Welcome, fellow StarCraft fans, to the penultimate installment in my StarCraft PC vs. StarCraft 64 comparison series. Last time I talked about the PC version of StarCraft and listed some facts on just why gamers should play that version of the game. This time around I’m going to sing the praises of the Nintendo 64 version of StarCraft and tell you why it wouldn’t hurt to play that game.
OK, so by now you must probably already know that the PC version of StarCraft is the definitive version of the game. Still, that’s not to say StarCraft 64 is in any way a bad game. It’s actually a really good port of StarCraft, and despite being a few console generations old, it still holds up exceptionally well to this day.
The first people I’d recommend StarCraft 64 to would definitely have to be console-only gamers. Having stuck exclusively to home consoles myself in the past, I know what it’s like to see an awesome PC game and think, “Hmm. That looks pretty good, but it’s on the PC, so never mind.” It’s disheartening to say the least, and that’s one of the main reasons I chose to play StarCraft 64 before the PC original.
But there are still more reasons to play StarCraft 64 aside from choosing it simply because it’s a console game. For starters, it has some exclusives thrown into it, and we all love exclusive content. The exclusive material comes in the form of two tutorials and a bonus mission. Gamers may not be too thrilled about the tutorials, but I can bet they think the extra mission things is a pretty sweet exclusive for owners of StarCraft 64.
Additionally, if you were wondering about StarCraft: Brood War, that expansion is thrown onto the N64 cart as well. StarCraft 64 is a complete StarCraft experience, and with Brood War included, that definitely holds true.
Then there’s the game’s multiplayer. No, you can’t pwn n00bs online in StarCraft 64, but you can play alongside a friend in the game’s co-op mode, and that’s a pretty cool feature as well. This mode does suffer from some slowdown, but being able to play with a friend is definitely a great addition to what is already a great game.
Last and certainly not least, one reason to play StarCraft 64: it costs like two bucks. Granted you may have a hard time finding it since it is an N64 game, but if you can manage to get your hands on it, you’ll find that this is the ultimate bargain for one of the most awesome games around. I recall a friend of mine telling me he got his cartridge at a used games store for just $2. StarCraft for $2? That’s a sweet deal if I ever heard one!
So there you have it, StarCraft loyalists, the skinny on StarCraft 64. Yes, the PC version of StarCraft is superior in almost every way, but let’s not take anything away from StarCraft 64. It is an awesome game in its own right, and it the fact that it features both the main game, its expansion, and some exclusive content all make it worth a buy. Umm… If you can find it, that is.
