345:
319:
Your Manta class Space
Fighter will be transported to each planet in turn and it is your task to destroy each Dreadnought. First you must attack the defensive screen of enemy fighters, then you must neutralise the majority of surface defences before you land on the Super-Dreadnought's master runway.
402:
Since the
Commodore 64's graphics do not support parallax scrolling, particular trickery was required to achieve this. It was made so that the Dreadnoughts' surface is actually the background, and the black empty space and stars are character glyphs on the foreground. As the Commodore 64's graphics
356:
In practice, each level takes place at a fixed altitude just above the surface of the
Dreadnoughts. The screen scrolls horizontally in both directions as the Manta flies over the Dreadnoughts. Each Dreadnought has a different configuration of walls and other structures which must be negotiated in
364:
Only when enough of the
Dreadnought's defenses have been destroyed is the "Land Now!" signal activated, allowing the player to slow the Manta's speed to a minimum and land on the sternward landing zone. After this, the pilot presumably enters the interior of the mothership and sets its nuclear
271:. Rather than program a new game, however, Mindscape decided to take an easier route by recycling an older, relatively obscure game. The title screen, sprites, and soundtrack were modified, but the levels and gameplay were identical. In 2003, it was re-released on the
403:
chip scrolls the screen to the left or right, the character glyphs representing the stars change shape by shifting their single lit pixels to the right or left, countering the scroll of the screen and giving the impression they were stationary.
50:
244:
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reactor to self-destruct. Finally, the Manta takes off again as the
Dreadnought below crumbles to atoms. As the Manta flies over the Dreadnought again, the player has the opportunity to shoot any remaining defences.
330:
317:
in this galactic sector. They are draining mineral resources from the planetary cores for use in their interstellar power units. Each Super-Dreadnought seeks out a different metal for its metal converter.
889:
368:
Later, Dreadnoughts have tricky wall configurations where the gap between the walls is so narrow that the Manta must turn sideways in order to pass through it. This required skillful use of the
357:
order to reach the landing zone. This task is hampered by squadrons of enemy fighters that attack the Manta in waves. Lastly, flashing ports on the
Dreadnought's surface release homing
521:, contained a homing mine enemy called an "Uridimine", as a tribute to the homing mines of Uridium. Some aficionados refer to the homing mines as "Uridimines" when talking about
1102:
375:
The final
Dreadnought, Uridium, only contains a few screens of gameplay; the bulk of this Dreadnought consists of the "congratulations" message for completing the game (i.e., "
479:
were similarly enthusiastic, describing the game as "visually awesome, sonically sound, technically stunning and a brilliant shoot em up to boot". It was rated 94% overall.
320:
Once on board you must pull as many fuel rods as possible from the metal converters before you take off for a final strafing run as the
Dreadnought vaporises into the ether.
687:
372:. More skill could be exhibited (and more points awarded) by ignoring the "Land Now!" signal and destroying the elite fighters that attacked in waves of one.
1052:
794:
508:
reached number one in both the
Commodore 64 and all-format charts in early 1986. Later in the year, it reached number three in the ZX Spectrum charts.
1082:
632:
1067:
239:, and later ported to other 8-bit machines. It consists of fifteen levels, each named after a metal element, with the last level being called
600:
1092:
844:
379:"). This is originally made inaccessible by an impassable wall, but visible in the final overflight when the Dreadnought is destroyed.
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was originally released, reviewers were impressed by the way the
Dreadnoughts were presented. In a simulation of
225:
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that cannot be destroyed. It takes a skillful Manta pilot to outfly the mines until they self-detonate.
93:
624:
922:
267:
69:
57:
948:
251:). The manual quotes Robert Orchard, who invented the name as saying "I really thought it existed".
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The game won the award for best shooting game of the year according to the readers of
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713:
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for its graphics' ability to display depth, as well as the game's robust controls.
