Pirates! Gold

Maker:
MicroProse
Year:
1993
Systems:
Amiga (CD32) / PC (DOS) / PC (SVGA)
Genres:
Strategy / Action
Tags:
Fighting / Historical / Nautical / Pirates / War
Language:
English
Median Rating:
5/5

Archived Thoughts

Thoughts by Mr Creosote (05 Apr 2004) – Amiga (CD32)

First of all, all comparisons are referring to the original Pirates! and the PC version of Pirates! Gold. Read the first review for a detailed covering of the gameplay itself. It is almost identical in this version.

Microprose had already left the Amiga market before, but with the ‘new’ models A1200 and CD32, they reconsidered. Pirates! Gold was one of the very first CD32 games which was not just a 1:1 conversion of an existing Amiga game. And it was one of the very first ones to actually use the capabilities of the medium ‘CD’: the sound was vastly improved and the CD has a lot of music.

The game itself (i.e. without the music) is approximately as large as the PC version: 15 MB. So should we expect similar graphics? No, not at all!

Microprose made everything from scratch again, the graphics are neither based on the original Pirates! nor on the PC version of Pirates! Gold. Instead of the high-res aquarell pictures of the PC, this Amiga version features a lower screen resolution and lollipop colours. Some still pictures actually look very good (your character in prison for example), on the whole, it has a bit of a childish style to it though. Sure, objectively spoken, it’s just ‘different’, but I really prefer the PC version here.

A really nice improvement is the city menu. On the PC, you just click on the buildings you want to visit. In this version, you see your character from third-person perspective and you actually walk around in the tiny ‘menu’ in Adventure style. Nice idea.

The last notable point for comparison is the controls. The CD32 only had this really crappy gamepad, so in emulation, it’s controlled by the virtual joystick. The turning of the ship gets a bit tardy because of that. It’s all not as exact as with the mouse.

On the whole, historically a very interesting version, but for actual playing, I’d prefer the PC version. Not that this is a bad game – it’s still of masterpiece of course, some pink can’t kill mighty Pirates! ;)

Thoughts by Adhoc (14 Dec 2000) – PC (DOS)

As gameplay is basically the same to the original version of Pirates! I won´t get into detail about that. Have a look at the review of Pirates instead.

So, what has changed since then?

The most obvious differences are of course big improvements in graphics and sound. The game’s looking quite nice now and some good music has been added, too. The coastlines are more detailed in the Gold version so finding treasures or family members with just one part of the map (that was no problem in the original) will require a lot of cruising around in the Caribbean.

There are also more cities you can sail to or attack but mostly they are quite small outposts. Cities are graphically represented now and you have to click on buildings to get to the respective locations. Besides the governor, tavern and merchant there are two new places. The shipwright now takes care of your damaged ships and you can sell them and cannons there. To divide plunder you have to visit the bank.

Copy protection has changed, too, but unfortunately for the worse. After leaving the city and sailing around for some time you will encounter a pirate whose flag you have to identify. Even when you’re right it’s possible that you’re attacked by him which can be quite fatal in the early stages.

You can control your ships with the mouse. Pressing the left button will steer them to the left and the right button will swing them right. You can raise and lower your sails not only in combat but also when travelling between cities. This is useful when steering through shallows.

Well, that are basically all changes that have been made. Not a new game but some well made improvements. If you liked Pirates!, you´ll love this one.

Box

Amiga (CD32)

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PC (DOS)

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Screenshots

Amiga (CD32)

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PC (DOS)

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