60: Colonization

Number 60
(97 points)
Colonization
1996: 4

This follow-up to Civilization replaced that game in the final list, but due to the nature of my algorithm, it ends up slightly lower down my list. I'm sure both of them are equally good for fans of the genre, but how do they differ?

Your task is to sail from Europe to the Americas, with the goal of colonising the New World. You control one of the European colonising powers, bringing settlers and soldiers to meet the locals - trading, settling, fighting and so on. Once you have explored enough of the territory, your people can settle down to producing food, minerals, wood, basically whatever a civilisation might need. As the game progresses, the detail increases exponentially.

Seeing as Civilization comes up so soon after this one, I decided to play that one first to see what to expect, but it turns out they're very different games indeed. Sure, the basic premise is somewhat similar, but Civilization sees you starting a new world from scratch, while this sees you taking over a place that already exists, and is obviously heavily based on real events. Both games are far too big for me to adequately review here, so I suggest you try either of them for yourself if you want to experience the birth of the 4X genre.

Recommended TOSEC disk(s):
Colonization v1.11 (1995-05-31)(MicroProse)(OCS-AGA)(M3)(Disk 1 of 3)
Colonization v1.11 (1995-05-31)(MicroProse)(OCS-AGA)(M3)(Disk 2 of 3)
Colonization v1.11 (1995-05-31)(MicroProse)(OCS-AGA)(M3)(Disk 3 of 3)