Robbeasy: Can I mention the Great Grandaddy of them all......................which is Elite of course.
Originally played it on the BBC Micro (UK), it blew my mind. Now of course, lovingly brought back to life for modern machines with the wonderful (and free) Oolite.
I urge everyone and anyone with fond memories of the original game to take a look at Oolite - constantly improved, constantly expanded with missions and eye-candy galore. It deserves your attention. Look up the Elite wiki to find Oolite
Of course most of the games mentioned in this thread are far in advance technically, but for pure gameplay Elite was the forerunner and for me one of the best.
Yes, I am that old......;o)
Damn Straight!! I had it on my Commodore 64 - ahhhh good old 5 minute loading times.
I also have a bit of a soft spot for the Privateer series. I played the first game for ages as a straight trading game before I even realised there was an actual storyline to follow. Clive Owen was great in Priv 2 (probably some of his bext work!)