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Lots more than a three hour tour...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 64 / 64
Date: August 14, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Watch out Gilligan's Island! Here's Tropico - Mucho Macho Edition! This edition includes both previously released discs - the main Tropico disc, and the Paradise Island supplement disc. There's also loads of extras, including a CD-Rom based manual for both games.

The game puts you in total control of a small tropical island, and it's up to you - do you want to be a benevolent dictator, giving your citizens a life of luxury; or do you want to be an evil tyrant, giving your citizens only the things you think they deserve; or be someone in between? Options include customizing your own stats - from a religious zealot to an alcoholic womanizer, and lots of other personality options.

The main tutorial is excellent, and gives you enough of the basics to play the game right away, and there are four more advanced tutorials that give you a more in depth look at all of the options available.

Do you build a camp of virtually slave labor by building bunkhouses and tenements for your citizens, or a paradise by building condos and luxury homes, or a travel destination by building hotels and tourist traps, or a combination of any of these, or all of these?

What do you grow? Start with Corn (to feed your citizens) and then try Sugar, Tobacco, Pineapples, and other, more exportable, items - or build farms to provide crops for your factories, including a Cigar Works, a Rum Distillery, a Jewelry Shop, and others. Or build ranches with cows and goats to provide milk and meat for your citizens.

Do you want to explore the ruins of the ancient civilization, and if so, do you want an archaeological dig or a more profitable museum? Do you dig for gold and other metals, or do we try to preserve the ecology with fishing and more rural pursuits? Do you want to form alliances with the benevolent US, or the more controlling Soviets, or try a middle-of the road approach?

The detail is marvelous - you can click on individual citizens to determine their needs, or get a detailed report on the population of the entire island, as well as generalized reports on tourism, food production, and many others. You can request specific citizens to emigrate to your island to run your newly built facilities - everything from farms and ranches to TV stations and tourist traps.

How do you keep your citizens happy? Build restaurants and pubs, and even things like nightclubs and casinos (which also can attract rich and not-so-rich tourists). Put down rebellions with the military, or just give your citizens a raise - but don't try either of these too much or you may find yourself faced with a military coup, a peasant uprising, or simply voted out of office. And that can hurt that Swiss Bank Account you've been putting all that slush money into for your retirement.

There are dozens of scenarios - ranging in difficulty from very easy to insanely hard. Try an easy game after the first tutorial, and then, after the four additional tutorials, try ne of the more challenging scenarios.

There are only two known "cheats" for this game - and no more are needed. (Press and hold control and type "pesos" for more money, and press and hold control and type "contento" for happier citizens.)

As a veteran of several Sim style games, I found this to be highly involving and almost addicting. If you like games like "Civilization" or "The Sims", I can't recommend this game highly enough, especially with the decrease in total price represented by the dual disc box. Try it. I'm sure you'll agree that it's much more than a three hour tour.

Middle-Aged Woman Addicted!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 27 / 27
Date: February 12, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I've never been a big fan of "shoot-em-up" games or action games. I like something a little slower paced.

So, what's the game industry to do for people like me?

Here it is! Finally, a game that I love playing. You can tailor this game to exactly what you'd like to experience. If you want a fast-paced, competitive game, choose one of the difficult scenarios. If you want to just fool around, explore, and build the perfect island paradise, choose the sand-box mode (that's for me!).

The basic premise of the game is that you are the new El Presidente, and can set up your island any way you like. Want to be a harsh militarist who makes his people toe the line? Want to be a benevolent dictator who lives only to make his people happy? A strict environmentalist who wants to preserve the natural beauty of the island? You choose!

Scores are based on the happiness of your people (keep them employed and housed! And be careful with the pollution from too many factories and electrical plants!), island economy, and other factors (for one, including how much you have stashed in your private Swiss bank account!).

Here are the areas that the game excels in:

1) Graphics - Beautiful, colorful graphics that show incredible detail in everything from the local market to the sports stadium, make this game a visual treat.

2) Humor - A friendly advisor gives you lots of help in a very funny way. "Good morning, Presidente. May I say you are looking particularly powerful today?"

3) Great Characters - All of the people who live on your island have their own thoughts that you can tap into at any time to give you clues on what they need("Wish there was something to do around here. Guess I'll go home and eat rocks.").

