Hello once again and welcome to the fifth entry in my StarCraft PC vs. StarCraft 64 comparison series. This is the last stop before looking at both games and talking about their overall worth. Last time I talked about the multiplayer found in both the PC and Nintendo 64 versions of StarCraft and stated that the online multiplayer of StarCraft on the PC was an overall better choice, but gamers could still enjoy StarCraft 64’s two-player cooperative mode. This time, we look at the games’ graphics. And I know graphics are a touchy subject nowadays with all these people that are super into technically advanced graphics, but I’d still like to look at the presentation of one of the most awesome games around.
StarCraft was lauded by fans and critics at the time of its release for its graphics. Gamers loved the game’s use of 2D visuals in an isometric perspective, and the game’s cut-scenes were praised for their technical and aesthetic look. It was an impressive-looking game to say the least, and its graphics have certainly aged well. StarCraft on the PC manages to still look good to this day.
StarCraft 64’s graphics were also praised by many when the game was released. Although they were a bit of a downgrade from the PC versions, StarCraft 64’s visuals made for an impressive N64 title. Blizzard and Mass Media Inc. certainly did a fine job with the game, and the two development companies deserve a lot praise for managing to compress the PC version’s look and still making it look good on the cartridge-based system.
Like with the multiplayer options found in both versions of the game, StarCraft’s graphics on the PC and N64 are up for debate. Technically speaking, StarCraft looks much, much better on the PC. But StarCraft 64 is by no means a bad-looking game, and it was impressive for its time and the console it was on. Overall, StarCraft on the PC wins in the graphics department, but it would be unfair to really compare a PC game’s graphics with an N64’s game’s graphics. With that said, both games are impressive for their respective consoles, and whether you’re a PC gamer or an old-school N64 fan, you’ll like the visuals in StarCraft.
