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..and I don't hand out 5 stars lightly.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 171 / 179
Date: June 02, 2000
Author: Amazon User

If, by chance, you're reading this and you've never played Starcraft before, just go ahead and skip reading this and buy it. You won't be disappointed.

If you're thinking about buying it for someone else, go ahead and buy it: I've given three Battle Chests as gifts and it was a hit every time for both kids and adults, even to those who hadn't played this kind of game before.

The Battle Chest is definitely the way to go, as you'll save money over buying it and Brood War separately and get the strat guides for free (and, to be honest, I don't think the guides are worth having unless you're completely clueless about how to beat the game, and there is information in the strat guides that is blatantly wrong as well).

I've been playing RTS games since 1997, and in my opinion, this is the best one ever made. No one has made one that's as fun, has as gripping a storyline and artwork, or depth and replayability of gameplay. It's a work of genius. I've had it for two years and I still play it at least a couple of times a week. There's even one mission left that I haven't managed to conquer without cheating, so the challenge is definitely there.

What you have to understand about Starcraft is that it's not meant to be a cutting-edge feature-heavy supergame where you can customize the behavior of your units and give them complex orders. It's meant to be more of a strategy game like real-time chess, and in this it succeeds brilliantly. It shares the quality of chess in that there are a limited number of units with straightforward abilities, but there are an infinite number of things and strategies that you can do with them. To this day players are still inventing new strategies for these units and races.

The artificial intelligence and pathfinding of the game is the best I've ever seen. No RTS game has perfect AI or pathfinding (units getting lost or tangled up on each other or the terrain), but Starcraft's is by far better than any others out there. The computer will flatten you time and again unless you're playing competently.

Multiplayer is a complete blast, and more options are offered than any other RTS game. You can play team games where you and your allies are actually controlling the same units against the computer or others, in addition to a wide range of variations like Capture the Flag, etc.

Blizzard's Battle.net service is free and at any time of day there are literally thousands of people playing. Internet play is smooth. I've played friends both nationally and internationally with bad connections and low-end computers, and it runs solidly even with the additional traffic of voice chat like Roger Wilco over 56k!

Blizzard's continuing support for the game is also excellent. They release a new map for the game every Friday like clockwork, so there are over a hundred new, well-designed maps available for download and replay.

In summary, just a solid, solid, completely fun game. You can't possibly go wrong by picking up a copy.

I agree with Denny

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 42 / 42
Date: June 23, 2004
Author: Amazon User

StarCraft boasts award-winning advanced control features, such as waypoints and training queues, to provide enhanced gameplay. In addition to the intuitive interface, StarCraft has the superb graphics and outstanding sound and music that have come to be expected from Blizzard Entertainment.

The greatest RTS game of all time

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 56 / 74
Date: December 08, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Starcraft is/was definately a ground breaker. Even now (late 1999) it is still in the 10 ten games. This package contains the original and expansion pack. You also get the strategy guides in the box. I find this a really good value. And contrary to all criticism received, this isn't just warcraft in space, its completely unique. This is just a great deal, very good value!

MAC Fans rejoice ...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 28 / 30
Date: April 25, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I am not going to tell you how awesome this game is ... you can get that from the other reviews. What I want to tell you is this: I took the 'Starcraft Battlechest' home, expecting to play it under 'Classic'; there is no mention on the box of OSX, and the game was made well before OSX was. However, when I installed it, there was an OSX native version right on the disk! So, Mac fans, if you want a good RTS, here ya go.

StarCraft: Excellent Strategy Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 18 / 20
Date: June 09, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This game is probably the best game made by Blizzard. I've played WarCraft and thought it was great-I was very mistaken. In comparison, it is nothing. Unlike most games, the three species in StarCraft have different strengths which must be learned as you play as all three. The storyline is just amazing; you really must know what happens next. The cinematics are great, and the battle chest allows you to just keep rollin (on to Brood War) after beating StarCraft. The gameplay is easy, and the troops are numerous enough to allow you options of victory. The multiplayer allows you to fight others while the scenario editor allows you to build your own maps. I was hooked to this game for months: the storyline will keep you hooked for about 2-3 months, and after that you can build your own maps and play via the net! It's a truly great space strategy game.

THIS GAME ROCKS

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 16 / 18
Date: November 29, 1999
Author: Amazon User

This is definitely the best RTS game around. Unlike all other RTS', this game provides you with 3 different races-and i mean DIFFERENT. Most RTS' provide many races, but all the units are basically the same-ie) in Warcraft 2, the orcs had grunts and the humans and footmen-they are the same in concerns with stats. However, Starcraft provides 3 different races that specialize in different things. You can also play on a multiplayer network called battle.net, with up to 8 people at one game. There are countless strategies that can be employed because all the races are so diversed-this game is definitely the best in the market. I hope you enjoy it

One of the best!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 17
Date: December 04, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Starcraft and its expansions are two unbelieveably awesome games. Now that Starcraft's been out for a while, the price is low for such a great game.

