"Truly a show of Koei's mastery of the strategy genre"

Welcome to the world of the Three Kingdoms. This is a time of turmoil, at the collapse of the Han Dynasty, in China. This period of time is highly interesting to many fans, from all different types of ethnic backgrounds. The premise is this, the Han Dynasty has collapsed, and a ''Yellow Turban Rebellion'' adds to this chaos. From political intrigue to human emotions this game is excellently told through cinemas and biographies. It is one of my favorite strategy games of all time, and easily the best U.S. version in the series.

Graphics: 7

Beautifully drawn portraits, excellent map, and good menus. But the battlefields and cinemas are lacking, and are barely passable as 16 bit, but they do not detract from gameplay at all. If you played the original Romance of the Three Kingdoms, there are barely even any sprites, mostly text. This is more about presentation than sheer graphics.

Gameplay: 10

Over the years Koei has had many strategy games, and this is their most well known series. The only RTK games released in the U.S. so far, are RTK, RTK II, III, IV, and VI. By far, this is the most well refined version of the game. The battles may be short, but they allow many commands for officers, and extra realism by only allowing to enter commands every three days in game time during a battle. There are many cities, and your goal is to completely unify china, through diplomacy, treachery, and war. There are nearly no flaws with this, and Koei has truly shown they have the ability to create one of the best turn based strategy games on a console to date.

Sound: 6

Mixed bag. Some say the music is not good, but I will disagree. The music is inspired for the Chinese setting, and is not overpowering, nor lacking. The sound effects are average, but for an RTK game, are top notch (Perhaps RTK IV has better sound effects). The music is soothing, and none of the sound will get in the way of the gameplay, but neither will it be something to boast about.

Replay: 10

This game has many scenarios, long and short. The possibilities are mind boggling. Countless rulers, insane amounts of commands in game, if you like this game, there is no end in sight, similar to other RTK games. But this is easily the most fun and enjoyable RTK in the U.S., and any strategy fan or Chinese history follower will want to get this game.

Overall: 9

This is a truly awesome experience, even though RTK7 is released in Asia and RTK8 already having a demo. But do not pass this game up, as it is a very rich and deep experience, and time will fly by while you play this game and be absorbed by the Chinese flavor.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/28/01, Updated 08/28/01