I'm writing this as another way of raising awareness on Palladiums troubles.
Due to internal treachery Palladium books has recently been taken for close to a million dollars. Not a sum easily absorbed by a publisher of RPG's. The very definition of niche.
At any rate YOU CAN HELP.
GO TO PALLADIUMBOOKS.COM there you will find information on what has happened and how to help.
Please.
If you love Rifts or any other of Palladiums games as much as I do HELP ME SAVE THEM FROM CLOSING THEIR DOORS FOR GOOD!

I enjoyed this game the first time it came out, and while there are really minor changes, I'd recommend anyone who has to update, as well as new players to fully enjoy this edition. The reasons - first off, it was one of the few "multigenre" games that actually had a setting that made sense; its system (used in all of Palladium's games) is fairly easy and intuitive; the characters are exciting and dynamic; and it just seems to capture the essence of adventuring best over older, more established games.

Siembeda does a great job in packaging this book, making it more durable (hardcover) and beautiful (additional color artwork). His company suffers from many issues, most notably delays (this being no exception), but he and this series deserves gamers' support. If for nothing else that he makes his product inexpensive and worth the wait.

Tne quibble I DO have about a new basic edition for such an established game is how many of the extra books you will no doubt want to buy in order to truly develop a global campaign. It can be expensive, which is why one must take care in finding out just WHAT kind of campaign or world you wish to develop. Here, the author does TRY to take care of the beginner by adding a suggestion section to the back of this book, and I advise anyone buying the Rifts game for the first time to read through it. There's a temptation to buy all, but, as mentioned earlier, costs will keep one from doing so.

Well worth the purchase price.