more serious issue though, is the controls. The game uses the analogue stick and C-buttons, and their slow and cumbersome use made carrying out tasks and objective counter intuitive. The control scheme was not user friendly in any way and this is made even worse when you realize that the A.I. enemies are the same as in the PC version. In other words, you have to adjust to a new and difficult control scheme while facing enemies who have not been properly adjusted.
The game was indeed very rough but had a few high points as well. The most prominent being adjustments to how unit management was handled. Minor tweaks here and there made the process go a bit quicker, which did help counter the control issues slightly such as worker units beginning to mine righter after being made. There were shortcuts added that clearly were liked by Blizzard as these management shortcuts were used in later games on computers. The most prominent of these changes was that a player can select 18 units instead of 12 units. Yes, this change originated here and not in Starcrat II like many believe. There were also additional tutorials different from the PC version and there was a secret exclusive level only available in this version. Connected to that last point is that cheats were handled differently here. They were now objects that had to be found in levels before they could be used. It made things feel different, and finding them all was necessary to unlocking the secret level.
Most people are quick to write off Starcraft 64 as a failed port, but I actually like it. Its nowhere near as amazing as on a computer, but it does have its good points. There is a charm to the game that is often overlooked and I feel fans of Starcraft should look into the game and give it a chance. You might be surprised to find some cut content from the PC version here as well.