A* is valid for Big searches, as in RTS Gridbased pathfinding
with thousands of grids or nodes.

If you only have to search though a couple of hundred
nodes, any other algorythm is fast enough.

Then its better to take the most slim approach,
with the least overhead.

A pure pathfinding (creating the path of nodes)
is not really a performance eater nowerdays.
Other things like the players physics and
"traces" to avoid obstacles are of a bigger concern.