Previous Next

The smash hit game Elite for the BBC Micro is now finally available for the Commodore 64. This will undoubtedly please many people, including one dedicated Commodore owner who, when the game first appeared, was heard to mutter: "It's almost worth buying a BBC Micro to play Elite!"

Elite is a 3D space shoot-'em-up, space flight simulation and tactical trading and adventure game, all rolled into one. Armed with a Cobra Mk III trading and combat craft and a forward facing pulse laser, you must take on the galaxies - all eight of them, each with over 250 planets.

By careful trading between planets with different economic profiles you can gradually increase your ship's capabilities.

Adding a large cargo hold is probably one of the first items to consider, allowing you to make larger profits per trip. More and more powerful lasers, an energy unit, energy bomb and ECM system give you a better chance of surviving numerous encounters with the dastardly pirates. If you happen to trade in illegal goods, it's not only the pirates who'll be after you!

As your proficiency improves, so does your rating - starting from Harmless, through Mostly Harmless, Poor, and so on until the lucky few finally attain Deadly and Elite.

The Commodore 64 version is a fairly faithful copy of the original, only differing in one or two minor areas. For instance, the docking computers on the Commodore version are particularly special. Though they are supposed to be supplied with memnSomn pilot interaction to induce hi-cram sleep, most pilots will want to stay awake to hear a beautiful rendition of The Blue Danube, right out of 2001.

One major change is the use of a points, rather than ships system to calculate the player's rating. This means that the age-old tactic of pitched battles with the police outside space stations no longer gets you anywhere. Instead, you've got to get out there and hit the anarchy systems.