Before I say anything, I’d just like to make it clear that I love my Nintendo 64 wholeheartedly. It was when I got that console that I started taking gaming as seriously as I do now, and I’d like to think that the N64 played a big part in me deciding to be a games journalist. Having said that, I must admit that as much as I loved StarCraft 64, I already love StarCraft on the PC even more.
Before this past weekend, I had only played StarCraft 64. I never had any hands-on experience with StarCraft for the PC. Now that I am the proud owner of the StarCraft Battle Chest, I can safely say that the PC version of StarCraft is the definitive version of the game, and I really don’t think I need to explain why as I’m sure all of you StarCraft loyalists know by now.
It’s funny. When I started playing the game on my computer this past Saturday, I got this feeling of nostalgia. That was no doubt thanks to having played the game before on my N64. But aside from that feeling of nostalgia, it still felt like I was playing the game for the very first time. Everything—though already familiar territory—felt fresh.
I plan on playing through all three campaigns within the next few weeks. Yes, I’ve done them all before, but that was on StarCraft 64. I really want to play through the entire PC game. And then I want to get into the PC exclusives. The Campaign Editor has been making eyes at me since I launched the game, but I’m trying to show a little self control. I really plan on making some pretty cool masterpieces, but not until I have completely gotten through the terran, zerg, and protoss missions.
Then there’s the online multiplayer. Oh, how I have desired to play on Battle.net for so long! And now I finally have a chance. Admittedly I’ll probably play a few rounds online before getting to the Campaign Editor. I already created my Battle.net account, and I’m ready to go, but I’d like to get a bit more accustomed to the mouse and keyboard controls. (Having only played the N64 version of the game, I had become very comfortable with the controller, so now I have had to train myself to use the mouse and keyboard, which is already becoming second nature thanks to the intuitive controls in StarCraft.)
So there you have it, folks. These are the words of a gamer that enjoyed StarCraft before, but never got the chance to play the game most of you have. I’ll leave you with the words that went through my head after playing the game for a few hours: so this is StarCraft on the PC… Freaking awesome!