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988:
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17:
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929:. Vol. 5, no. 12. Sunshine Publications. 20 March 1986. p. 43
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156:
62:
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magazine. It was also voted Best Arcade-style Game of the Year at the 1986
49:
977:
369:
152:
996:
820:
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248:
31:
285:, released on 28 March for the Virtual Console in Europe, costing 500
955:. No. 14. Sportscene Specialist Press. February 1987. p. 23
314:
395:, the surface of the Dreadnoughts scrolls horizontally, whereas the
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also liked the game, citing its "detailed and lifelike graphics".
425:
343:
328:
899:
396:
279:
160:
912:
Your Sinclair magazine, Reviews section, issue 12, page 92
785:"The Best Starfighter: A Comparison of Space Arcade Games"
578:. No. 106. Imagine. 16 August 2012. pp. 34–39.
265:
purchased a license to release a game based on the film
837:"New ST Entertainments / From dungeons to outer space"
313:
have been placed in orbit around each of the fifteen
247:, not to be confused with the real metallic element
569:
567:
198:
186:
178:
137:
117:
92:
80:
68:
56:
42:
625:"Review: Uridium (Virtual Console / Commodore 64)"
418:(a modified version containing new levels), and
348:In-game screenshot from the first level of the
333:In-game screenshot from the first level of the
619:
617:
8:
1023:Wii Virtual Console Review on VC-Reviews.com
587:
585:
278:In 2008, the C64 version was a title on the
1103:Video games developed in the United Kingdom
707:
705:
593:"The Making Of Uridium | Retro Gamer"
439:
48:
39:
680:"Commodore 64 coming to Virtual Console"
750:1/1987, pp. 50–51. Available online at
538:
690:from the original on January 20, 2021
548:Hints and Tips for Videogame Pioneers
7:
435:
1053:BBC Micro and Acorn Electron games
724:from the original on July 12, 2020
712:Reed, Kristan (October 26, 2007).
635:from the original on March 4, 2021
25:
744:Uridiumin ja Parallaxin grafiikka
866:"The 1986 CRASH Readers' Awards"
1083:Horizontally scrolling shooters
847:from the original on 2016-12-22
797:from the original on 2018-07-02
793:. No. 45. pp. 24–25.
603:from the original on 2019-07-18
399:in the background stay still.
1:
1068:Golden Joystick Award winners
835:Tevervaugh, Rick (May 1988).
769:Game review, Crash magazine,
309:is under attack! Enemy Super-
259:Nintendo Entertainment System
783:Wilson, David (March 1988).
1093:Science fiction video games
843:. Vol. 7, no. 1.
257:was later released for the
1129:
993:at SpectrumComputing.co.uk
245:fictional metallic element
29:
1098:Single-player video games
824:(11): 100–101, March 1986
773:, issue 35, December 1986
574:"The Making of Uridium".
448:
445:
301:is described as follows:
47:
1078:Hewson Consultants games
927:Popular Computing Weekly
895:Computer and Video Games
890:"Golden Joystick Awards"
215:(released on the NES as
30:Not to be confused with
657:. TEMPE. Archived from
546:Hewson, Andrew (2016).
377:GOOD ZAPPING... TURKEY.
876:Newsfield Publications
771:Newsfield Publications
496:Golden Joystick Awards
353:
341:
322:
231:initially designed by
1108:Virtual Console games
790:Computer Gaming World
686:. February 21, 2008.
550:. Lulu. p. 103.
468:Computer Gaming World
347:
332:
303:
432:Reception and legacy
268:The Last Starfighter
218:The Last Starfighter
878:: 34–35, March 1987
599:. 10 October 2014.
515:'s later releases,
442:
1058:Commodore 64 games
1013:2007-09-27 at the
902:: 101. April 1987.
756:2015-06-10 at the
631:. March 29, 2008.
597:www.retrogamer.net
440:
393:parallax scrolling
354:
342:
75:Hewson Consultants
1113:ZX Spectrum games
1043:Amstrad CPC games
463:
462:
383:Technical details
208:
207:
193:Scrolling shooter
133:
128:
113:
108:
101:
98:Andrew Braybrook
16:(Redirected from
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1038:1986 video games
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816:"Uridium Review"
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513:Andrew Braybrook
502:Megagame award.
