One of the great Sid Meier's lesser known games is this fabulous piece of swashbuckling nonsense. You had to take to the high seas of the Caribee', back when the powers of Europe were carving up the islands between them, and seek fame and fortune.

The game was quite simplistic in that you spent most of your time either chasing enemy ships and engaging them in battle before (hopefully) boarding them and plundering them for treasure, or running away from ships that could obviously out-gun you. But it was immense fun, especially the boarding bit where you got into a simplistic duel with the enemy ship's captain for control of his vessel.

As in all of Sid's games, the gameplay mix was sublime and engrossing. Your character would gradually work their way up the wealth ladder and get involved with all kinds of governors' daughters. Pirates! spawned an enhanced version, Pirates! Gold, as well as being converted to the PC (EGA graphics, folks!), C64 and Amstrad CPC. Pirates II arrived a while later but didn't achieve the same commercial success.

Although we've only had a brief play with the early demo, Eidos's Cutthroats, by Gangsters' developers Hot House Creations, has certainly been influenced by this great early classic and so we're keen to strap on our cutlasses once again when it's released.