During a routine trading mission in the Far Arm, the crew of the Princess Blue came across a single-seater freighter, emitting a distress signal. Donning his EVA suit, one of the party, a rookie merchant-marine, floated from the Princess' airlock toward the smaller vessel.

Inside, all was silent, but there were no signs of damage, and as he flicked the power switch on the main console the craft came alive. After deactivating the distress system the marine prepared to make his way back to the Princess Blue when a vast explosion rocked the Jolly Roger, hurling him to the deck with such force that he blacked out. Regaining consciousness a moment later, his eyes widened as he looked through the ship's forward viewing plate. The Princess Blue was nothing but a cloud of glittering metallic shards, hanging in the emptiness of space!

Activating the tracker on the console, his fears were confirmed; his party - the captain of which was his own father - had been the tragic victims of a Manchi raiding mission. One thought filled his mind - retribution. Opening the throttle of the Jolly Roger, the lone avenger forged silently through space...

Space Rogue is a space trading game set in the eight systems of the Far Arm Cluster which are your marketplace as well as your battleground. As well as piloting the Jolly Roger through the void, the quest entails docking at space stations and starbases where you can explore buildings, interacting with the inhabitants to trade, repair any damage to the ship, glean information from battle-scarred veterans, get drunk at the bar or even play the latest video game!

There's a host of alien craft out there - some friendly, others not so hospitable - and it's up to you to figure out exactly whose side they're on. And with only a paltry laser cannon to defend yourself at the outset of your mission, your judgement had better be right first time!

Elite, to many connoisseurs of the digital space-opera is the be-all-and-end-all of the genre. But after playing Space Rogue for some considerable time, I have to say (and I'm putting my neck on the block here) that we now have, at the very least, a true contender for Elite's title and, at most, a game which beats the all-formats classic hands down in terms of graphic excellence and general playability.

Where Elite fell down was the fact that there was no real conclusion, apart from gaining Elite status. Space Rogue, on the other hand, has a definite quest involved which, in my mind, makes for a much more enjoyable game.

But what really makes Space Rogue something special is the ability to land and walk around in the space stations, interacting with the various people stationed there. As with the Ultima games from which this section is obviously derived, it's very enjoyable as well as being necessary to completion of the quest - which makes up for the slightly disappointing in-flight combat which, although nicely done (with its spectacular external views) pales somewhat in comparison with Elite's dog-fighting.

For depth of gameplay though, I think Space Rogue knocks spots off Braben's all-time great. Why not buy it and make up your own mind?