498:. It received a
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414:was followed by
273:C64 Direct-to-TV
233:Andrew Braybrook
182:28 February 1986
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104:Dominic Robinson
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87:Andrew Braybrook
52:
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1073:Graftgold games
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758:Wayback Machine
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283:Virtual Console
223:science fiction
169:Virtual Console
147:
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110:Nick Eastridge
109:
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38:
37:1986 video game
35:
28:
27:1986 video game
23:
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18:Manta (Uridium)
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972:External links
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953:Your Sinclair
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718:Eurogamer.net
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684:Nintendo Life
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661:on 2001-08-17
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500:Your Sinclair
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94:Programmer(s)
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957:. Retrieved
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931:. Retrieved
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849:. Retrieved
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799:. Retrieved
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743:
738:
726:. Retrieved
717:
692:. Retrieved
683:
674:
663:. Retrieved
659:the original
649:
637:. Retrieved
628:
605:. Retrieved
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367:
363:
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350:Commodore 64
338:
311:Dreadnoughts
307:solar system
304:
298:
297:The plot of
296:
277:
266:
254:
253:
240:
237:Commodore 64
229:shoot 'em up
217:
216:
211:
210:
209:
124:Steve Turner
70:Publisher(s)
58:Developer(s)
1008:at CPC Zone
1001:at Lemon 64
728:October 28,
694:October 28,
639:October 28,
576:Retro Gamer
529:, as well.
446:Publication
337:version of
335:Amstrad CPC
173:ZX Spectrum
149:Amstrad CPC
139:Platform(s)
119:Composer(s)
82:Designer(s)
1032:Categories
959:26 January
949:"Hit List"
933:26 January
851:2016-12-22
801:2015-06-17
665:2007-04-04
607:2018-05-04
533:References
428:platform.
287:Wii Points
146:(original)
107:(Spectrum)
1088:IOS games
1063:DOS games
984:MobyGames
714:"Uridium"
655:"Uridium"
527:Uridium 2
437:Reception
421:Uridium 2
263:Mindscape
261:in 1990.
157:BBC Micro
63:Graftgold
1011:Archived
923:"Charts"
845:Archived
795:Archived
754:Archived
722:Archived
688:Archived
633:Archived
601:Archived
518:Morpheus
471:praised
416:Uridium+
370:joystick
325:Gameplay
235:for the
188:Genre(s)
153:Atari ST
1021:Uridium
1006:Uridium
998:Uridium
990:Uridium
979:Uridium
821:Zzap!64
748:C-lehti
523:Uridium
511:One of
506:Uridium
477:Zzap!64
473:Uridium
424:on the
412:Uridium
407:Sequels
389:Uridium
352:version
339:Uridium
315:planets
299:Uridium
255:Uridium
249:iridium
241:Uridium
221:) is a
212:Uridium
199:Mode(s)
179:Release
43:Uridium
32:Iridium
898:(66).
874:(38),
554:
871:CRASH
841:Antic
491:Crash
482:Antic
459:Smash
455:Crash
449:Award
441:Award
426:Amiga
397:stars
387:When
359:mines
132:(NES)
127:(C64)
112:(NES)
100:(C64)
961:2023
935:2023
900:EMAP
730:2021
696:2021
641:2021
552:ISBN
305:The
293:Plot
982:at
525:or
280:Wii
243:(a
165:NES
161:DOS
144:C64
1034::
951:.
925:.
892:.
868:,
839:.
818:,
787:.
746:.
720:.
716:.
704:^
682:.
627:.
616:^
595:.
584:^
566:^
289:.
275:.
171:,
167:,
163:,
159:,
155:,
151:,
963:.
937:.
854:.
804:.
760:.
732:.
698:.
668:.
643:.
610:.
560:.
34:.
20:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