The single player game is fun, with a great storyline. Just the storyline is enough for someone to get into this games. However, the countless strategies and manuevers involved make it even better.

The AI is one of the best I've seen. They aren't stupid - they know how to play like a normal person!

You can also make your own maps. I admit that it takes some time to get used to, but there are countless options that can make nearly any type of map you want to.

Battle.net is a free multiplayer service offered for Starcraft. You meet so many people, have so many different experiences, learn so much from experienced players, it's amazing. Not to mention that it's extremely addiciting.

Blizzard continues to support the game, coming out with a new map every weeks.

Get this game. It's well worth the money.

StarCraft: Battle Chest is a great game for a great value!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 16 / 20
Date: May 13, 2000
Author: Amazon User

StarCraft: Battle Chest is the best value out there. It costs $35.00, and it includes StarCraft, StarCraft: Brood War, The strategy guide to StarCraft, and the strategy guise to StarCraft: Brood War, too. StarCraft costs $30.00 alone, and Brood War is about the same price. Alone, the strategy guides (which are EXTREMELY helpful) each cost $20.00. That adds up to a value of $100.00. You save $65 if you buy StarCraft: Battle Chest rather than buy it all separately. Now on to the game. Starcraft is truly awesome game. I play it any chance I get. StarCraft has a GREAT plot, and the video clips it plays are out of this world. There are 3 species in the game. they are the Terrans, the Zerg, and the Protoss. Each is vastly different from all of the others; with its own strengths and weaknesses. The game play, sound, and graphics are all out of this world. I could go on and on about StarCraft, but I won't, because you probably don't want to read it all. In conclusion, Starcraft: Battle Chest is a truly great game for and awesome value, and you should definitly buy it. I promise you'll love it.

Great Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 14
Date: May 05, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Starcraft has caught me into the craze ever since its debut in 98...This game is simply amazing. It is the type of RTS that is "hard and fast," you build, build, build, fight, fight, fight, and either win or lose, sometimes having the chance to revive if you lost the first battle. It is different from other great RTS like AOE2 because the latter is more fun when you build a great army w/ diverse units and attack tactically, while Starcraft is more like building a giant swarm and either going straight thru or catching the opponent by surprise...(what I mean is: while AOE2 resembles real combat more, Starcraft is idealistic but fun).

Starcraft's campaigns makes it standout...the Kerrigan story was spectacular, especially if you buy this battle chest and go thru the whole story from the original to Broodwar. Blizzard hired some decent fiction writers for the plot...

Battle.net and multiplayer rules in Starcraft. In case you don't know, battle.net gives you free access to the Blizzard server (if you use the Internet, of course) to meet and play multiplayer w/ hundreds and even thousands of other people off the net (of course, it's only 8 people per game max). There is (was?) also a great ranking system and tournaments, but I don't know if they still do that anymore, having my Internet connection gone extremely slow for the last 6 months...

All in all, this battlechest is a mustbuy, and the guides help a lot in case you're stuck, but try to beat the game yourself (I did it) first...

New Player who Actually bought the Battlechest

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: March 27, 2002
Author: Amazon User

All of the reviews I've read seem to come from longtime players of this game rather then new players who actually bought the Battlechest. One of the first things you need to know about this addition that there is NO MANUAL. I was pretty surprised to discover this. But wait, you say, there are two official strategy guides. Yes there are. But they won't teach you how to play the game. They don't include basic stats on all of the units; they don't include all short cut commands; they don't include technology trees; they don't explain the concept of real time strategy games. They offers hints, observations and walk throughs of all of the missions which are handy, but not a substitute for a manual. The only help the game itself offers is a list of some of the keyboard short cuts, hints and one training mission which will be of little use unless you are familiar with real time strategy games.

I've recently discovered and fallen in love with real time strategy games and having recently begun playing Age of the Empires II and Empire Earth, I found the basic concepts similar and could figure you out in general what I was supposed to do. But I found myself struggling to understand the specifics of the game and how to best use the units to win the missions, with such incomplete information. Fortunately at battlenet.com, the official StarCraft website, I discovered extensive documentation. Still it's hardly as convenient as having a manual to refer to while playing.

Armed with a link to the battlenet documentation, I have played through half of the Terran Missions and have found them to be very entertaining. The missions are varied and gradually introduce you to new units and concepts. Hints are offered along the way. So far that are quite easy (once you actually understand what the units do) but for completely mastery of the game there is a huge amount of information to learn. Even though the graphics are not as snazzy as newer releases the attention to detail is outstanding. The cut scenes are excellent and the storyline is far more involved then other similar games. There is an amazing amount of strategic possibilities in this game.

In addition to the missions there are a bunches of ready made scenarios and maps in the Custom Scenario section ready to play. I suspect these were not in the original version, but since I don't have any documentation, I can't say for sure.

So if you have played more recent titles and are wondering if this will seem dated, rest assured that on the fun factor scale it compares very favorably to newer titles. But if you have never played this type of game, you may want to consider another title first unless you have a friend to help you out or are willing to invest the time needed to figure it out on your own.

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