All That Blitters: Uridium 2
While the transition from 8-bit to 16-bit platforms offered new tools and additional processing power to developers, it also gave publishers the ability to breathe new life into existing properties. As Nintendo moved from the original NES to the Super Nintendo, Metroid became Super Metroid, Punch Out!! became Super Punch Out!!, Double Dragon became Super Double Dragon, Adventure Island became Super Adventure Island, and so on. Each of these sequels improved on the previous generation’s graphics and sound while adding new levels, enemies, and surprises.
One of my favorite games for the Commodore 64 was Uridium, a horizontal space shooter written by Andrew Braybrook (while working for Graftgold Ltd.) and published by Hewson. In the game, players skim the surface of massive Super-Dreadnaught ships in their Manta cruiser and cause as much destruction as possible while avoiding waves of enemy ships and homing mines. After receiving clearance to land, players enter the Super-Dreadnaught and set the ship’s reactor to self-destruct (by playing a bonus game) before quickly exiting and flying away as the enemy cruiser crumbles beneath you.

Uridium plays fast — like, twitchy-reflex fast. Slowly skimming the Super-Dreadnaught’s surface will send homing mines in your direction and make you a sitting duck for incoming enemies. As frantic and addictive as the gameplay is, Uridium is just as famous for its style, from the smooth scrolling of the playfield to the flippity-twist the Manta performs each time it changes direction (an unnecessary yet super cool animation). Uridium became an instant classic on the Commodore 64 and even made appearances on the Commodore 64 Direct-to-TV joystick, THEC64’s Mini and Maxi systems, and even the Wii’s Virtual Console.
Seven years after the release of the original, Graftgold released Uridium 2 for the Commodore Amiga. There was no question that the game would look and sound better on Commodore’s 16-bit hardware. The real question was, would it play just as well?
From the moment the game launches, it is obvious that Uridium 2 offers more, more, more. Even before the game begins, players are treated to a musical intro, complete with a parallax scrolling starfield and animated credits. No longer a one man production, Braybrook was joined on the sequel by a small team of artists and musicians. The Super-Dreadnaughts, which on the C64 were largely unicolor ships with random greebles attached, now appear as multi-layered behemoths with almost too many details and shading effects. As enemy fighters close in behind your ship, the additional details can make it difficult to see where they are — or in some cases, where you are. Everything in Uridium 2 is faster, busier, and louder.

Gameplay has also been updated. Uridium 2 adds bonus items for players to collection, which include multiple weapon upgrades, shields, bombs, and score bonuses. Also new in Uridium 2 is a two-player co-op mode that allows a second player to join the first as a tethered wingman with additional firepower and the ability to take over should Player One meet Ground Zero. To help prevent players from continually getting blindsided by enemy ships, a Defender-style radar of the entire Super-Dreadnaught been added to the bottom of the screen.
The portion of the game that takes place inside the Super-Dreadnaughts has been completely revamped; the original’s bonus-style gameplay has been replaced with an action level where players must blow up a brainy-looking boss to destroy the ship. Fans of 80s and 90s boss levels will be in bullet-dodging heaven.
It is somewhat confusing, given the fact that Uridium 2 expands on the original in almost every conceivable way, that the game is not revered in the same way the original was (and is). Uridium 2 amps up the sound, the music, the colors, the graphics, the enemies, the weapons. and the gameplay… but it also increases the difficulty level, taking a game that was difficult but not unplayable to one that might be, at least for average players. Taking your eyes off the screen long enough to check the radar is a sure fire way to smash into an obstacle. Flying too slow will get you killed; so will flying too fast.
Uridium 2 borders on sensory overload. At times the screen is so busy with ships, enemies, bonus items and bullets that it can be hard to track it all. While the original Uridium pushed my reflexes to the limit, this one taxes just how many things I can track at a time. If you can run as fast as you gun, Uridium 2 is always looking for more pilots to take up the cause.