Sid Meier's Pirates is easily one of my favorite games of all time. I can't count the number of weekends I've lost to the PC remake that was released in 2004. It's amazing how a game that on the surface appears so simple and straightforward can supply hours upon hours of entertainment. After appearances on almost a dozen home game machines, Pirates! finally gets the portable treatment with a release on Sony's PSP. How does it stack up against the source material? Read on to find out.

So...is Johnny Depp in it?

Sorry kids. In case you haven't figured it out, Sid Meier's Pirates! has no relation to the blockbuster films/ride Pirates of the Caribbean, though it may give you a strange urge to go to Disneyland. The story for Pirates! is based around avenging the wrongs that have been committed against your family by the evil Baron Raymondo. You arrive in the Caribbean determined to get your vengeance and rescue your family members that have been imprisoned. The fantastic thing about Sid Meier's Pirates! is that you can completely ignore the storyline if you choose, though the PSP version makes it a little bit harder to do. You'll get leads and clues to help you along the way from patrons in the taverns of the various ports you stop in. Freeing all of your family members is only one of the many objectives in Pirates! that you will be tracked on. In addition to the number of saved relatives, you'll also be scored on your pirate hunting skills, your ability to find lost treasure, and even your endeavors in love.

You start the game by pledging allegiance to one of the 4 nations that are fighting for control of the region, essentially making you a privateer. After receiving a letter of marque, you'll be free to sail wherever you please and sink whoever you'd like. If you make an effort to attack enemy ships, you'll not only receive the plunder from the kill but also compensation from any nations they happen to be at war with. When you engage a ship the view will immediately zoom in on the action and from there it's up to your superior tactical skills to emerge victorious. You'll need to use the wind as your aid, and choose carefully what sort of shot to load in the guns. Different ammunitions have different results, from destroying rigging with chain shot to lowering crew numbers with grape shot.

I just want to dance. Is that so much to ask?

After you've impressed one governor enough, you'll earn the opportunity to show off your moves on the dance floor with the governor's daughter. The dancing minigame is fairly straightforward but can be difficult at times. Upon successfully completing the dance, you'll usually be rewarded with a valuable piece of information or possibly an item to enhance your skills at sea. Just like the storyline though, if you never want to deal with dancing, it's easily skipped.

In addition to sea battles, you'll also find yourself sparring in duels to defend your honor and sieging cities to plunder their treasure. The duels are very similar the dancing minigame and simply require you to press the appropriate parry button when prompted. The land battles are slightly more complex and can prove quite challenging. Through clever tactics and appropriate use of cover, you can definitely defeat garrisons with three times the number of soldiers as you.

How you choose to play the game is entirely up to you. With a fully functional economy, you can choose to live the simple life of a merchant if you choose, though there isn't too much excitement in that. If you want to hunt down the top 10 most infamous pirates in the Caribbean leaving yourself to rule the seas, well you can do that too. Every objective you complete will add to your fame score, which is evaluated at the end of the game. It's practically impossible to complete EVERYTHING in a single voyage, so you'll be playing Pirates! for quite a while to see it all.

Technically, Pirates! is something of a mixed bag. Obviously the graphics won't compare to the PC version (even though it was 2 years ago), but the PSP's graphics aren't quite up to snuff here. The graphics have taken a severe hit that leave it looking mediocre at best. Not only are many of the models rendered with low polygon counts, but the animation is quite poor, especially in the duels. The presentation itself is flawed as well, with text that is at times difficult to distinguish from its background and a clumsy user interface. The audio is lacking as well, having been severely trimmed down from the PC version. The memorable tunes will have you humming along, but they're played rarely and the sound effects are constantly recycled. During a duel, don't be surprised to hear the same yell from your crew in the background about...17 times. It's also unfortunate that the PSP version suffers from annoying load times. They aren't particularly long, but they pop up often and are extremely disruptive to the atmosphere that Pirates! is portraying.

For fans of the series, you'll probably be somewhat disappointed with the treatment that the portable version of Sid Meier's Pirates! got. For those that have never played Pirates! before, you'll probably love it. When it comes right down to it, Sid Meier's Pirates for the PSP is a good game but a bad port. If you can get past the technical hurdles you're likely to have an enjoyable time with Sid Meier's Pirates!