Summary
Sid Meier's Colonization, only it's broken and isn't any fun to play.
The Good
Attractive packaging, rousing CD musical score, and a comprehensive CDROM reference guide to age of sail ship types. That's about it.
The Bad
No input into random map creation, and there is no editor. Unfriendly interface is inferior even to those found in much older games. Unforgiving colony management (structures are permanent and you have no clue as to how useful/productive they will really be until they are built!). Diplomacy is shallow and uninvolving. Ahistorical religion model is suited more to medieval period than Age of Exploration. No explanation is given of the model behind combat resolution. Combat with natives (Indians) is pointless, as you gain nothing from it. Assorted historical inaccuracies (game represents sugar as beets instead of cane, etc.).
The Bottom Line
There are so many other games of this kind (Civilization 1 & 2, Colonization, Merchant Prince, Conquest of the New World, Imperialism 1 & 2) and they are all much better than this one. Exploration looks great on paper, but in reality it couldn't be much worse. It was a very bad game when it was released, and it should be avoided like the scurvy if spotted in a bargain bin today.
