I took a look at the screen shots over on the StarCraft II site and it looks more like a Civilizations setting with things taking place on terra firma. Is that the primary environment in which the game takes place? Does it take place in space at all?
The original was fought completely on
some sort of ground, from different planets to orbiting space stations. There are air units, but basically it's a ground-based came. The Starcraft name was always a play on words from the successful Warcraft series. So no, it's not in Space (like GalCiv, for example) but there's lots of different planets with lots of different environments and such.
Frankly, I loved (and still have nostalgic memories for) the original. I still pull it out, fire it up, and play through the single-player campaigns when I'm hard up for a fun gaming experience. I absolutely hate playing it online, because the hardcore SC gamers are the biggest . . . 'richards' . . . on the planet. It's no fun unless you're 'like a total gamez0r hax0r phr34k'.
However, for nostalgic purposes only, I'm looking forward to playing the second one. Lots of people bag on the single-player gameplay (it's usually build base, get resources, hack and slash) but I really liked the storyline and am kinda excited to see what happens now. I promise you I won't be playing it online, though . . .