Don't be mislead by SE4 simple graphics. If you're an strategy fan, give it a try. You'll be impressed by it's depth.
Then the fourth edition came, bringing significant improvements to the game, including new types of atmospheres, techs and races behaviors, and preserving the awesome ships and units creation tools.
How can I start to describe the incredible gaming experience that SE4 represents? Well, I think I should clarify that the simple graphics and poor sound don't affect the gameplay at all. They may not be as beautiful as the Civ4 or F.E.A.R graphic engine, but they're easy to understand and don't "pollute" the screen. As for the sound, I myself like to play SE4 listening to my favorite songs, in a playlist of about 20 hours(:D). And come to think of it, for a real strategy fan, graphics don't represent that much.
One of the most incredible aspects of SE4 is the ship design engine. With the same techs, 2 players can create complete different ships according to each playing strategy. The tech evolution is well-balanced, and new designs make old obsolete, just like in real life.
The variaty of atmospheres will make the player research other types of colonization, for a quick expansion over the galaxy.
The battle system allow you to plan well you battles, with the option of letting the AI play. But who better to fight than the creator of the designs?
You can create stations to mine planets, send drones to do the job, plant spy sattelites, and, in the more advanced days, explode planets(very cool by the way - kinda like the Death Star) or even stars, destroying the entire system.
Obviously, the always useful mines and fighters are there to safeguard your territory.
The diplomatic system is good, although bested by other more recent games, like civ4. But in this matter I have one complain: the AI even in high difficulty, is somewhat deficient. Although, Malfador is already working on this for the next generation of SE.
The tech tree is huge, allowing players to take complete different research styles, according to it's needs. It's very useful and cool to capture enemy ships to analyse their components, so you can save several turns of research.
Also, the multiplayer is finally working remotely, and playing against humans is a complete different experience than the AI.
Well, for all those aspects, this game is a strategy masterpiece, indispensable for any strategy fan, played in the old turn based style(there is the option of simultaneous, but I preffer the old school), in which you will spend hours of great fun in the 4X galaxy.
I know I did.
:D