Complications set in quickly, as interaction with not only the native peoples of the land but also other colonizing countries threaten to undermine and disrupt your colony. To this end, you begin with a little schooner full of soldiers and settlers ready to explore and start a potential new metropolis on foreign shores. Much like Civilization, the ultimate goal is to build a thriving empire in a strange new world and outdo the competing nations.

However, not quite so forgivable is the use of almost the exact same introductory statement: 'You must forge a new world! A civilization! Oops, we mean, a colony.ization.' The opening theme from Sid Meier's Civilization is re-used almost note for note in the introduction, though the comedic value of its abrupt shift once the cartoon boat reaches the new world and home-spun mountain music begins playing is worth the blatant recycle. As a result, Sid Meier's Colonization has a far more focused sense of gameplay, which can be good or bad depending on personal preference. Despite MicroProse's naming conventions (did we really need another game with 'ization' in the title?), this successor to Sid Meier's Civilization empire-builder attempts to embody the spirit of 'Exploration and Conquest of the New World' rather than focus on the entire span of recorded history.

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