A computer game based on the 1999 Columbine High School massacre has provoked outrage from the families and friends of those who died in the shootings.

The game, Super Columbine Massacre RPG, has been available since last year but has recently been making headlines following its discovery by the press.

Created by a coder known only as 'Columbin', the game uses numerous images of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the teenagers who shot and killed a dozen of their fellow students and a teacher before committing suicide.

The content includes crime scene photographs, media footage and quotes, as well as reconstructions of the actual events.

'Columbin' has also created a forum on the website. "The primary purpose this forum exists is to discuss the game's depiction of the shooting, the broader implications of the shooting itself, and related topics of an analytical nature," says a statement on the website.

"Please consider this when posting; this game was created with a sincere intention to understand the shooting from an internalised perspective."

The game has provoked outrage from a number of observers. Some of the more reserved comments on the forum refer to the game and its creator as " insensitive", "sick" and "disgusting".

However, a comment from Richard Castaldo, who was paralysed from the chest down after being shot in the arm, chest, back and abdomen during the shooting, shows some support for the game.

"It probably sounds a bit odd for someone like me to say, but I appreciate the fact, at least to some degree, that something like this was made," he said.

"I think that at least it gets people talking about Columbine in a unique perspective, which is probably a good thing.

"I'm not sure the ultimate intention was to trivialise it. It seemed like the purpose was to expose people to what happened in a unique perspective.

"There are probably a lot of people that would find it and play it out of curiosity, and find out more about Columbine than they usually would have were it not in game form."