Tropico the first's a classic. Having been a huge fan of Sim City and Tropico games (SC4/2000 and original Tropico) for years, I keep coming back to those games at least once in a couple of years just for nostalgia's sake.

Tropico 1 possesses that unique charm that nearly all the other installations, sadly, lack, alongside with some great tongue-in-cheek humor. I can say with certainty however that Tropico 4 more than made up for it and it's probably the only game out of the entire franchise worth purchasing (besides the very first one of course), seeing as T3 is just a watered down version of T4. Trust me, if you just skip on T3 you won't be missing ANYTHING. Kalypso really dropped the ball on that one.

So if you're looking to jump into the franchise, I recommend starting with either the 1st or the 4th installation, or better yet both. If you just want a fancy looking and relatively new city-building game in the spirit of SimCity, Anno and Cities XL, just skip this bundle entirely and buy T4.

Long story short: T1 started it all, T2 has pirates, T3 is an attempted but shallow reboot and T4 is an upgraded version of the previous game and what T3 should have been in the first place. Take your pick.

Have you, like me, got an old, slow, crappy laptop as your only source of PC gaming? Are you wanting a game that will suck you in for most of your day off work or studies?
If so I highly recommend Tropico. I've been playing this game for many years and although it may be no where near as glossy as it's newer cousins in the series it still has a nice bit of depth to it, a superb soundtrack and a wicked sense of humour.
I love this game. It's one of the most re-visited in my collection. I hope you'll love it too.

Surprisingly really fun games, pirates cove is one of my favorites from the series. Buy when on sale, you wont regret,

Classics!

After much debate, this game gets a thumbs up, for one main reason: nostalgia. I played the crap out of this game when I was a kid, and upon rediscovering it, proceeded to continue to play the crap out of it. If you're unfamiliar, this is a simulation where you play a dictator of a small caribbean island. The plots and themes are all very cliche'd, but humorously delivered by a suck-up lackey of yours, Penultimo ("the second to last," if you're keeping up with your spanish). You can be kind or ruthless, out for a buck or for glory, but in the end, this is a solid, interesting game worthy, I think, of a modern gamer's time. HOWEVER... if you have played the newest Tropico (4, at this point), I would not recommend this one to you. The gameplay is more or less identical, but the options are significantly fewer and the graphics aren't remotely of the caliber of modern games. Additionally, it should be noted that this game relies very heavily on latino sterotypes, and while I (a Latin American History major, but with no soul) found it amusing, many of the japes could be found highly offensive. So, in essence:

Recommended for: players of strategy simulations, people who enjoy latin american history in a comical simulated retelling, or those who are interested to see how a game series has evolved from it's origins.

Not recommended for: Enthusiasts of the newest games, those demanding high quality graphics, or folk who will be easily offended by latino sterotypes.

very fun tropic paradise island / tourist strategy game. you basicly rule a island as a president, and build it up for both your residents and tourists. you can build farms and other stuff, and make money. game can give hours of gameplay and is very fun and entertaining, even though it's a old game.

My score: 8 out of 10.