Download Pirates of the Barbary Coast

Ship’s log:

“On returning to the ship from business in the port, I was
informed that my ship was raided, and my daughter Katherine has
been kidnapped by Bloodthroat the Pirate. He demands a ransom of
50,000 pieces of gold within thirty days or he will sell her into
the harems of the Coast. Now I must raise the ransom, and try to
rescue my beloved Katherine."

Thus ye must free the young lass from the grasp of the vile Pirate of the Barbary Coast!

You’re a more or less peaceful man, which is why you are going to pay for your daughter’s release. But in order to pay the ransom you need to raise the money. Luckily you have a treasure map and you are a skilled merchant, so getting the gold should be an achievable goal.

You begin the game in the port of Casablanca. You can select a destination to go to, or you can see what this port has to offer you. Generally all the ports are the same. There’s a merchant, a ship’s repair dock and a store there. The main difference between the ports are the prizes of merchandise, so your main goal is to buy cheap and sell expensive. You start off with 5000 gold pieces and you need to add one more zero to that in order to see your daughter again.

Now sailing from port to port (you’ll see a map with available locations) you may also encounter enemy ships. If that’s the case you can either flee (the smarter option) or fight. Sometimes a fight is unavoidable.

The fighting sequence is really the one that gets on the nerves. Back on the C64 I used to be very quick and could load 4 or 5 canons before the enemy ship would come into their sites and then I’d blast them out of the sea. Here the loading is very slow (especially if you do it with the keyboard). But once you get the hang of it, you’ll make an admirable seadog. Luckily you can play either with the keys, mouse or joystick (I suggest the mouse).

The goal is to gather money, find the Pirate and get your daughter back. With some luck you can do it in about half an hour. The ports have fairly similar prices, so if you remember a few of them (what’s good to buy and what not) you won’t have trouble making money (*hint* I bet your history teacher never told you about the profitable cocoa-wool trade route between Casablanca and Algiers). The treasure island and the pirate captain will always be placed on the islands in the Atlantic ocean. So I’m not sure how often you’ll be replaying this game, since it has a rather low replayability.

So in short, this is a CGA 4 color game, about 20 years old with nothing more then the bleeping sound. So don’t expect and visual or audio pleasures from this game. The game does run smooth enough and I’d suggest it for a remake (were it in my power), because it has some potential, but that’s about it. You can’t save, so if you’re not careful with the prizes you might end up loosing money.

For any additional information read the in-game booklet and the ship’s log (you’ll learn all you need to know to play).