70%PC

This game starts out pretty fun, but it becomes pretty repetitive and boring.

70%PlayStation Vita

This game is a complete remake of the original "Sid Meier's Pirates!" from 1987! I did not play the original, so my review will be based on what the game delivers for the year when it was released, 2004.

Storywise. There isn't much. Your main quest is to avenge your family and to do that you have to be a pirate in the 1600s. The game gives a lot of liberty on how to want to achieve the main goal. You can go after treasures first, gather tons of pirates to your crew, kill other pirates...

Gameplay. The easiest way to describe is to think of Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag (which came out 9 years later). You will pass most of the time in the Caribbean sea, going after other ships to get their riches. You can buy and sell goods, upgrade your ship, recruit new pirates, fight other captains in a sword fight, obtain different kinds of ships...There are some other "mini-games": dancing (just a quick time event), fighting battles (a mix of Total War games with Final Fantasy Tactics, but very rudimentary) and entering ports unnoticed (similar to Metal Gear Solid but once again very basic). All in all, it has some repetitiveness and, last but not least, I did encounter some bugs.

Graphics. It's overall OKish for a PSP game. Unfortunately, after 30mins you'll see everything. Textures are recycled everywhere, only some NPCs are unique. The best part is the open sea where you can see the ships sailing.

Soundtracks. There isn't much to be said here. The music fits the theme, but there isn't anything great. Also, no voice acting besides some interjections.

So, to wrap it up. Sid Meier's Pirates didn't leave anything great to remember but I give some points for being one of the few pirate game out there, and if you like that, I recommend you to try it.

90%PC

Played this a lot as a kid. Still a fun game!

70%PC

A charming game, worth playing through to completion at least once. A collection of minigames (hot or miss) wrapped in a nice arcadey sailing mode with a fun ship-to-ship combat model. The game hints at a larger simulation going on, but you only have to engage with whatever level you want.

60%PC

Childhood

100%PC

Brilliant exploration and adventure game, you want to stay in the world.

90%No Platform Specified

Sid Meier's Pirates! Live the Life is a really good port of an absolutely classic game. It's not perfect by any means, as sneaking into town and some of the presentation isn't quite as PSP-friendly as we'd hoped, but everything that makes Pirates! what it is is here and in fantastic form. The most important elements, like ship battles, exploration and such are identical to what you 'd find on the PC, which is really what matters. If you own a PSP, head to the nearest port and hand over some booty for this one.