Blizzard has officially launched remastered editions of Warcraft: Orcs & Humans and Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness in celebration of the franchise's 30th anniversary. These remastered titles are currently available on PC through Battle.net, with Warcraft I priced at $9.99 and Warcraft II at $14.99. Additionally, a Warcraft Battle Chest bundle, which comprises both remasters alongside Warcraft III: Reforged, is offered at $39.99.The remasters come with several enhancements:Revamped hand-drawn visuals, allowing players to switch in real-time between the remastered graphics and the original artwork.Streamlined controls for Warcraft I, featuring right-click movement, bounding box selection, and increased game speed.Enhanced UI and
Succinctly put. I feel like the original vision did not intend for them to look so cartoonish.
Starcraft 1 remaster looked so much better, too. Was that done by the same team?
No clue
I think the main reason is that StarCraft sprites were based on 3d models so either they can be made higher definition by working from the original assets or they simply upscale better.
Wc1 and 2 mainly uses hand drawn pixel art sprites, and it looks like they have gone with the “crude upscale + retouch” approach. Makes them look like the super scale filters lots of people used on emulators back in the day.
Honestly I think original art and a solid crt filter is the way to go with old Pixel classics. But i know this is a divisive position.