I first played Colonization (the original) only 2 years ago after downloading it from an abandonware website. I was instantly intrigued by the simple but engaging city management and expansion. After playing it for about a week straight i came to see that it had a lot of different strategies and features. I have been playing it off and on for the past two years, really enjoying it. And I've been playing a lot of Civ 4, like who hasn't. So I was really excited when I saw that they were remaking Colonization with the awesome tools and graphics of Civ 4!
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Then I played the Civ 4: Colonization. At first it was really exciting and fun, just like the original. But soon I realized that it was really different. A lot of things were changed from the original and few besides graphics and ease of play were good additions. The biggest problem is the game length. In the original I played a colony for hours before considering to seperate from Europe, but even on marathon game length, Civ4:C is just way too fast. Also, if you have any standing army troops, the European powers drasticly increase their own invasion force, forcing you to play nearly the entire game without a military, then build one as fast as possible and quickly declare independence. These two considerations make enjoying the expansion and exploration phases impossible and each game becomes a lightning paced rehash of the same strategy as before.
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If you love Civ 4 and you've never played the original Colonization, there is a chance you will like this, but you will probably just go back to playing Civ 4. As a game it is ok, but probably would have been better as an expansion instead of a stand alone product. All I really wanted was the original Colonization with new graphics and an easier interface. There are user-made mods that attempt to shift the game closer to the original, but it is still frustrating, and i just go back to the old-school game. Give that one a try.
FallJester
