I still remember when I bought the original many years ago for 50$ in my country. The graphics were nice at the time, and it really give you a good history lesson (or good history lessons, since it is based on many historic events that you can play). It also has loads of ages to evolve and it's always fun. The downside? The multiplayer for that game never worked properly, and the campaigns, although fascinating at first, will eventually get boring and extremely repetitive. The slow game play speed also doesn't help, but I don't mind that because it is very realistic (for that time). This is in fact a good game, but apart from good single player campaigns and single player mode, don't expect much from the multiplayer. It has a lot of ideas as well - if you are looking to make your own RTS, I'd definitively recommend a quick visit to this golden edition.