4) Infinite Play - Depending on how you initially set up the island, there are infinite ways to go (set up a tourist paradise? An industrial powerhouse? Agricultural money maker? Military rule?) You can issue special edicts ranging from skimming personal funds off building permits, to setting up a Papal visit, to knocking off a rival.

5) Great Music - Wonderful Latin-flavored music makes it a pleasure to spend those long, middle-of-the-night hours playing...

I've Got To Be a Macho Man

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 18 / 18
Date: August 28, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I've never been a big fan of Sim-style games. You build a few buildings and watch people you don't care about interact in them - big woop. That reluctance was what kept me from buying the original "Tropico" even with all the rave reviews and that the subject was intriguing since I've lived on a few Caribbean islands and studied their political economies.

I was still skeptical of buying a Sim-style game when I bought "Tropico Mucho Macho" but now I'm a big fan. TMM has all the little details that draw you into a game with issues of economy, politics and personality. You know you've been hooked when you wake up in the morning wondering how you'll do in the next (cyber) election of a game you stayed up to late the night before playing.

I've found the game even more fascinating as I've de-optimized the variables of personality and enviornment to make it harder. In easier games, you can run the first ten years exactly alike, with a few differences in crops or minerals you chose to gather, and then decide how much industry vs. tourism you go on to. But make your leader have a few less desirable traits and your island with less resources and the first ten years can be dicey and the next decades even more interesting. The game has a lot of replayability and a hundred variables.

I recommend TMM for people like me who are more into CIV-type, or even turn based war games, for a fun time with those much derided Sims.

Hey! Hey! Hey, hey, hey!

Macho, macho man (macho man)
I've got to be, a macho man
Macho, macho man
I've got to be a macho! Ow....

mucho macho mucho fun

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 17 / 18
Date: August 06, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I bought the original Tropico when it first came out and later the expansion. I sold them in order to buy a gamepad. I regret doing that and was pleased to see the "Mucho Macho Edition" which has both. I purchased it just the other day after seeing it in the stores for quite some time. It contains Tropico, the Paradise Island expansion and is patched to the latest version. It also includes an updated manual and a strategy guide (altho I was a tad bit disappointed to discover the guide is contained on one of the two CDs as I prefer printed manuals). It is a great game and I've already started a new island and restored all my saved games which I had neatly zipped on my hard drive. Great game and a great deal. Don't pass this one up!

Fun but ...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 13 / 13
Date: September 21, 2002
Author: Amazon User

.... don't expect the complexities of SimCity/Sims games. It's entertaining and certainly more realistic time-wise on building/construction/finances; and I really have enjoyed playing it, but after several games it gets repetitive.

That's not necessarily a bad thing. And the game does have its funny parts -- the humor of your adviser, the rebels in the forest, the thoughts of the slob tourists/your workers -- all very clever and well thought out. It will, at the very least, make you smirk.

The reason I bought this game is that I was looking for another SIM-type game to play -- having tired of the ones currently on the market. I don't regret spending the money on this game, I've enjoyed many hours playing it. And if you're looking for a sim-type game like I was, perhaps you'll enjoy it as well.

An excellent sim strategy game with a political twist

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: January 11, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Fans of sim strategy games like SimCity and the Tycoon games will find much to love about Tropico. This game takes the whole SimCity concept and adds a political, Carribean twist. You play the role of "el presidente" of a small tropical island nation. Your goals include keeping your people happy, building a strong economy, and establishing good relations with the U.S. and Russia. You can build your economy around farming, mining, logging, fishing, industry, and tourism...you choose the resources that will be the most profitable for you. You also have to build churches, health care facilities, and provide adequate entertainment and housing to keep your citizens happy, and build schools and universities to keep them educated. If you don't keep your citizens happy they will likely to vote against you in the elections, but you can always choose not to have them. Be careful though, your citizens may rise up against you...better build up your military! There are also a number of edicts you can issue which can affect your success.

There are a number of different scenarios you can play, but if you've played them all or just want to try something different, the "build your own game" mode lets you create your own. You choose the conditions on your island, level of difficulty, game length and victory conditions. Then comes the fun part: building your dictator! You can choose from a variety of personalities, rise-to-power methods, character traits, and flaws to build the type of ruler you choose to be. All of these will affect your gameplay and overall strategy. You can be a benevelent ruler who strives to make his people happy or a ruthless dictator who oppresses those who oppose him. The possibilities are endless! With all these choices, it's hard to play the same game twice. This replayability makes Tropico a game you're sure to enjoy for a long time.

