Uncharted Waters SNES

Uncharted Waters is Koei’s naval trading and exploration simulation, originally released in Japan in 1990 for PC-98 as Daikoukai Jidai before console ports followed on Genesis and SNES in 1992. You play Leon, a Portuguese noble’s son during the Age of Discovery, sailing between ports to trade goods, chart unexplored coastlines, and battle rival fleets to rebuild his family’s fallen reputation.

Its blend of economic simulation, exploration, and fleet combat set in a real historical period was unusual for the console strategy genre in 1992, closer to a PC business-sim hybrid than the fantasy-war strategy games more common on Genesis and SNES at the time. It launched a long-running Koei series that continued with Uncharted Waters: New Horizons and further sequels through the following decade.