HEXdidnt
Well-known member
- Joined
- 13 Jun 2021
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Aside from Doom and Lemmings, I think another of the games that's been ported to just about every system imaginable must be the original Elite. I've played the original BBC version, the Spectrum version (which was 'patched' to run on the SAM and sold under rather dubious circumstances) and the Amiga version (Elite Plus)... But I wasn't even aware that it had been ported to the NES until a short while ago, when I found someone selling a copy, complete in box, on the Retro Realm Facebook group.
Naturally, I had to look it up.
Presentation is excellent, and the vectors are surprisingly fluid, given that style of game wasn't particularly common on that machine. One thing that's worthy of note above the cosmetic improvements is a significant 'quality of life' change: you start out with the docking computer already installed. Alongside this, there's a 'fast-forward' button on the control console that allows you to skip straight from detection of a space station and activation of the computer, to being docked... Thus avoiding both the long schlep to the space station's vicinity, and the nightmare of lining up your ship onto the correct - ideally perpendicular - trajectory, matching rotation and then edging into the docking bay.
Your first forward-mounted laser is also substantially more powerful that it was on any of the home computer versions.
Elite is still one of my favourite games, and the main reason I haven't bought Elite Dangerous yet is that I'd probably never stop playing it, so real life would suffer. I have the open-source update, Oolite, but don't even play that for much the same reason. Even so, I think it'd be pretty cool to give the NES port a try one of these days...
...The asking price in the Fb group is £120, though... and I have the Spectrum version (complete box, including the Lenslok!) which I picked up in the Notting Hill Games Exchange many years ago... for 40p.
The guy at the counter literally facepalmed when he saw what was on the price label. I couldn't help but smile, since they could have added a couple of zeros to that price, and I'd still have considered it a bargain.
Naturally, I had to look it up.
Presentation is excellent, and the vectors are surprisingly fluid, given that style of game wasn't particularly common on that machine. One thing that's worthy of note above the cosmetic improvements is a significant 'quality of life' change: you start out with the docking computer already installed. Alongside this, there's a 'fast-forward' button on the control console that allows you to skip straight from detection of a space station and activation of the computer, to being docked... Thus avoiding both the long schlep to the space station's vicinity, and the nightmare of lining up your ship onto the correct - ideally perpendicular - trajectory, matching rotation and then edging into the docking bay.
Your first forward-mounted laser is also substantially more powerful that it was on any of the home computer versions.
Elite is still one of my favourite games, and the main reason I haven't bought Elite Dangerous yet is that I'd probably never stop playing it, so real life would suffer. I have the open-source update, Oolite, but don't even play that for much the same reason. Even so, I think it'd be pretty cool to give the NES port a try one of these days...
...The asking price in the Fb group is £120, though... and I have the Spectrum version (complete box, including the Lenslok!) which I picked up in the Notting Hill Games Exchange many years ago... for 40p.
The guy at the counter literally facepalmed when he saw what was on the price label. I couldn't help but smile, since they could have added a couple of zeros to that price, and I'd still have considered it a bargain.
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