Uncharted Waters 2: New Horizons

Koei strikes again with another of their famous history/strategy games. This time you return to the seas and try to plot a course in history. Problem is, this game looks and plays suspiciously like homework, and haven't you had enough of that?

Anchors Away

You select from eight seafarers, and guide your character through real-life ports (Copenhagen, Seville, and so on), gathering gold to buy more ships, hire crew members, and stock provisions. You also spy on other countries, eavesdrop on tavern gossip, and maybe try blast an enemy armada or establish yourself as a merchant trader.

ProTip: Get money from your patron, and then borrow more from the bank. Pay the bank loan within 30 days, and you won't have to pay the interest fees.

Don't expect to see the wonders of every port. The graphics barely hit the eight-bit standard. And you'll be surprised by how similar the people in every port look. Those sailors really get around.

The sound is as salty as the graphics. The cheerful tunes work on your nerves.

The control is also a little on the seasick side. Although the menu-driven dialogue is blessedly short, knowing what to stock, who to hire and where to go means plowing through lots of dialogue boxes, although you have Auto features to help.

• Forget about gambling, unless you're stocked on cash.
• Every person has advice, but only some of it is useful. Gossip in the taverns will help you out.

Sink or Swim

Uncharted Waters: New Horizons, is a great geography lesson, tied in with a neat history lesson. If you like either one of those subjects, you'll love this game. Otherwise, mateys, jump ship.

• Manufacturer: Koei
• Machine: Genesis

If our ancestors' voyages to America had been anything like this game, the Indians would still own this country and there'd be huge herds of buffalo everywhere. Stay home and suck on a lime - playing this game could bring on the scurvy!

• Manufacturer: Koei
• Genre: RPG
• Players: 1
• Difficulty: moderate

Nothing beats a day, a week, a month, or even a year at sea. The sun on your brow as you swab the deck, the smell of the salt in the air, and the occasional case of scurvy from a vitamin deficiency. Yeah, a vitamin deficiency. That's what I thought I had while playing this game.

This game gives you a chance to take six different characters on six different journeys. You can be any one of the heroes (or heroines) and play a different game every time - or so it would seem. All the characters end up intertwining, so basically no matter who you choose, you end up doing the same thing. You talk to different characters and you get the same answers. Don't expect many differences.

But the problem is that the game isn't much fun. The game's premise is set up automatically. When you set sail, an auto sail option does it for you. The dialogue between the characters is long and drawn out, and when it tries to be funny, it isn't. An RPG doesn't need good graphics to be a good game, but these graphics are atrocious.

Don't stow away on this ship. Stay home and suck on a lime.

• Graphics: 2
• Music & Sound: 2
• Innovation: 5
• Gameplay: 5
• Replay Value: 2

While Koei has recently released the NES version of Uncharted Waters, they realized the potential of releasing this cart for the Mega Drive! In 1502, ten years after the voyage of Columbus, you assume the role of a young Portuguese captain, your goal is to restore honor to your once noble family!