Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

Essential. Brilliant.

Strategy gamers, the Holy Grail hath been found.

An incredible strategy game, Alpha Centauri is destined to go down as one of the best ever made. [April 1999, p.92]

Remarkable. Alpha Centauri is a better game than "Civilization II"; it's deep, rich, rewarding, thought-provoking in almost every way.

The balance of gameplay is just right, you are fed gently in to the game and by the time it starts getting tough, you are hooked and unable to leave your machine for hours and days on end!

Another one of those games that can make hours pass like minutes...With its top-notch diplomacy, civilization building, and wargame elements, Alpha Centauri is the new pinnacle of turn-based strategy games.

While it's not the groundbreaking game that Civilization was, it's a very worthy successor and it'll probably stay on your hard drive a long, long time.

There has never been a game of this complexity (save "Battlezone" perhaps) which has been presented with such perfect and stunning clarity. I was initially daunted by the incredible depth of choice the game affords, and then my anxiety turned to awe. The interface is clean and simple without being simplistic. It is truly a miracle of design with its sharp AI and thoughtful little touches.

It is, by all accounts, one of the best turn-based strategy games ever made and perhaps the best ever of its kind.

With his latest title, it isn't so much that Sid Meier has done it again, but rather he's done more. And more of a good thing it is indeed. Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri is an excellent sequel to "Civilization" and "Civilization II."

Combining all the best features of a genre AND adding evolutionary improvement to them is in fact, revolutionary...The clean interface, astounding gameplay depth, and narcotic addictiveness of SMAC all prove that it deserves one of our highest ratings.

To make a game so engrossing that I forget about eating food for a week means you basically have crafted Beethoven's Fifth Symphony in game form... Any turn-based game that leaves your mouse hand shaking because of the sheer intensity of the last few turns is worth any price for the game playing experience.

Make no mistake about it, this is the game most Civilization lovers have been longing for.

It feels just as addictive as "Civ2," and that in itself can't be a bad thing. The neat things that got improved, such as aqua-based cities, larger variety of units, unit customizability and a few others make this a great game to play - even if you have to think of it as of "Civ2.5."

A sublime, turn-based, empire-building, strategy game. At the same time, I can't help but feel like I have played it before.

Really shines in its depth. The well crafted story, admirable science-fiction world, fully realized scenario, and quality core gameplay are sure to please...it just doesn't innovate enough.

It might sit a little short of Transcendence, but at four o'clock in the morning you probably won't even notice.