Even today it's still a grand entry game for kids with an interest in history and historical games.
Despite the factual errors (such as Babylonian buildings not built of sunbaked bricks, or legionnaires without pilum javelins) the game is so captivating as to kindle said interest in even the most shallow TV-hibernating person.
This old classic have been rejuvenated in the shape of the more cartoonish Age of Empire Online, and hopefully a proper remake will come our way in the future. In fact, the same graphics and sounds but with improved gameplay and vastly raised unit cap could make this a simple winner amongst low-price games if the producers were to revisit the 2D original and make the gameplay good enough.