[mattrixdesign2]

BBC NEWS | Technology | Classic video game Elite turns 25

Perhaps one of my favourite games of all time, I had it on the BBC and the Amiga. I never got too far in it, I always tempted to fire on the police or blow the space station up!!! I used to love the space jumps, and the radar was so clever for its time. What I liked about to was the simplicity but with a "believable" world.

Any ideas of a version that would run on a hacked PSP? What was the NES version like? Fancy trying to re-live those days.

[Haggler]

Apparently the nes version was the best 8 bit version with the Acorn Archimedes being the best version overall of the original game.

Personally i hated it, but that's a no brainer for me as i hated all these space trading and flight sim games from the 8 bit and 16 bit days, i was always a standard side/vertical scrolling shootem up fan which probably to elite fans lacked depth.

[Kieron]

Best game ever.

Try Oolite Gallery - basically a remake with polished graphics etc.

Free too...

[CAS FAN]

I loved Elite and it really makes me feel old to see that it's now 25!

Without a doubt one of the best games ever released and it was so addictive finding new trade routes, making loads of cash and upgrading ships etc. The fact that you could play the game you wanted to play it (pirate, trader, mercenary or enlist as a combateer) was superb.

It was a game that stretched the imagination, one where you could really take on the role you were performing as really it was a great space sim, strategy game and role playing game all in one.

Very few games will ever have the impact on gaming that Elite had and continues to have.

A true classic!

[The Snake]

Great game, I think the classic bbc game 'Aviator' deserves a mention, its unlikely to be ranked anywhere near the likes of Elite but I remember many a happy flight on Aviator, first flight game I ever played that felt real.

[bonzobanana]

I've played most versions of Elite, I went out of my way to try them all as I was a massive fan. I think my first version was on the Acorn electron, followed by spectrum. The Master 128 version is easily superior to the NES version by a long way. I don't know why Braben says the NES version is best it most certainly isn't. The tube version while 2 processors is still 8bit as well and thats faster and more fluid again. The nes version is a little awkward to play due to having to use the joypad as well.

I liked the Acorn Archimedes version but I was getting a little tired of the game by then after playing so many different versions and also the combat was too samey by then, gaming had moved on.

While I enjoyed Frontier Elite 2, the combat in that is even worse and has aged terribly.

I hope any new Elite game concentrates on getting the ship fighting right first of all.

I have wonderful memories of Elite though. I met Braben once, seemed slightly big headed but overall nice. I seem to remember he had a fondness for disney animated videos at the time.