While the Steam sale might have passed the glory days of a decade ago, Valve have moved to a more regular model, with smaller, more fun and esoteric sales sandwiched between the tentpole seasonal events. Right now, until 29 January, there’s a rather cool Pirates vs Ninjas Fest sale, with a great mix of high budget AA/AAA games and indie games.
Who would win?
Every kid ever will have been dragged into a debate about whether pirates or ninjas are cooler. It’s as timeless an argument as if King Kong or Godzilla would win in a fight.
Me? I’ve always been in the pirate camp, ever since I first booted up the original Sid Meier’s Pirates! on our family Tandy 1000 back in the late 80s. I was bewitched by the depth of the pirate experience, and loved that the game used a real paper map and in-game coordinates to work out where you were going. There was also a glorious manual detailing the eras of high seas piracy in the Caribbean as ell as all the ships you’d encounter and sail.
This cemented my obsession with pirates and the history of the Caribbean throughout my childhood, to the point I insisted we visit the Florida Keys to see up close where the pirate havens existed. Since then, we’ve had some cool games that never quite scratched the same itch as Pirates! did, and some very cool films (Pirates of the Caribbean, below) and TV shows (Like the fantastic Black Sails, above).
Although, if you love ninjas, and that era of feudal Japan, I highly recommend the Netflix series Blue Eye Samurai. Everything from the story to the animation are top notch. There’s a lot of valid criticism of Netflix as company and streaming service, but you cannot fault their animation department.
Sid Meier’s Pirates! Gold
Released in 1993, Sid Meier’s Pirates! Gold Edition is remaster of the original and timeless classic pirate game. Even 30+ years later, this game is still the benchmark for a high seas swashbuckling experience, which has never really been matched. The game obviously looks very dated now, with its DOS-era VGA graphics and low-framerate animation, but the privateer spirit lives on with a decent 50% off (because we all know pirates love a good bargain).
There’s also a healthy 74% off the bundled version of the Pirates! 2004 remake, which is also a solid game that might need a few mods to get working properly on modern systems. But that’s the beauty of the PC platform, eh?
Return To Monkey Island
The most recent in the Monkey Island series may have riled up some angry internet warriors with its art style, but that hasn’t stopped the game getting Mostly Positive reviews on Steam, and with a solid 40% off in the sale, it’s well worth checking out if you’re a fan of the series.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
A discount of 33% off might not be the biggest saving, but I reckon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is the apex of nostalgic childhood fever dreaming. Leaning hard into the retro stylings of the pixel art (or just art, back in the day) of those four player Konami arcade games from the late 80s, you can also get stuck in with four players on one screen.
Mark of the Ninja: Remastered
Mark Of The Ninja originally released in 2012, and delved into what ninjas are really about: stealthily taking out enemies. There’s no hack and slash murder-fest, no over the top bosses, just a load of sneaking, quiet weapons, and a dose of Japanese mythological storytelling. The remaster came out in 2018, and looks a little bit better (not that it needed to), and collects the complete content. It’s also dirt cheap, with 60% off an already low price.
The rest
Worth noting are some of the other games in the sale:
- Sea Of Thieves 2023 Edition at 50% off
- Ghostrunner (70% off) and Ghostrunner 2 (50% off)
- Salt (75% off) and Salt 2 (50% off)
- Buccaneers! (50% off)
- Windward (50% off)
- Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection (33% off)
Check out the Steam Pirates vs Ninjas Fest sale, which runs until 29 January, 2024.
