Years after it was released and I still play this almost every week. That might be something to do with there being only three in our group and, as they say, three is the perfect number for this game.
I don't think any game has managed to replace this one. The area majority mechanism is very unique (Schacht also used it in his two player game, Shanghaien) and the game is more elegant than El Grande (players don't need to stop and read special cards at the beginning of each round).