Elite

A classic, fun game, that will keep you occupied for as long as you can stay awake - Advantages: Simple, fun, Classic - Disadvantages: Addictive, Primitive graphics

Curiously despite its vector graphics and overwhelming sense of deja vu as you visit one planet to the next, Elite remains one of the greatest games ever made. Such was its success during its day that club sprang up around it and its quickly became a cult - and I#m pretty sure its still widely played to this day. The idea behind Elite was simple but amazingly effective. Its a space trading/combat game where you take command of a small ship at the start and must build up some cash by buying goods at a low prices, flying to another planet and selling them at a higher price. You original ship is quite weak in terms of both defences and the size of the hull so you ...

A fact: Elite is the greatest game ever made. With that in mind, how can I possibly continue this review in an objective fashion? Well, bare with me, as that bold opening is based on the premise that, to paraphrase George Orwell, all Elites are equal. It turns out, however, that some Elites are more equal than others… So then, Amiga Elite; released in 1988 by Firebird, some 4 years after the BBC original, this really does look the part. Gone are the vector graphics of the original, replaced by flashy full-colour-polygon space ships and objects. The trading and navigation are spiced up by the additions of brightly coloured front ends, mouse support and the ...