Caesar 3 by a mile.

C3 indeed, even though I haven't played it for a long while. CotN is a close second.

Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom!

Caesar 3. Some day I'll upgrade my computer so that I cam play CoN.

Pharaoh/Cleopatra with Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom a very close second (maybe even the other way around). I like the monument building and the added challenge of labor recruiters in Pharaoh/Cleopatra.

For everything else I prefer Emperor. The maps are beautiful. Feng Shui is awesome. Trade and diplomacy are much improved. Individual farming tiles are great. I love the residential walls that can shield from negative desirability.

I’ve changed my mind. Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom is my favorite with Pharaoh/Cleopatra a very close second and CotN a distant third. I don’t like Zeus/Poseidon because of the cartoon graphics. Other than that (which is a major and total turn-off for me) the rest of the game is good.

But then, I’ve never played Caesar 3.

Caesar III and then Pharaoh.

Pharaoh with Emperor a very close second, for mostly the same reasons as Vaia said. If they had kept labour seekers in Emperor I would probably have chosen Emperor.

My favourite times ever playing city builders have been some Emperor MP games played with good friends despite the fact that Emperor MP does have some technical problems and the Pharaoh competitions on this site.

Zeus never really grabbed me in the same way, I didn't find it particularly challenging and didn't really like the graphics. Caesar 3 is was got me addicted to city building in the first place and is a wonderful game, but after playing Pharaoh I found things like no roadblocks too frustrating and the graphics do look very old these days.

Emperor ... though I still haven't had time to finish it Visually it's gorgeous and the gameplay is very good (I'm glad there are no labour-seekers )

They (the Impression games) are all good, of course. I learned on Pharaoh, then played much more Emperor. I like the advances in diplomacy and the relations with other cities, and I don't miss the walkers.

At the moment, my favorite is Zeus (Poseidon). I know it's not the choice of most people here, but I like it for the exact reasons that it usually gets dissed... like the cartoony graphics. I like the weird humor, and the surreal edge it gets from the monsters and gods. The voice acting can be pretty wacky, too. Overall, I like it's sense of silliness and fun.

I also like the way the economy works, the way the military options workm like maintaining ships and troops.

I also very much like Anno 1602. A great little game. I can't bring myself to like 1503, though.

So, my list:

1) Zeus (Posideon)
2) 1602
3) Emperor
4) Pharaoh / Caesar3

I can't stand Caesar3, mostly because I find the military parts distracting and annoying. I much prefer the style of invasions of Pharaoh/Cleo. I also prefer the graphics of Pharaoh/Cleo, the roadblocks, and the monuments. I didn't care for Zeus, and Children of the Nile give me motion sickness with the moving camera and 3D graphics. I like Emperor a lot, and the game is beautiful. It has some definate improvements over Pharaoh/Cleo, but the Mill system kinda bugs me. Mostly, it's annoying that for as big of a building as it is, it holds relatively little. And if you have a lot of food types, you wind up having to keep and staff a LOT of storage yards. I've never played the 1602 series someone else mentioned.

So, in short, my fave would have to be Pharaoh/Cleo. Maybe one of these days I'll finish the last 7 missions on Cleo. Someday. Maybe.

All the CB games are good, but C3 will always have a special place in my affections. Not just because it was a great little game at the time, but because it more or less changed my life forever. It sounds somewhat silly, but I suspect that, without it, I would not be sitting where I am doing the job I am doing (if I look at my CV, the only thing on it was HG, which I was only involved in thanks to C3).

So, chalk up another vote for C3.

Cleo, Cleo, Cleo!

I was a Pharaoh in another life............

My pennies worth I agree with Reck for most of the same reasons

This is very tough...

Well...

Let's see...

C3 is a matter of love at first sight. I loved the hardcore planning needed for a perfect city. I liked the military aspect also. (C3 is like your first love, when you are young and have the time to deal with all difficult aspects of an early relationship.)

Pharaoh is ... BIG and BETTER...
(With Pharaoh, you are now ready for a more mature relation you are not going to make the mistakes of the past. This is the one you'll remember for the rest of your life.)

Zeus liked it, but to me it lacked the momuments.
(It really is a sad that it has to come after Pharaoh has made you totally dependent...)

Emperor. It's perfect. So perfect that the need to plan very carefully each move kind of got lost because the game is more forgiving.(This is the one! The one that you'll spend the rest of your life with...but the spectre of that old love is always around.)

So the order of favorite to least favorite (they are all my all time favorite games)(only Civilization 1 and Master of Orion/Magic come close)

1- Pharaoh
2- Caesar3
3- Emperor
4- Zeus

Now I'm going to shoot myself for trying to compare this remarkable games.

G

"But then, I’ve never played Caesar 3." - Vaia

HERETIC!!! BLASPHEMER!!!

If you weren't an angel it is a sure thing you would burst into flames.

G

[This message has been edited by Gandalf (edited 08-22-2005 @ 01:34 AM).]

Caesar 3 by a mile and an inch.
Just had to beat you Clifford

maybe a millimetre anyway.

Caesar 3

Cleo all the way!

CIII is my fav, although Zeus is a close second.

I finally wore out my CIII CD several months ago, (after about a gazillion hours of game play), and thought I might be through with it. Then I heard about C4 a few days ago, and was overwhelmed to play the old game again, so I bought it again... for $3.40!

[This message has been edited by Satanic Cowboy (edited 08-22-2005 @ 10:24 PM).]

Pharaoh

Definitely Pharaoh/Cleo! Then Emperor.

**Puts hand up and shouts pharaoh**

1st Pharaoh .. The only game i've been obsessed with
2nd Zeus & Emp tied

Missed out on C3, although I do have it....
Didn't like CoTN!

Hopefully C4 will emulate the earlier titles rather than try and improve the last.

1. Pharaoh/Cleo
2. Caesar III
3. Emperor
4. Zeus/Poseidon
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.Children of the Nile

We have a tie. Can Pharaoh/Cleopatra beat Caesar III?