Balance of Power: The 1990 Edition

Description

The objective is the same as the original game, Balance of Power: use your military, covert, and industrial forces to make your country the most prestigious in the world while avoiding nuclear war. However, it is now 1989, and the Communist Block is crumbling...

Chris Crawford, who rarely ever made a sequel to a computer game, was besieged by mail asking him to update his classic from a few years before to reflect the new state of the world. Russia was falling, the Iron Curtain was shattering, and smaller countries were beginning to assert their own regional power with more freedom from the bipolar world of the Cold War.

The result was the 1990 Edition. This game featured an updated database, but the most significant new features were:

1. The multipolar level, where small countries could go to war with their neighbors on their own. Of course, you could help them out (or encourage them!) by sending in military aid.
   
   
2. 18 more countries, bringing the total to 80.
   
   
3. A "Crisis Advisory Board" of four people, who would give you advice during international crises. The nice thing about being a Superpower is that the little countries do whatever you tell them. ;) But you still have to watch out for your main rival (USSR or the US)!

Part of the Following Groups

• Balance of Power series
• Cold War-themed games

Merchant Title       Balance of Power: The 1990 Edition     Balance of Power: The 1990 Edition     Please select your country: United States Argentina Australia Austria Belgium Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Canada Chile China Colombia Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Ireland Israel Italy Japan Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Macedonia Malaysia Malta Mexico The Netherlands New Zealand Norway Philippines Poland Portugal Romania Russia Saudi Arabia Serbia Singapore Slovakia Slovenia South Africa South Korea Spain Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Thailand Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom Uruguay Other Worldwide Not an American user?

User Reviews

A Cold-War Diplomatic Simulator	DOS	Jim Newland (53)
The ultimate simulation of the Cold War	DOS	Mr Creosote (139)
the only game of foreign policy	DOS	lucian (37)

The Press Says

The Good Old Days	DOS	Feb 26, 2000	6 out of 6	100
ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment)	Amiga	Apr, 1989	960 out of 1000	96
CU Amiga	Amiga	May, 1989	93 out of 100	93
Zzap!	Amiga	Jul, 1989	90 out of 100	90
Amiga Computing	Amiga	Aug, 1989	88 out of 100	88
Abandonia	DOS	Dec 01, 2008	4 out of 5	80

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Trivia

The game was included as a free game on the coverdisk of issue 24 (May 1991) of Amiga Format, the UK's biggest Amiga magazine (at one point it's biggest computer magazine). The magazine also included Interphase, Vaxine and Archiplagoes at different times.

The practice of cover-mounting older games was common in the UK for several years, but in mid-1991 it was banned for 16-bit systems, and restricted to 2 ex-commercial games per issue for 8-bit systems (such as the Commodore 64 and Sinclair Spectrum)