Elite

Happy 25th Birthday Elite and may you always be considered an outstanding game.
 
I honestly find it astounding that this awesome game had trouble finding a publisher because it didn't have a high score table.  Lucky Acorn Soft weren't of the high score table / three lives mentality and released it on it's original platform the BBC Micro.  I remember using the BBC Micro at school with it's distinctive black keyboard and orange function keys, oh man do I feel old now.
 
BBC Micro:
MOS Technology 6502 chip running at 2MHz (the same processor used in the Atari 800 XL , Commodore VIC-20 and the Apple IIe etc.  It's direct successor the 6510 was used in the Commodore 64).
32K RAM
8 colours
640x256 pixel resolution
4 channel SN76489 sound chip
 
A mighty machine and worth a purchase just to play some of the BBC's games.

I wasn't familiar with the original, and I only came upon Elite II many years after it was made, but in playing it realized just why so many people loved it.  It was one of the first of the multi-role space sims, bringing new depth to space combat and resource management that was begun by the old Star Trek games and games like Star Raiders.  Here's a BBC article and video with gameplay:
 
  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8266017.stm
 
Currently scrating that space-sim itch for me is the primitive graphics/tons of features ASCII Privateer, a remake of the old Privateer game with extra features added.  Now you can board other craft, fight the crew, and take their loot.  Pretty cool.  Once you get past the graphics it's quite addictive, as long as you don't mind the space flight being top-down instead of first-person.
 
Anyone space-simming it lately?