That clip up top is the real Warcraft II - The Dark Saga — the actual Sega Saturn game from its publisher. Grab the free RetroPlayers.Club Player and it runs full-speed on your PC, no cartridge required.
The RetroPlayers.Club Player is a Premium perk. Go Premium or sign in to play Warcraft II - The Dark Saga at full speed on your own PC.
Warcraft II - The Dark Saga can be relived on your own PC through the free RetroPlayers.Club Player app — full speed, with a controller and saves just like your hardware. You confirm you own the game from your library, and no need to connect your console.
🎮 USB or Bluetooth controller? Plug it in, Once Detected Click Here to Open Your Controller Options
| Action | Keyboard | Controller |
|---|---|---|
| D-Pad Up | ↑ | D-Pad up |
| D-Pad Down | ↓ | D-Pad down |
| D-Pad Left | ← | D-Pad left |
| D-Pad Right | → | D-Pad right |
| B (bottom) | X | Bottom face |
| A (right) | Z | Right face |
| Y (left) | S | Left face |
| X (top) | A | Top face |
| L | Q | Left shoulder |
| R | E | Right shoulder |
| Start | Enter | Start |
| Select | V | Select |
These are the keys the RetroPlayers.Club Player app uses for Sega Saturn, shown for reference. Your controller still lights up below so you can confirm it is detected — Premium members can remap here (keyboard or USB controller) and the app applies the map at the next launch.
No controller detected yet — plug one in and press any button.
Press buttons — your controller lights up here so you can see it is detected. Go Premium to save a custom map.
| Action | Keyboard | Controller |
|---|---|---|
| Up | W | D-Pad up |
| Down | S | D-Pad down |
| Left | A | D-Pad left |
| Right | D | D-Pad right |
| A | J | Left face |
| B | K | Middle face |
| C | L | Right face |
| X | U | Top-left face |
| Y | I | Top-middle face |
| Z | O | Top-right face |
| L | Q | Left shoulder |
| R | E | Right shoulder |
| Start | F | Start |
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Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness is a fantasy real-time strategy (RTS) computer game developed by Blizzard Entertainment and released for MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows in 1995 and Mac OS in 1996 by Blizzard's parent, Davidson & Associates. In 1996, Blizzard released an expansion pack, Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal, for DOS and Mac OS, and a compilation, Warcraft II: The Dark Saga, for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn.
How to Play Warcraft II - The Dark Saga
The RetroPlayers.Club Player ships with Warcraft II - The Dark Saga already mapped — the layout below is the default, and Controller Mapping in the app rebinds any of it.
The Story Behind Warcraft II - The Dark Saga
The initial release of Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness ran over a local area network using IPX but not over the Internet communications protocol TCP/IP. Development began in February 1995, and the game was released in North America and Australia on December 5, 1995, and by Zablac Entertainment in Europe in January 1996 for MS-DOS, with a port for Mac OS releasing in August 1996. The expansion introduced new Human and Orc campaigns, featuring new and much more powerful heroes.
Kali, which used the Internet as if it was a local area network, became very popular and Blizzard quickly provided to players a program that made it easy to set up multiplayer Warcraft II games using Kali. Several non-canon expansion packs were released; these expansion packs are not a part of the human and orc campaign story. However, they found that this was unsatisfactory, and that there was plenty of content for a fantasy RTS.
What You'll Play
The game sold 835,680 copies and earned $34.5 million in the region for the year. Warcraft II as a whole reached 2 million global sales by July 1998, and passed 2.5 million by year's end. Players can also construct shipyards, which can produce both combat ships and oil tankers.
However, the Battlechest consistently continued to chart through May, peaking at ninth in February. All but basic combat units require the assistance of other buildings or must be produced at buildings that have prerequisite buildings, or both. Humans and Orcs have sets of buildings with similar functions, but different names and graphics, for producing ground, naval, and air units.
Why It Still Hits
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness earned enthusiastic reviews, elevating Blizzard to the elite along with Westwood Studios, id Software and LucasArts. In 2006, Warcraft II was inducted into GameSpots list of the greatest games of all time. Retrospective reviews by IGN and GameSpot emphasized the ability to join multiplayer games on local networks or using Kali, and the simple but effective map editor, with which some users published maps on the Web.
The first Warcraft game was a great game in its own right, and the sequel is even better." In 1998, PC Gamer declared it the 9th-best computer game ever released, and the editors called it "a sequel that isn't just more of the same; it's bigger and better in every way". It also won Computer Game Reviews 1995 "Military Sim of the Year" award, tied with Steel Panthers. Players were still playing in 2002, on DOS or using the Battle.net edition.
Warcraft II - The Dark Saga — Frequently Asked Questions
Can I remap the controls in Warcraft II - The Dark Saga?
Absolutely. Inside the app, Controller Mapping lets you change every Warcraft II - The Dark Saga binding to whatever keyboard keys or pad buttons you prefer.
Can I play Warcraft II - The Dark Saga with a friend?
Warcraft II - The Dark Saga supports local versus and drop-in 2-player in the RetroPlayers.Club Player, and Premium members can play online too.
Where can I buy the original Warcraft II - The Dark Saga?
Scroll to "Other Places You Can Get This Game" beneath the write-up — it lists trusted stores selling official copies.
Do I need to download anything to play Warcraft II - The Dark Saga?
Yes — Sega Saturn games run in the RetroPlayers.Club Player desktop app, a quick free download. The video on this page is real Warcraft II - The Dark Saga gameplay so you know exactly what you are getting before you install.
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