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About the BBC Micro cassette version of Elite

Information on the original version of Elite

BBC Micro cassette Elite screenshot

The BBC Micro cassette version is the standard, entry-level version of the original Acornsoft Elite. It was released on 20 September 1984, along with the enhanced disc version, at a launch event at Thorpe Park in the UK.

This is the original Elite, the very first in a huge number of versions for a whole range of different platforms. This was the one that I fell in love with back in 1984, and it still amazes me to this day. The BBC Micro disc version is considered canonical and is probably the best choice to play today, but for those of us who were still saving up for one of those fancy floppy drives back in the day, this was the game that captured our hearts, even though it seemed to take forever to load from tape. Still, it gave us plenty of time to admire that awesome loading screen...

Here are some suggestions for exploring this version of Elite: