WarCraft II: Battle.net Edition (PC)

Developer:

Blizzard Entertainment

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Release Date:

Battle.net Edition 1999 Original 1995

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Systems:

Win, MS-DOS, Mac OS, Saturn, PSX

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This week on Super Adventures, I'm having a go of WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness, originally released in late 1995. In fact, if I'd used my head I could've had this written up for its 30th anniversary a couple of months ago. Though I'm specifically playing the Battle.net Edition from 1999, which includes the Beyond the Dark Portal expansion pack from 1996, so really I'm both years early and right on time.

There was also Warcraft II: Remastered, released in late 2024, which has updated graphics and UI improvements... but I don't own that one. I almost didn't own this version either as Blizzard delisted it from GOG when Remastered released. Fortunately I bought it in the nick of time.

The Battle.net update added a few upgrades of its own, as it runs on Windows instead of DOS and has a whole list of tweaks to improve gameplay. Then GOG stuck a DirectDraw wrapper on it to make it play nice on modern systems, which I appreciate. Though I'm also interested in the older systems it was released on, as I had no idea until now that it got a PlayStation and a Saturn port.

I should've guessed though, as its arch-rival Command & Conquer got console ports as well, and the two games came out just months apart. Though there was no polygon-based N64 port for this one so people had to wait until WarCraft III in 2002 to see their little orcs chopping down trees in 3D.

WarCraft: Orcs & Humans (MS-DOS)

Developer:

Blizzard Entertainment

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Release Date:

1994

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Systems:

MS-DOS, Mac OS

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This week on Super Adventures, I'm finally playing Blizzard's hit Warhammer-flavoured real-time strategy WarCraft: Orcs & Humans! 

I'm sorry, I know I promised this at the end of April and now it's October, but I suddenly had a new season of Doctor Who to review for my other site and I got sidetracked. Don't worry, I don't think I'll be having that problem next year... or the year after that. (Edit: hours after I published this the BBC announced they're making more Doctor Who, presumably just to troll me).

Blizzard apparently tried to make a deal with Games Workshop to make this an actual Warhammer licenced product for the brand recognition, though it didn't work out. I always assumed that Games Workshop went around to developers and forced the licence into their hands, considering how many Warhammer games there are, but I guess not! Going with a new IP worked out pretty well for Blizzard in the end, considering that the game got a franchise, a legendary MMO and a slightly less legendary movie adaption.

The game also got a shiny new Remastered version in 2024 with high resolution graphics... and Blizzard decided to take the original version off GOG so it wasn't competing with it! I wasn't about to miss out on DRM-free WarCraft, so I grabbed it right before it was delisted and now I want to get my money's worth out of it. So I'll be sticking with the GOG version of the game, which is the MS-DOS CD release v1.22h... not that there's many other versions to check out. The game was heavily inspired by Dune II (which makes sense as it's the foundation of the entire genre), but they decided not to follow its lead and make ports for the Amiga and Mega Drive/Genesis. In fact the RTS genre basically just took off and left those systems behind here.

Okay, this is going to be the same deal as always. I'll play the game for a couple of hours, quit while I'm ahead, and then write a bit about it afterwards.

Command & Conquer (MS-DOS)

Developer:

Westwood

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Release Date:

1995

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Systems:

PC, Mac, PSX, N64, Saturn

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This year on Super Adventures, I'm celebrating 10 years of the site by playing games that you'd find on a 'top 10' list, and that means I've ran out of excuses not to write something about Command & Conquer. The game was retroactively relabelled Tiberian Dawn, but I'm not calling it that. Partly because I always get it mixed up with the sequel Tiberian Sun, partly because I can never remember if it's 'Tiberian' or 'Tiberium'.

You might be wondering why I've been so reluctant to write about such a well-respected and beloved classic. Well that's because it's an RTS game and that means it's going to take effort. I have to play it for hours and then somehow summarise what I did and how it plays with just a handful of screenshots, all of them of little dudes standing in a grassy field firing at smoking buildings. This is why I write about so many platformers, they're easy! "Hey it starts with a forest level, huge shock. I guess I'll go jump on the spiders then? Oh no the bottomless pit killed me! And now I'm in a sewer, wow." RTS games almost never have sewer levels for me to whine about!

There's lots of different ways to play this game now, like a modern source port, or fan made patch for Command & Conquer Gold. But the best way is almost certainly Command & Conquer: Remastered, which improves the sound and visuals, and updates the interface without messing with the gameplay. Everyone showers it with praise and it seems like it's earned it. But I won't be playing that. Instead I'm going back to my original CDs, the very first DOS version, unpatched. Why? Because the DOS release is incredibly zoomed in compared to later versions and I want to give you a fighting chance to see the tiny little tanks and soldiers in my screenshots.

Syndicate (MS-DOS)

Developer:

Bullfrog

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Release Date:

1993

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Systems:

PC, Amiga, Acorn, Mac, PC-98, 3DO, Jaguar, CD32

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This fine Wednesday on Super Adventures I'm having a go of one of Bullfrog's most classic games, Syndicate!

It's about time as well, because for the last five years or so the only Bullfrog games I've had on my site have been Hi-Octane and Genewars. No Dungeon Keepers, no Theme Parks, and nary a single Populous (not even going to try working out the plural of that... or how to play it).

Syndicate and I have met a few times over the years, but we've never really got on. I'm not sure why, maybe I've been misunderstanding some aspect of gameplay, maybe it's just not my thing, but I've always found it to be finicky, frustrating and bloody difficulty to get anywhere in. Every now and again though I find myself wanting to give it another chance, because I love its particular remix of the 'Blade Runner' dystopian aesthetic and I'm always up for a bit of ultra-violent cyberpunk tactical action. But every time I load it up I end up putting in a cheat and firing Gauss guns at cars for a bit before turning it right back off again.

For some reason I always thought that the Amiga version was the genuine article and all others mere reflections, but this was actually the first Bullfrog game designed first for PC. Works for me, I got it off Origin a short while back when they were giving it away, so I'm all set up to give it another shot.

Hostile Waters (PC)

Today I'm taking a brief look at real-time action strategy shooter hybrid Hostile Waters, released in the first half of 2001 for the sole benefit of PC gamers. Sadly this one didn't get a console release, which is a shame because it really could've used the extra exposure. Critics seemed to love it, but it just didn't sell all that well for whatever reason and so it sunk into semi-obscurity.

But hey, I bought a copy! I did my part! I have vague memories of enjoying this one in my youth, but it's possible they've been warped by the dark corrupting influence of nostalgia. So I'm going to give it an hour or so to show me if it's got what it takes to win me over all over again.

I can say right now that the theme music won me over in about 20 seconds: youtube link.

(Click the pics to view the screenshots at resolutions unimaginable to those in the ancient times of the early 21st century.)

General Chaos (Genesis/Mega Drive) - Replay

Super Adventures in Gaming Replay 2013 - Game 5

Super Adventures has reached 800 posts, and what better way to celebrate this monumental milestone than for me to replay a game I didn't even understand the first time around, never mind like. To be fair to General Chaos, I kind of made a snap judgement on it and gave up about 10 seconds into the first level.

Of course I made a post about it anyway, because I didn't want the internet to do without that handful of badly cropped screenshots!

Z (MS-DOS) - Guest Post

It's a Bank Holiday! That means I don't have to play a Bitmap Brothers game today! Ha ha!

What? Damn it all. Here's Z.

Gene Wars (MS-DOS)

They could have done with a few more polygons on those curved edges maybe.