Sid Meier's lost classic.
You choose from the English, Spanish, Dutch or French and start the game with one ship in the waters of the new world. There's many different tribes of Indians to kill/befriend, villages to be explored/exploited, the fountain of youth to discover (best thing ever), city management, all sorts of good stuff you would expect. Trading with your homeland brings you money as you compete with the other empires in the new world for positioning, resources and the occasional war. Plenty of interesting units like gunsmiths, firebrand preachers, rum distillers and elder statesmen become available either in the new world or waiting at the docks of your homeland.
Instead of building wonders you acquire founding fathers that end up in your continental congress, historical figures like Benjamin Franklin, Ferdinand Magellan and William Penn. Each have certain benefits, be it military, trade, religious or political. After a while your king will start raising your taxes, the tension becoming so great eventually that you have to start boycotting tariffs and declare revolution, and that's when the awesome end game starts. A giant revolutionary war with your homeland ensues with huge numbers coming to attack your settlements. There's a whole new layer of strategy added with rebel support vs. tory support, and eventually you may even receive massive help with some foreign intervention on your behalf.
Colonization is a perfect mix of accessible gameplay and complex strategy rivaled only by it's more popular cousin. The music is catchy and the sound effects are well placed. Graphics may not be beautiful but remain very nice for the time and Colonization is full of visual personality. Playing through is not too long or too short, there is a decisive beginning, middle and end that shapes each game and you always want to go back and try new strategies. This is a title that is in dire need of an update much like Pirates!, and hopefully someday Sid and his crew of crafty strategy developers will make it happen.