Commodore 64

Sid Meier's Pirates!

If Pirates! II is one tenth as good as the original, I'll be glued to it for months. I'd give Pirates! an eleven out of ten, but they won't let me, so it gets a ten out of ten. If you get a chance to play it, don't pass it up. It was released on several platforms including the NES, and was later released as Pirates! Gold for the PC and the Sega Genesis. Any version is great, but I'll always be partial to the C64 version.

In terms of realism, historical accuracy, gameplay and fun, Pirates has it all. it is a hundred times better than the other so-called 'swashbuckling simulations' I've seen and if anyone else was planning to cash in on the current passion for pirates the'd have to go a long way to beat this.

Allein die Idee zu diesem Programm ist schon eine Klasse für sich und die Ausführung übertrifft noch alle Erwartungen. Pirates bietet eigentlich für jeden etwas: Es ist Action-, Taktik-, Abenteuer-, Handels- und Strategie-Spiel in Einem. Das Programm ist auch erfreulich einfach zu bedienen.

The game does have its moments and is enjoyable enough for the occasional voyage. The packaging is excellent, too, with a nicely produced map of the Caribbean and a booklet filling you in on the historical background. But it is not the kind of game that will either make you jump around in excitement or grip you by its deep and complex gameplay.