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Regrettably repetitive...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: October 25, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I bought this title with a faint hope that Jaleco attempted to hybridize Microprose's classic Pirates! (which appeared on the PC, Genesis and NES) and Koei's underrated Uncharted Waters franchise. While the GBA's primary audience may not be privy to these two exemplary seafaring games, it doesn't take such company to discover Sea Trader's glaring flaws. The first few hours of gameplay - in which you actually have the ability to upgrade your ship (crew, cannons, etc) and discover new maps/continents with which to trade with - are fairly captivating. Once you've maxed out your ship and discovered the six maps, however, the gameplay devolves into an interminable series of similar transactions in which you feel nothing is ever at stake... particularly your ship.

You would expect a game that deals almost exclusively in markets to develop some internal logic with its transactions, something resembling order. One of my biggest problems with Sea Trader is the slipshod, utterly random economy. On several occasions I would buy out an item at a very low price; sail to the nearest port to discover an insufficient profit; then sail back to the original port to discover the price of this item had inflated 1000%. The game relies on 'tips' to spur your trading acumen, but in all reality, there is practically no penalty in dealing exclusively in black market ('elite') items, which have the greatest profit margins by far. The stakes are always too low in this game; the level of difficulty will not hold your attention for more than a handful of hours.

I have other gripes that keep me from recommending this game. When you purchase larger hulls and increase cargo space on your vessel, you spend far too much time holding 'up' on the d-pad to fill your hull with the same item. The absence of a 'max' button of some sort - as seen in all Koei sims - is a glaring oversight. Had the game been more fun, I wouldn't have minded the lack of animation - the maps are actually quite handsome - but as is, the static screens will bore you, as will the fact that every town looks precisely the same (more cutting corners...). The 'reputation' score in this game might have been interesting, had the gameplay not been so simple... as it stands, you'll learn to max it out very quickly. Additionally, the sea battles in this game have all the drama of flipping a coin; when you finally purchase the last map, you're playing for score, which will become a series of the same, most desirable trades, over and over... again, the economy has no logic, and the game does not reward intelligent play (just exploiting the system... not fun); and the presentation doesn't help matters.

I'd find another GBA title to wile the hours away. Look to Advance Wars 2 for a game that actually takes some degree of thought.

It's OK, but gets tedious after a while

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: March 03, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The premise of sailing the 7 seas and trading both legal (and not so legal) goods is fun, but there isn't a lot of variety in the game. Once you upgrade your ship and buy stuff for it, you are pretty much unstoppable. Even the ships that challenge you because you are trading illegal items are no match for a powerful trader ship.

But if you want a game that is not so complex and want just to pass the time a while, then the game is still a fun play. But after a while it got repetitive.

Addictive

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: June 14, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The game premise is simple, you have a small trade ship and you sail from port to port buying low and selling high. As you accumulate more wealth and renown you are given the option to upgrade the size of your trade vessel and sail to farther ports. Random encounters at sea such as pirates, traders, customs guards and other events keep the travel aspect interesting. The action of travelling from port to port makes the game almost turn based. Saving is done automatically every time you arrive in port making this game easy to play for a few minutes at a time.

The economics are very simple and there isn't any combat or violence in this game making it very suitable for a younger audience.

The inexpensive price of the game and the amount of time I've spent playing it have made this game an incredible value.

Sea Trader

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 15
Date: May 01, 2003
Author: Amazon User

A Great game. Well worth the money. I find that I can't put it down. A must have game. The both of us fight over this game.

It is OK!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 6
Date: August 05, 2003
Author: Amazon User

It takes a while to figure out the object of the game, other than that it FUN!

Sea Trader VS Original TRS80 TAIPAN, not quite, but fun..<>.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: September 10, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The Original Taipan of TRS-80 days had better play, tho Sea Trader has rather nice graphics, and fun port to port trading, sure many will like this one..

So far in my brief playing it is too forgiving, example Taipan took you to Davy Jones rather swiftly, and during rare extended plays into the night, tho huge amounts possible, you quickly learned to Bank profits else your wealth was stolen, unpaid loans or large Cargos brought a Whole Armanda of Pirates, and if the Pirates didn't get you a Storm eventually sunk your vessel..Psst the one who made the famed Car in BACK TO THE FUTURE, tried to make swift profit by selling illegal commodities over the border to extend the company, aking him why he did this, responded, got the idea from playing TAIPAN!!..Car is now rare and highly collectable as the orignal game(s)...

But again has enough for those not exposed to the original(s), leaves me yearning for the more realistic play..<>..

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