Sid Meier's Pirates!

"While it does have hidden depths, then, they're not much more than handfuls of sand scooped out of the bottom of a rock-pool. Fun though it undoubtedly is, it isn't very vicious or memorable."

"Sid Meier's Pirates! packs more adventure in just 30 minutes than most games do in their entirety."

"Considering the sizeable of different genres packed into one tiny disk, Firaxis has done a great job of gelling everything together. It's a game that you can pick up and play for 20 minutes, or keep hammering on for several hours at a time. Everything is simple to pick up and once mastered, very little can stand in your way. Though things do indeed become repetitive after a while, you can take some time off and come back to it and show those rascally pirates what's what!"

"Sid Meier’s Pirates! is definitely not for every breed of gamer, which is no big surprise. While the subject matter of pirates is intriguing, many gamers will be instantly turned off by the basic graphics, dated audio track, and strategy-heavy gameplay. For those of you who are buying this game for the basic graphics, dated audio track, and strategy-heavy gameplay - and you know who you are - you’ve stumbled upon a unique treasure."

"Sid Meier's Pirates is a must-have Xbox game. It's that simple. This "adventure" game comprises a little bit of strategy, touches of RPG, it's got fighting and collecting, and it's designed in an ingenious way so that the goals, economy, and mini-games, all tie into, bolster, and support one another."