If you decide to get this game, get the Mucho Macho edition. It includes the Paradise Island expansion pack which provides you with a number of new scenarios, buildings, and more. Most of the additions focus on your tourism industry, but there are other nice additions as well. It also has twice as much music on its soundtrack than the original. (Did I mention the soundtrack is excellent?) There are also a few extra goodies included, like a strategy guide and a few behind-the-scenes videos on the making of Tropico. It's a good deal. Two thumbs up.

Can't believe I'm still playing this game...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: December 12, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Granted, my machine is pretty old and can't handle much more complicated than Tropico. But I still play this game at least once a week. It is that interesting and addictive! The music is wonderful, the graphics are not spectacular but are bright and easy to see on my old monitor, and the gameplay is varied and very open. I like the variety of scenarios as well. If you have an older computer and need a game, get this one!

Great Game of Political Strategy in the Caribbean!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: May 24, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is a quite intelligent and entertaining game, consistent with notions of political economy in tropical nations with a focus on tourism and political intrigue!

As a politician with dictatorial inclinations ("El Presidente"), your goal is to remain in power for over 40 years, while developing the social, economic, political and environmental dimensions of an underdeveloped tropical nation-island. The personality traits of El Presidente will affect the development of the game. You get points by developing the island and also by stashing away money in your Swiss bank account.

Social indicators define the level of "happiness" of your population. You have to develop housing, hospitals and colleges. You also have to develop entertainment and religion facilites, but your population factions will argue over your decisions, and your budget is limited. You have to oversee food production as the population grows, choosing export crops or subsistence food.

You manage the economy of the island, by developing its infrastructure, factories and managing wage levels and labor conditions - in agriculture, manufacture, services, and state bureacracy. These decisions will affect the happiness and migration flows (to be influenced by your own INS agency!). It is fun to see how your country develops comparatively to other Caribbean countries.

The most challenging industry is tourism. You manage hotels, restaurants, bars, archaeological parks, pubs, etc. In addition to foreign tourists, citizens also want to enjoy these facilities, so you need to define prices and entry policies. Depending on natural beauties, infrastructure, and criminality, tourism will stand somewhere between cheap and upscale.

At the political level, you have to consider internal and foreign policies. By keeping your people happy, you remain popular and win elections. Otherwise, you may want to become a dictator - or lose the game. Unloyal generals may try a coup against you! In the meanwhile, you may want to bribe leaders of social groups: capitalists, socialists, religious, intellectuals, and environmentalists.

Your strategic decisions are being watched over by the US and Russia (this is a 1950s scenario). Thus, you need a well-staffed Foreign Affairs Department, to strike good deals for your island and improve its economy and tourism!

Some minor negative aspects: 1) the total population is too small (a few hundred only), and your army is limited to a handful of soldiers and generals. Some immigrants come from rich countries and work as poor peasants (unlikely...). 2) the map is out of scale: the area is way too small for buildings you create. 3) in installation: it did not install in my laptop and old desktop, and online support was not helpful.

But Tropico has other attractive features. Your "gabinet advisor" is a funny guy with Latino accent and indirect jokes on your administration. The musical soundtrack is very good (with Salsa, Merengue, Bolero...). It is fun to see your citizens reacting emotionally to you, hailing you as a true leader or waving fists in rage fit.

In sum, Tropico is awesome and challenging. Buy it. Mucho Macho edition is a bit more diverse and interesting that the original version. Thanks for reading.

Not for children

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: August 12, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is a great game, but it's too complex for kids under 13. I got original Tropico when I was about 11, and I was pretty confused. After many tedious hours of playing this game I figured out enough to not get kicked out of office or be invaded by the U.S. after a few years, allowing me to experience the more fun aspects of the game. This game is similar to sim city because you need to keep your people healthy, enducated, safe, and employed(and happy). It also adds new challenges like keeping good relations with the United States and Russia, political factions, and winning elections (or rigging them). What I'm trying to say is; if you like city sims and you understand politics, get this game.

Pleasantly Surprised

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: May 18, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I purchased this game on a whim, I never thought any game other than The Sims would have me rushing home from work. This game is a lot of fun for true simmers and would be a great addition to any PC game library.

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