Sid Meier is a legend in the gaming world - virtually everybody has heard of him at some point, which makes him one of the few games designers who can actually increase sales of a game by simply putting his name in front of the title. Sid Meier is the creative brain behind what are widely considered some of the greatest games ever made - I speak of course of the Civilization series, which took the gaming world by storm, along with the original version of Pirates! way back in 1987. Sid Meier's Pirates! has made the rounds, appearing on a drove of systems over out the years, before hoisting its mainsail and setting course for Sony's portable system.

The first observation you will probably make when playing Pirates! for the first time is a negative one - the opening cut scene contains no voice track, relying instead on subtitles and facial expressions, and this trend continues as throughout the game not a word is spoken. This is a little disappointing in the sense that the majority of modern games on the system have voice tracks, and it leaves Pirates! seeming slightly lacking upon first impression. The second thing you may notice is the sense of being thrown headfirst into the deep end, as there is no tutorial of any kind, nothing to guide novice pirates as they set sail into the Spanish Maine for the very first time. In fact, the very first time I started the game my humble ship came under attack having sailed for approximately four seconds - not just by anyone but by the notorious Blackbeard himself! Needless to say, this baptism of fire resulted in visitation rights to Mr. Jones' locker.

The basic plot of the game is that as a child your family was kidnapped and now, ten years later, you have set forth to liberate them from their captors. One of the great things about Pirates! is that if you don't feel like rescuing the various members of your family and would much rather pillage and plunder and generally do piratey things to your heart's content then that's what you can do. Simply sailing around amassing a large bounty and a powerful fleet is a lot of fun and where it may seem like a deceptively simple concept, the reality is far from simple - there is buried treasure to be discovered, rival pirates to defeat and even governors' daughters to be romanced and seduced!

The game itself has a number of difficulty levels that will suit everyone from inexperienced landlubbers through to the most hardened, notorious pirates, but choosing to play at the easiest difficulty level is somewhat disappointing, as the game is just too easy - most enemy ships keel over without too much trouble and with minimal losses on your side. Opposed to that is the hardest difficulty level where it seems that everyone has a more powerful ship and you must make do with an almost perpetually mutinous crew who are always plotting to overthrow their captain. In the centre of these extremes is probably where most players will be comfortable, where the game is challenging enough to make it engrossing and will have many players coming back time and time again for more while still striving to reach and maintain their status as Most Notorious Pirate.

To achieve this ranking you sail around attacking ships and ransacking towns, which is, not surprisingly, heaps of pirating fun and may well have you vocalising pirate expressions to the amusement of anyone nearby. Attacking ships is a reasonably straightforward process - you simply sail towards the ship you wish to attack and soon you're embroiled in an intense naval battle that can end in any number of ways. For example, it is possible to board the enemy ship and go sword to sword with the captain in what is easily the best and most enjoyable of mini-game in the whole of Pirates!, which will have you thrusting and parrying using a variety of different techniques to emerge victorious. All the while the two crews battle it out on the decks and if either crew is reduced to zero then their captain will be forced to surrender.

The game itself is interspersed with a number of these small mini-games that arise at certain situations. For example, when attempting to seduce the daughters of various governors you enter a fairly simplistic and somewhat tacky 'dance to the beat' style game, which has you pressing the directional buttons to dance along with the music. One of the most frequent mini-games arises whenever you venture onto land, be it in search of an ancient civilisation or hidden treasure from a rival pirate, but this task is more irritating than fun, as it simply entails walking around a small, repetitive map with poorly animated characters, repeatedly searching for identical items that you've found before, all the while avoiding what appear to be lions of some sort. As you may have gathered, it's quite a repetitive and monotonous mini-game! Yet another side to the gameplay, and one that's more enjoyable, is the economic aspect that, if you choose to build a fleet of large, spacious cargo ships, gives you the opportunity to go around buying, selling and generally amassing a large fortune

The graphics are, for the most part, simply outstanding, making Pirates! easily one of the most beautiful games on the PSP. Sailing around you can't help be slightly awestruck at the details - the sea is dazzling and, along with wisps of fluffy clouds floating past or even a small storm, really captures the tropical atmosphere, while the ships themselves are incredibly detailed and look good from all angles. It's easy to tell which way the wind is blowing by simply looking at which way the sails are billowing! But where the graphics really excel is in the navel battles; you'll see sails ripping and masts breaking should you choose to use a chain shot to attempt to cripple enemy ships. As perfect as they graphics may seem they are let down in the aforementioned mini-games, which have the appearance of sections of the game that may have been implemented at the last minute. Thankfully the amount of time actually spent in the mini-games is minimal when compared to the hours you will spend sailing around the main map.

The ambient sound effects during the battle scenes are almost as good as the graphics - the thundering cannons and splintering hulls of rival captains overlay the music brilliantly. Throughout the game there is a selection of music that differs depending on the nationality of the port you happen to be in, and while the music is nice and well suited to the atmosphere it does get rather repetitive, especially during the dancing mini-game which features the same piece of music over and over again.

What makes Sid Meier's Pirates! a game that every PSP owner should at least seriously consider purchasing is its sheer depth and replay value. There is literally so much depth to this game and so much to do that there is something to please everyone. It also receives bonus points for the fact that it is perfectly suited to the PSP - you can play it for a few minutes to a few hours, depending on the situation, and either way you won't be disappointed. Indeed, Pirates! is a vast game, matey, arr that it be!

Reviewed by Scott McCabe for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).