"I loved the original, I liked Gold, and I love this."

The NES version of the original Pirates has been a reason for me to still hook up my NES and play it for all these years. Needless to say, I've always been excited at the idea of a remake of the game that does more than Gold did. And for the most part, this game delivered everything I could have wanted and more. It's still the same at heart, and it will always be a simple game... But there are a lot of added complexities that I adore.

Story: Well, of course there's not much to it. This is a game of free choice, and the story was just an excuse for gameplay, in my opinion. Your family is pretty much kidnapped, you seek revenge. You take over a ship, and there's plunder to be had. Nothing impressive, but it works. It can let you roleplay in your own mind as either good or evil, or not even care about the story at all.

Graphics: Ooh, pretty. If you compare the graphics to the original game, they're awe inspiring... The very poor graphics was one of the major downfalls of the original, especially as it's aged. Compared to the top of the line graphics of today, this game can't really compete, but I like it. The ocean is beautiful. The ships look very nice and detailed. The way my fleet of ships looks as they sail along together always makes me feel good. Little things like the picture of a city when you enter it being different based on how well it's doing is a nice touch. Though they get repetitive, the cutscenes for fights and special events are nicely done, and they feel very heroic to me. Firing a few dozen cannons in someone's general direction looks very nasty and satisfying, as does the eventual exploding and sinking of their ship. Almost everything in this category is decent or better.

I have only two major complaints with the graphics. First, I really don't like the way the main character looks. Or dresses. Or dances. So far my husband never fails to heckle him when he's dancing. Maybe it's just me, but I think he looks too silly to be a cool pirate. It kind of takes away from the experience for me a little, but I am sort of picky like that. I wish the main character looked more like some of the NPCs you can fight, and at least one of the other pirate captains was so cool looking that I wished I could be him.

I also think a lot of the NPCs, especially eligible women, look a bit too much like monstrous half-breed chipmunks. Overall I like the style of the NPCs, because it has a certain flair... But I do wish that, when dancing with a "beautiful" woman, I though she was actually beautiful. But again, I'm picky like that.

Sound: The music is decent, but forgettable. I rarely even notice it outside of the dance scenes. Nothing special, nothing too annoying. The sound effects, on the other hand, are quite good. The boom of the cannons, the crash of a direct hit, two swords colliding, the sounds of the ocean and the wind, and the cheers of your crew... All are nicely done. A vast improvement over the original.

Some people dislike the speech of the NPCs, however. It's pretty much sim-speak... Gibberish in no real language. Personally, I think it's cute. But if you hated it in the Sims, or if you just don't like gibberish in general, it may annoy or disappoint you.

I have only one small complaint with the sound. When you capture an enemy ship, the sound effect for the gold they were carrying is WAY TOO LOUD compared to the rest of the game's volume. When I capture something that was carrying a lot of gold, I flinch and try to exit that screen as quickly as possible.

Gameplay: Oh, there's so much here to talk about.

The controls are decent. They can take a little getting used to, and (for lovers of the original game) since the battle systems have been changed a lot, it takes a while to get good at the new way of doing things. With some practice and repetition you should be able to get the hang of it. I can't think of any glaring issues in the control, other than moving your pirates over land being a bit awkward. Being able to do a lot of things with either the mouse or the numpad is also a nice choice. You have a lot of choices when it comes to difficulty, and even that can be changed whenever you divide the plunder. You have to be practically dead not to be at least moderately successful in the easiest mode, and you have to be pretty good to do well in the hardest mode. Overall, this game is easy.

Now we come to the meat of the game. If you've played the original Pirates or the Gold version, you know most of what to expect. If you haven't... Most of the game involves attacking other ships with your ship, attacking cities by land with a small army or pirates, seeking revenge on the people who took your family, and the like. If you choose to destroy the enemies of a specific country, you may be rewarded with titles and land from friendly governors. The countries you attack will be more likely to shoot you. The main goal for many pirates is natural: There's a lot of gold out there just waiting to be taken by force. That notion alone says a lot about the simplicity and fun of this game. The best part: Nothing is forced on you. You have the last say in who you attack and what missions you accept.

