I absolutely loved Dune II: Battle for Arrakis on the Sega. Later, I found out there was a similar game on PC. At some computer club (its like internet cafe today, only without internet), I got to play Dune 2000 for just a few hours before my time ran out.
Eventually, I got a PlayStation One, which also had Dune 2000. The graphics were a bit different, simpler in some places, but more 3D. Moving the camera left or right slightly revealed the sides of buildings, and tilting it up or down changed the size of structures, making them appear smaller when viewed from above. On the PC version, the perspective was strictly top-down.
Funny enough, by that time, I had already played PC games at friends’ houses, and I found it hard to believe that RTS games like this could even be played with a gamepad. But as it turned out, you could.
The soundtrack was amazing. As far as I know, both the PlayStation and PC versions had the same OST. Anyone who played the game probably remembers that legendary music, nearly every track was great. I still remember the epic guitar solo mixed with synths in Rise of Harkonnen.
Years later, when I finally got my own PC around 2003–2004, I wanted to buy Dune 2000 for PC. But by then, it was no longer sold on discs. Steam and other digital platforms weren’t around or maybe they were, but I didn’t have internet access. Nowadays, of course, we have Steam, GOG, and other services. But Dune 2000 is nowhere to be found. It’s a shame that there’s no legal way to buy it. I really want to go back and finish what I never completed as a kid.