🐳 Moby v2024.04.07

Sid Meier's Pirates!

aka: Pirates!, Sid Meier's Pirates!: Action and Adventure on the Spanish Main, Xide Meier de Haidao
Moby ID: 214
box cover
Released
1987 on PC Booter
Credits
24 people
Releases by Date (by platform)
Publishers
Developers
Moby Score
7.7
#4,097 of 24.2K
Critics
82% (39)
Players
(208)
Review Ranking
Collected By
161 players
Genre
Action
Strategy / tactics
Perspective
Top-down
Pacing
Real-time
Vehicular
Naval / watercraft
Vehicular combat
Setting
Age of Discovery / Enlightenment
Sea pirates / Caribbean
PC Booter Specs
Business Model
Commercial
Media Type
3.5" Floppy Disk, 5.25" Floppy Disk
Input Devices Supported/Optional
Keyboard
Number of Players Supported
1 Player
[ view all 65 specs ]
Buy on Commodore 64
$249.99 used on eBay
Buy on NES
$38.67 used on Amazon
Note: We may earn an affiliate commission on purchases made via eBay or Amazon links (prices updated 4/15 8:50 PM )
Included in See Also

Description official descriptions

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.

Spellings

  • 席德梅尔的海盗 - Simplified Chinese spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (PC Booter version)

24 People · View all

Design
Conversion / Porting
Level / Scenario Design
Graphics / Artwork
Music
Sound
Documentation
Quality Assurance
Software Development (C64)
Playtesting
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 82% (based on 39 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 208 ratings with 9 reviews)

An example of what a PC should strive to be.

The Good

Some of my earliest and fondest memories of PC gaming are of the game 'Pirates!'. Everything about this game is golden. The naval combat is exciting and intense, the sword fighting is thrilling, and few things beat the rush of successfully capturing a well-defended city.

This game has it all. You choose a nation to privateer for and set forth to the Caribbean. Throughout the game you attain fame and fortune, search for your long lost family, and even woo the beautiful (and not-so-beautiful) governors' daughters. Everything about this title is top notch.

**The Bad**

The worst thing I can say about 'Pirates!' is that Sid Meier has never made an updated version.

**The Bottom Line**
This is a true classic of PC gaming, certainly a title to be remembered.

PC Booter · by Entorphane (337) · 2002

Admit it, you want to be a pirate.

The Good
You wanta be a pirate, don't you? Do stuff that pirates do. Just bring your boat and cutlass. Take pride in recruiting the local scumbages at the inn. Help or plunder the town, as you wish. Find old treasure maps broken into a thousand pieces and put it back together. But ultimately, find all your relatives so you can start a normal life?

The Bad
It does get redundant after a while. A man can only have so many lost relatives.

The Bottom Line
Has a Civ I like feel. Are you the equivilant of a high seas Solomon? Or do you possess intelligence on par with Eric the Red? It's a fun game, for a couple dozen hours or so.

PC Booter · by Yeah Right (50) · 2000

This game needs a 21st century update NOW!

The Good
Always different, captivating, challenging, teaches while you play

The Bad
Hey Moby, Is there any way you could release Pirates! in a version which could be played on one of today's PC's? I loved the old Pirates! Gold game which was playable in Windows with a patch, but now I own Windows XP. I'd love to purchase this game but why bother if it doesn't work in my current format? Pirates! Gold was by far the best game of its genre in the late 80's- early 90's, and it's a shame to just let it fall into oblivion because nobody with an updated PC can play it.

The Bottom Line
If you like adventure- strategy- role playing games, you'll like this.

PC Booter · by J Cavender (1) · 2003

[ View all 9 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Is the listed DOS CD-ROM version really Pirates? Silvano Ciccioli (152) Oct 28, 2017

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Sid Meier's Pirates! appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Development

Amazingly, the original Commodore 64 version is written in large part in BASIC with certain parts written in assembler for speed, such as the sailing around the map.

Extras

The original box came with a map of the entire Caribbean, with each of the cities noted with their founding date (so you'd know when not to visit them!)

Game Art Beyond

In 2018, Pirates! was selected as one of the biggest classics on the Commodore 64 by the creators of the C64 graphics collection Game Art Beyond. Pirates! was honoured with a high resolution title picture (based on the title screen made for the Amiga version) in a special C64 graphics format called NUFLI. While all other game screens in Game Art Beyond featured a remix of their respective title music, there really was no compelling theme in the original C64 version except for a few jingles, so instead you'll hear a C64 SID remix of Bach Prelude C Minor, which later suddenly turns into Pirates of the Carribbean.

Historical Accuracy

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

However, each of the six "ages" you could choose from were historically accurate. Some examples: Some ages featured cities that others didn't (the cities historically hadn't been settled yet), the four different European powers gained and lost power as they did in history, and different types of ships were more common in different eras.

Missions

Unlike the early versions such as the C64 and Apple II, some following versions often lets governors offer the player special missions to accept or reject in return for potential rewards.

Music

If the player runs Sid Meier's Pirates! on a Tandy machine, the player will find snippets of 3-voice music throughout the game.

Amstrad CPC version

Amstrad CPC version of the game was advertised as "The World's First Swashbuckling Simulation" and was only for CPC 6128.

NES version

Unlike other versions of Pirates!, the NES port lacks "tobacco" as a trade item for the 1600-1640 time period. In its place there is an item simply labelled "crops".

Awards

  • Amiga Joker
    • Issue 01/1991 – Best Adventure Game in 1990
  • Computer Gaming World
    • Hall of Fame member
    • October 1988 (Issue #52) - Action Game of the Year
    • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) - #18 overall among the “150 Best Games of All Time”
    • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #6 Most Rewarding Ending of All Time
  • GameStar (Germany)
    • Issue 03/2013 – One of the "Ten Best C64 Games“
  • Retro Gamer
    • September 2004 (Issue #8) – #84 Best Game Of All Time (Readers' Vote)

Information also contributed by Andrew Grasmeder, Indra was here, JubalHarshaw, Kasey Chang, Nathan Jedinak and PCGamer77

Analytics

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Related Sites +

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 214
    • [ Please login / register to view all identifiers ]

Contribute

Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history! If your contribution is approved, you will earn points and be credited as a contributor.

Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Raphael.

PC-88 added by Trypticon. NES, Commodore 64, Apple II added by PCGamer77. Atari ST, Amiga added by Rebound Boy. Amstrad CPC added by Martin Smith. PC-98 added by Terok Nor. Apple IIgs added by Scaryfun. DOS added by formercontrib. Macintosh added by Garcia.

Additional contributors: Trixter, Unicorn Lynx, Sergio Brinkhuis, BdR, formercontrib, Patrick Bregger, mailmanppa, S Olafsson, Malte Mundt, FatherJack, ZeTomes.

Game added August 14, 1999. Last modified January 29, 2024.