Uncharted Waters: New Horizons pirate battle.

With Koei’s Uncharted Waters announced for the Virtual Console, I thought we should take a few minutes to talk about the game, especially since you can count the number of people excited about it on one hand.

I’ve never played Uncharted Waters (or its Western cousin, Sid Meier’s Pirates!), but I love the idea of captaining a fleet of ships, transporting and trading goods, exploring undiscovered territories, fighting pirates in turn-based battles, and jumping into sword duels.

The idea of sailing up and down the coasts of Portugal and Spain is exciting, too — I’ve read a lot of José Saramago lately (please excuse the name dropping) and have wanted to play a game set in Portugal for some time now.

And as if I needed an extra reason to play Uncharted Waters, apparently Yoko Kanno composed the game’s soundtrack. You can and should download the UWII: Special Edition soundtrack from the UW:NH fan site (registration required). Seriously, listen to this.

Two sad handheld-related things that Uncharted Waters ‘s upcoming VC release reminded me about:

1. Daikoukai Jidai IV: Rota Nova, a DS/PSP remake of the fourth Uncharted Waters game, never made it to the States.
2. We haven’t heard anything about Orbital Media’s Pirate Battle in over a year. The studio has likely closed, and this wonderful looking title will probably never see a release.

tags / koei / uncharted waters / new horizons / portugal / yoko kanno / ec / virtual console