Customer Reviews

Sid Meier's Pirates!

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Pirates! was always one of my favorite games of computer days of old and I was looking forward to this update. It is adequate but not outstanding. At it's best it captures the fun of the original and runs flawlessly. If you want to re-capture this classic for modern Macs, this is the game to get. However, do not expect a re-imagining of this once great title. Nothing has been added to make this a better game. In fact, the additions make it worse. Three game faults unfortunately stand out among the meager changes that are made to the original. First, the sections that would have you 'sneak' through towns are difficult and unnecessary - an addition to the game that adds nothing but boredom and an unnecessary exercise in key pressing. Second, the frequent sections that have you 'dance' with a governor's daughter is similarly repetitive and dull. And third, the worst of all, the key presses that the 'dance' sequences require demand a keyboard with a keypad in order to complete properly. So, laptop owners and iMac owners with keypad-less keyboards beware. The parts of the game that better deserved to be updated, ship battles and sword fights, remains basically unchanged from the original. Still despite these key faults, I was glad to finally see a version of Pirates! that will run on newer Macs. If only developers did the same for some other classic games of the past.

I played the old Pirates! in black and white on my first Mac (an LCII) and this is exactly how you would update that game for modern computers. I was a bit shocked at how close it keeps to the original game style, in fact. I don't know which genre you'd put this game into; it's so unique. It's a great game that I hope develops even further going forward (I'd pay for it!). I feel like I know the Caribbean pretty well now that I've sailed around it (virtually) for awhile.

This is one of my all-time favorite games and it originally came on a DOS/Win/Mac CD (4 different games in 3 formats) that I got with my Mac 6500 PPC. That CD still works in classic 9.2 on my G4 (you need to save often because it's a little unstable in OS 9). I have always wished that this game had been updated and here it is. It's a great game at a great price. I do have to admit it's too bad it doesn't have all the features of the original, but there are some great changes and the action and graphics are outstanding! Definitely worth the money and still an outstanding game. Definitely Five Stars!!!

This is a unique game so you should try it just for that. It is not however very much like the other Sid Meir stuff. I like the dancing and romancing, and fighting in the sloops, but after a very short while, the game becomes repetitive with just harder levels of the same thing. Very good idea but not as good for long-term play. But no other game like it so you should get it!

I have the Pirates for Mac version. I've had the Pirates for PC version as well. Both seem to work the same. The game is a lot of fun and the sailing graphics are beautiful. sailing around the sea is a pleasure because of the detail to waves, ships, cities, storms, etc. The game came out in 2005, so cranking the video effects to maximum offers no problem for a modern iMac (late 2009 in my case). I've played several versions of Pirates and Civilization over the years (decades). I've always liked Civilization but it does require a lot of thinking and hopping back and forth across lots of screens, analyzing all kinds of data. Pirates is more casual then Civilization (they are both from the same company). My only complaint is the game fills the screen; there is no way to play within a window. this probably made sense 5 years ago but today I have a 27" monitor.

You know, the reality is that a lot of action is this games is quite repetitive, there's no story line really, ... and yet, I just love playing this game. Maybe it's because I played the first version of it on a Commodor 128 a couple decades ago, but the pirate thing just gets me. And this is definitely a nice upgrade from that early game, though it is quaintly true to the original. Anyway, if you're a modern gamer, this might not do it for you, but if you're a board game fan - or over 30 and like pirate movies - definitely try this!

Great environment and fun to play, although the story tends to circle after an exciting start.

bought this game on a lark to play with my grandson. Harrr we have been living the life of a PIRATE!!

I use to play this game from childhood. Its great and I love it. It's so much fun and is just how I remembered!

A great game that is fun to play. What's more fun than stealing, blowing up boats and just being unlawful without consequences? I enjoy the music and find myself playing this one for hours.