Hi! Nice 1998 copy. Yeah, I tried to run that version once and ended up just putting some tape over the L2 button. It makes it play at the 2000 version speed and skips the info boxes between each turn. I think some animations like capturing areas may go even faster than the 2000 version when L2 is held down.

Otherwise, there are a couple differences on the 1998 version such as extra fences on black egg's stage which makes it even harder to get around the map than the 2000 version. Also I have a suspicion that the AI may be stronger on the 1998 release but I'm not 100% sure yet. The few times I've played that version I've seen the AI make competent plays more consistently compared to the 2000 release or maybe I just had bad luck.

The strats are probably going to be about the same in both versions but if it turns out the AI is stronger they might play more aggressively or lay fences more often in the first version.

Most of the egg opponents are straightforward after a couple runs. Last two eggs are the hardest. I need to figure out strats to manipulate black egg since they often take multiple attempts for me to beat. Gold egg can be tricky as well but I find I have better odds if I create my tower in the west corner. I feel like the gold egg is baited to my area more often and sometimes even gets stuck in the northwest coast geometry making them easy to destroy.