This game is like sim city but better for one reason. you can be a total ♥♥♥♥. dont like someone? have them killed. people protesting over low wages? lock em up. need some cash? let superpowers test nuclear weapons offshore of your tiny island nation. runs very well on average hardware and i have never encountered a single bug in many hours of gameplay. well polished and worth every cent

I recommend Tropico 3 for many reasons:
1. The aim of the game is to rule, and to rule for many years. You have work hard to do just that, managing the economy, maintaining your popularity, evading coups, balancing the factions on the island are a few examples. I enjoyed having to deal with all these.

2. The graphics are nice, I haven't played the earlier versions of the game (the original Tropico or Tropico 2) but this one has nice buildings and landmarks to choose from. The user interface is also well designed (unlike Tropico 4 - see below).

3. The game gives you an objective for each scenario, and you have only so many years to complete that objective. Having a single objective gives you a lot of freedom, you get to decide about other matters on the island.

4. The game has really good music, the tracks certainly fit the 'Tropical' atmosphere.

5. There is a plethora of different scenarios. Although it gets repetitive as you play, the game still has a good replay level.

Comparing Tropico 3 & 4:
So, if you are new to the Tropico series (like I once was), I would recommend getting Tropico 3 instead of Tropico 4. In my opinion, it definitely has a better user interface, a nicer objective system (Tropico 4 keeps giving you objectives - it is, as far as I have seen, endless and boring) and better music. One thing Tropico 3 may be lacking is imports (you can only export goods in T3), which is included in T4, but other than that, T4 is no better than T3, and I think T3 outweighs T4.

The first time I bought Tropico I was looking for something different. Tired of the same old shoot-em-up stuff. Tropico had just come on the market and looked interesting. I was supprised at how much fun it was. i found it very addictive and ended up spending a lot of time in it. I tryed Tropico Pirate's cove but couldn't get into it. I saw that Tropico 3 had gone back to more the way it was and I wanted to play it again so I bought it. I am not sorry I did. There are some things I don't care as much for but overall I think it is a great game. I would recomend this to anyone.

The hardest of all Tropico games IMHO. I personally enjoyed Tropico 4MT more, but this is a great game and beating it is a real challenge

Sandbox is a blast once you understand how to run a great economy. Fun to increase the chance of revolution just to watch your lil police officers fight some rebegls.

It's fun running your own island exporting and importing, making it a tourist attraction, and supplying your people with education. If that's your kind of game then get this :P

Customazation for your lil character isnt huge but it's okay.