SamildanachEmrys's Elite review

I really enjoyed reading this review.

Elite is often wheeled out by the British gaming press whenever they need an article on a landmark home-grown title, so it's nice to see it subjected to a less emotional analysis.

This review made me want to and go look for more info. I learnt that the planet names and info are "procedurally generated," which I think means that they are randomly generated. Also, the music wasn't in the original BBC Micro (the first computer I ever used!) version and is supposed to be a reference to 2001 A Space Odyssey.

Apparently the best version is the Acorn Archimedes one...

Anyway, good review.

> Don't even attempt to deal with the wireframe space stations. In theory it's possible to dock
> manually, but I have yet to succeed in two decades of play. Far safer to use the docking computer

Heh, I didn't even know there was a docking computer. As I recall, my experience of Elite on the Apple II was of being awed by looking at this spinning dodecahedron wireframe space station in front of me, and just crashing into it as I tried to enter it. Many times.

I don't think I ever traded anything or went to another galaxy... of course it was a pirated copy and I had no instructions, and this was a game I'd consider impossible to work out without instructions or guidance.

In light of my own experience, this is the first review I read of this game to gel with it. Usually I just feel like an idiot as I read these reviews about people roaming the universe, etc.

Actually that sums up my experience of Elite too.

Thanks for the feedback. I do have some fond memories of Elite - at the time, it was unlike anything I'd ever played. Sadly it was that (relative) uniqueness, rather than actual fun, that made it appealing.