Sid Meier's Pirates!

Description

Take on the life of a buccaneer in the golden age of Caribbean Piracy! This game lets you choose from 6 different "ages" (for example, "The Silver Empire" from 1560-1600, "War For Profit" from 1640-1660, etc.), one of 4 nationalities (English, French, Dutch, Spanish), 4 difficulty levels, and one of 5 special abilities (skill at fencing, skill at navigation, etc.). Nine different types of ships were represented.

The goal of the game is to retire with as much gold and land as possible, as many ranks/titles as possible (Colonel, Admiral, Marquis, Duke), and a wife. Finding long lost relatives helps too. You accomplish these goals by plundering cities, capturing and sinking enemy ships, getting in good with governors to receive titles, learn news of "evil Spaniards" holding your relatives, capturing evil pirates, etc.

The game is educational, as you will learn about piracy through the thoroughly researched manual. You'll smell the sea salt as you participate in wild sword fights, desperate sea battles, and daring attacks by land!

Alternate Titles

• "席德梅尔的海盗" -- Chinese title (simplified)
• "Xide Meier de Haidao" -- Chinese title
• "Pirates!" -- NES title

Part of the Following Groups

• Merchant / Trade-oriented games
• Pirates! series
• Sea Pirates
• Sid Meier's games
• Video games turned in to board/card games

Merchant Title Platform Price   Pirates! (NES) NES $6.90   Sid Meier's Pirates!     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

One of the greatest games in PC gaming history.	PC Booter	Rick Jones (108)
The most timeless game I have ever found	Commodore 64	Peter Brady (4)
ABsolutely awesome game, even in 2004	Commodore 64	stvrich (3)
Admit it, you want to be a pirate.	PC Booter	Yeah Right (61)
Perhaps the finest PC game of all time	PC Booter	JubalHarshaw (287)
A legend in computer games.	PC Booter	Raphael (1175)
This game needs a 21st century update NOW!	PC Booter	J Cavender (1)
My second best game of all time!	PC Booter	^^Snoop^^ (34)
An example of what a PC should strive to be.	PC Booter	Entorphane (370)
Screw the Gold edition play this one!	PC Booter	woods01 (156)

The Press Says

Abandonia	PC Booter	Jan 10, 2006	5 out of 5	100
GamesAreFun.com (GAF)	Commodore 64	Sep 19, 2003	10 out of 10	100
Commodore User	Commodore 64	Sep, 1987	9 out of 10	90
Power Play	Amiga	Apr, 1990	89 out of 100	89
ST Action	Atari ST	Sep, 1993	88 out of 100	88
Amiga Joker	Amiga	Jul, 1990	88 out of 100	88
Happy Computer	Commodore 64	Sep, 1987	85 out of 100	85
Nintendo Power Magazine	NES	Oct, 1991	3.8 out of 5	76
Amiga Format	Amiga	Mar, 1990	74 out of 100	74
ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment)	Commodore 64	Oct, 1987	734 out of 1000	73

Forums

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Trivia

From the May 2001 issue of Computer Gaming World:

"We have a joke that we only do the research after the game is finished. If I read too many books, I will create a game based on the books."

"Pirates! was about pirate movies, not the period."

--Sid Meier on his design philosophy and how he applied it to his favorite game.