As someone who spent many many hours and days trying to get this game running on a modern PC, I just wanted to express my grateful thanks to GOG for applying their expertise to a cause that really needed it.

For anyone wondering what all the ado is about: this isn't your average retro game that you just slap a DOSBox on to make it 2013-compatible. I'm no programmer but as an avid gaming enthusiast since the mid 90s I've been fighting and fixing various compatibility issues since before GOG came into existence and Corsairs was one of the most difficult cases I had to deal with. When it didn't crash, it would invert textures, replace sea with dry land, have no sound, run too fast, run too slow or even refuse to boot at all.

I eventually got it running properly (but still without CD audio) after trying many different versions, 5 operating systems and 4 different virtual machines, including VMWare, Microsoft Virtual PC, Oracle VirtualBox and QEMU. (QEMU was the winner, by the way)

Of course this was a lot more trouble than it's worth as Corsairs isn't the epitome of gaming perfection. It's just a nice little game with a fair amount of nostalgic value but nothing more. It's not even such a popular title. Its most voted wishlist entry only had maybe 100-200 votes tops.

All this however makes me even more grateful as it shows that GOG wasn't so much in it for the insta-buy reactions of thousands of eager fans but rather for their passion for reviving that golden age of PC gaming in its completeness, leaving no memorable game behind.

And Corsairs is indeed one of those games which in spite of their simplicity somehow manage to linger on in your memory even after all these years. It's no replacement for greats such as Sid Meier's Pirates! or Port Royale, but it's different enough to be an experience on its own and therein lies its charm.
You don't get this exact kind of gameplay anywhere else and while it does have similarities, it's much more than just a watered down version of superior titles. It is its own separate take on the Caribbean privateering adventure theme and I think every serious pirate game enthusiast ought to have a working copy of it in his or her collection.

Thanks again to GOG, this is now also possible without possessing the degree of fanatic madness that was required to challenge this game's legendary compatibility issues. :)