Sign in Register

Join our Discord to chat with fellow friendly gamers and our knowledgeable contributors!

atari aquventure

Sid Meier's Pirates! (Commodore 64)
Discuss Review + Want + Have Contribute

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.
[edit description | view history]

Screenshots

Sid Meier's Pirates! Commodore 64 Starting out.
Sid Meier's Pirates! Commodore 64 City information.
Sid Meier's Pirates! Commodore 64 Another governor's daughter.
Sid Meier's Pirates! Commodore 64 ... and sometimes buy useful info or treasure maps
[278 more | add screenshots]

Promo Images

Sid Meier's Pirates! Magazine Advertisement
Sid Meier's Pirates! Magazine Advertisement
Sid Meier's Pirates! Magazine Advertisement TILT (issue 49, December 1987, p 139)
Sid Meier's Pirates! Magazine Advertisement
[4 more | add promo images]

Alternate Titles

  • "席德梅尔的海盗" -- Simplified Chinese spelling
  • "Xide Meier de Haidao" -- Simplified Chinese title
  • "Sid Meier's Pirates!: Action and Adventure on the Spanish Main" -- Tag-lined title
  • "Pirates!" -- NES title
[add alternate title]

Part of the Following Groups

User Reviews

The most timeless game I have ever found Peter Brady (4) 5 Stars5 Stars5 Stars5 Stars5 Stars
ABsolutely awesome game, even in 2004 stvrich (3) 3.2 Stars3.2 Stars3.2 Stars3.2 Stars3.2 Stars
[review game]

Critic Reviews

All Game Guide 1998 5 Stars5 Stars5 Stars5 Stars5 Stars 100
GamesAreFun.com (GAF) Sep 19, 2003 10 out of 10 100
Australian Commodore and Amiga Review Nov, 1987 92 out of 100 92
Commodore User Sep, 1987 9 out of 10 90
Power Play 1989 85 out of 100 85
Your Commodore Oct, 1987 34 out of 40 85
Happy Computer Sep, 1987 85 out of 100 85
64'er 1991 8 out of 10 80
ASM (Aktueller Software Markt) Sep, 1987 9.6 out of 12 80
Commodore Format Aug, 1993 57 out of 100 57
[see more rankings | add review]

Forums

Topic # Posts Last Post
Is the listed DOS CD-ROM version really Pirates? 2 Rwolf (20027)
Oct 28, 2017
[new thread]

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? 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
[edit trivia]

Related Web Sites

PCGamer77 (3229) added Sid Meier's Pirates! (Commodore 64) on Apr 03, 2003
Other platforms contributed by Trypticon (11039), PCGamer77 (3229), Raphael (1261), Rebound Boy (19579), Martin Smith (78650), Terok Nor (32335), Scaryfun (17977), formercontrib (158042) and Garcia (4827)
atari saboteur

Credits (18 people)

Game Design:
Software Graphics:
Scenario Design & Documentation:
Software Development (C64):
Quality Assurance:
Playtesting:
Cover & Map Art:
Manual Illustrations:
Print Graphics Director: