Tropico

"Tobbaco farming, mining, and kissing up to Russia- all in one little game by Pop Top"

Good games can be found in the strangest places- I bought Tropico completely on a whim, having never even heard of it before. And I was pleasantly surprised. Tropico is a lot of quality packed into one little CD rom.

Story
Good morning, you have just woken up as the new Presedente of Tropico, a small caribbean island without much going for it. The last Presedente was not very popular with the Tropicans, and he retired suddenly without telling anyone where he was going. Strange... It would be advisable for you to take charge of Tropico, Presedente, and provide your people with food, housing, and a few tax cuts if you don't want to end up like your predecesors.

Gameplay
One of the best things about Tropico is the wide variety of things that you can do. You start off by creating your island, then creating your character, and then it's up to you to make your people happy. The game gives you the ability to make friends with either the U.S or Russia, but you can guess what might happen if you get on either one of their bad sides. Farming, mining, declaring martial law, throwing innocent citizens in jail- the possibilities are endless.

Graphics
Nothing to brag about here. The water looks like water, the grass looks like grass. Up close some of the buildings are very detailed, but you wouldn't buy this game for it's sheer beauty.

Audio
Amazing! The music is wonderful. I would buy this game just for the music. Of course, if you for some very strange reason you got bored of the great spanish beat you can turn it off in the options menu. The sound effects are good as well, fading as you zoom away and getting louder as you zoom in.

Replayability
Although I said earlier that the possibilites are endless, the possibilities can be endless in this particular game, after playing for a long time. After playing for hours, perhaps days on end the game starts to become repetative. This is unfortunate, but I find this game to be quite fun once you let it sit for a while.

Problems
Save often, because this game has a tendancy to crash. I unfortunately found this out after creating just about the best island it is possible to create. I had an airport, my people loved me- it still brings me to tears. So if you're planning on purchasing this game, remember to save.

Buy or borrow?
Although this game does get boring after playing for a long time, it would drive me nuts to have to give it back to someone just as I was getting into it. So by all means buy it if you have the cash, and don't worry about it if you don't. I give it a 7.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/03/02, Updated 01/03/02