But this isn't just the same game with better graphics and sound. There are a lot of new features, most of which I really enjoy.

I suppose I have to start with the dancing. A lot of people HATE the dancing. Instead of being able to charm governor's daughters just by being rich and cool and titled, now you have to be able to DANCE too. The dancing minigame can be very difficult and frustrating at first, when you have no idea what the heck you're doing. Unfortunately, a lot of people can't seem to get the hang of it. But personally, I found it gets easier and easier with practice... And I'm actually addicted to it now. So... This feature may slow you down and anger you, or become your favorite addition to the game.

The land battle system has been been completely changed, and for the better I think. It's still simple and easy, but you have a lot more control over it. And it surely looks a lot better. It's kind of unfortunate that you now HAVE to attack cities by land... No more sailing your sloop up to a city with 200 soldiers and kicking their butts... But it's no big deal to me. And I have to say it IS more realistic.

Randomized landmarks and small colonies is a nice touch that adds some variety.

Finally actually being able to interact with things like the natives and other pirates is a GREAT change to me. Before, if there was an indian or pirate attack on a city, it was just a text message and a slightly weakened city. Now you can actually see the attackers sailing to their target city, and you can even stop them if you want. Or, you can specifically ask them to attack a city you want them to attack. Delicious interactivity. The same thing applies to invading armies from other countries. You can escort and protect governors and messengers, or you can feed them to the fishies. Want to capture the treasure fleet? You'll have to find the ships as they sail and attack them one by one. Ships from warring countries will attack each other, and you can break in and destroy the weakened vessels as you please. Little things like this make the whole world feel a lot more alive to me, and it gives a sense of power over the fate of the cities. I love it.

Being able to upgrade your ships to make them stronger, faster, etc is a nice feature... Though I do find it very frustrating when I can't find a port that can provide the upgrade I want. That can lead to only using ships that were already upgraded when you captured them, which is kind of a shame.

Oh, did I mention there are a LOT more ships out there for the taking? More yummy variety added to the game. I also feel that the large ships are a lot better in this game than they were in the original... I'll always love my sloops, but now I won't complain about a nice frigate.

One new feature does kind of annoy me... Sneaking into towns. Instead of just randomly succeeding or failing when you try to sneak into a hostile town, you have to do it through a minigame... Is it just me, or is this ridiculously clunky and uncomfortable? Is he SUPPOSED to run that slow, or does this feature slow down my PC even though the rest of the game runs fine? I don't know, but I don't like it. Thankfully, I've never found any real use for or need to sneak into towns. I think you may need to sneak OUT of towns when you've been arrested though... I haven't been yet. Eventually I may update this review to explore this issue further. Or not.

I also like the top ten pirates. Other powerful pirates based on historical figures that you are in direct competition with and can kick the butts of.

Replayability: Well, we've already established that I still play the original version of this game. And this game is an improvement over that. That screams replayability to me. If you like this game, you will probably play it over and over again many times. With all of the difficulty settings, time periods, and strategies to choose from, there is a lot to experiment with. This game IS repetitive by nature, but it's a fun repetition if you get into it. And there is a least more variety now than there was before.

To buy or not to buy? If you liked any earlier version of Pirates, get this game. Seriously, do it. Well, I have to admit some old fans may not be satisfied. Maybe it doesn't have every new feature you fantasized about, or maybe you're burned out on the same old gameplay formula. But I'm one of the original's biggest fans, and I love this game. You may very well love it too.

If you've never played any of the earlier versions... Well, do you think pirates are cool? Do you like games that mix strategy and adventure and action and role playing? Do you like killing things for profit? If so, I think this game is worth taking your chances with.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/09/04