Civiliztion is one of the greatest PC series ever. Sid Meier is a genius. However, Civ III is fails to out match Civ II. The graphics of this game are a huge breath of fresh air, while not in the top tier of current games, they provide a much more beautiful world to conquer. That is if you can find time to deal with your enemies while your allies yell at you for trying to conquer the world.
The main problem with this game is that it is too hard to conquer the world. Civ III emphesizes foregin affairs more than just killing your enemies, which is the most fun part of the game. Don't even think of playing this game past the third difficulty level, it is impossible. This game is quite fun for the most part but it has some misses that hinder it from being a great game. If you are a Civ fan, buy it. If not wait until Civ 4.