Pirates! Gold

"Pirates! Gold, a great game that few got"

When it comes to great Sega Genesis games, not many people think of Pirates! Gold. However, this almost twelve year old game has become a cult classic for the fans of the genre.

Story: The premise of Pirates! Gold is simple, you play a young pirate who is questing to become one of the best pirates in the Caribbean Seas region of the world. To do this, he must accomplish several key goals that supposedly make pirates famous. Among these are to rob Spanish gold routes, find family members, and even get married.

What makes Pirates! Gold interesting is that it is relatively open ended. You have the choice of being either English, French, Spanish, or Dutch when you begin a new game, as well as many time periods to sail in. Another choice you have to make is how you will be known in the game world. You have the choice of either being a successful trader (you can make a lot of money, but there is no glory in it) a privateer attacking enemy ships and towns to earn titles and the possibility of a noble title. The other route is to be the stereotypical pirate and pillage whomever you wish.

Graphics: For a game released eleven years ago, the graphics are top notch. The duel screen gives you a colorful view of yourself and the enemy, along with a status bar showing how many troops are left on both sides of the conflict. The ship battles are shown from a bird's eye view of the battle.

What really brings the graphics down is the part when your band of pirates storm a fort from the ground. What follows is horrendous. It seems as if this was the part that they had to shirk on.

Sound: The sound is standard Genesis fare. However, the sounds of a solid hit from a cannon, the clinking of swords in a duel, the ever so slight music in a shop make this a 1993 audio experience.

Controls: The controls are very simple, from using the D-pad to steer your ship, and using the B button to slip into turbo mode for long trips, sailing is easy. However, using the B button while steering can very dangerous with all the reefs around waiting to turn your flagship into an archaeological discovery in the 1990's.

The dueling and ship combats are also very simple, with A being the primary attack button while B and C get little exercise, except to parry a blow.

Is It Fun?: If you are fan of these types of games, it is very fun, and it hardly ever gets old, that is until you have to sail from Mexico to Trinidad against strong winds. That detail aside (depending on the locations of missions, you can avoid the region all together) Pirates! Gold makes for a fun game, and an interesting experience.

Overall, Pirates! Gold is a great game with a great history. Try to find it at your local game store, or if all else fails, try to find it on Ebay, you won't be disappointed.

Scores

Story: 10/10
Graphics: 7/10
Sound: 8/10
Control: 9/10

Overall: 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/05/04