334:
308:
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.
391:
Since the
Commodore 64's graphics do not support parallax scrolling, particular trickery was required to achieve this. The way it was done is that the Dreadnoughts' surface is actually the background, and the black empty space and the stars are character glyphs on the foreground. As the Commodore
345:
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
353:
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
260:. 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
392:
64's graphics 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.
39:
233:
354:
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.
319:
306:
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.
878:
357:
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
364:
The final
Dreadnought, Uridium, actually contains only a few screens of gameplay; the bulk of this Dreadnought consists of the "congratulations" message for completing the game (i.e., "
346:
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
510:, 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
1091:
468:
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.
309:
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.
676:
361:. 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.
1041:
783:
497:
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.
1071:
621:
1056:
228:, 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
589:
1081:
833:
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368:"). This is initially 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
214:
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191:
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that cannot be destroyed. It takes a skillful Manta pilot to outfly the mines until they self-detonate.
82:
613:
911:
256:
58:
46:
937:
240:). 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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for its graphics' ability to display depth, as well as the game's robust controls.
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132:
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972:
918:. Vol. 5, no. 12. Sunshine Publications. 20 March 1986. p. 43
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magazine. It was also voted Best Arcade-style Game of the Year at the 1986
38:
966:
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237:
20:
274:, released on 28 March for the Virtual Console in Europe, costing 500
944:. No. 14. Sportscene Specialist Press. February 1987. p. 23
303:
384:, the surface of the Dreadnoughts scrolls horizontally, whereas the
318:
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also liked the game, citing its "detailed and lifelike graphics".
414:
332:
317:
888:
385:
268:
149:
901:
Your Sinclair magazine, Reviews section, issue 12, page 92
774:"The Best Starfighter: A Comparison of Space Arcade Games"
567:. No. 106. Imagine. 16 August 2012. pp. 34–39.
254:
purchased a license to release a game based on the film
826:"New ST Entertainments / From dungeons to outer space"
302:
have been placed in orbit around each of the fifteen
236:, not to be confused with the real metallic element
558:
556:
187:
175:
167:
126:
106:
81:
69:
57:
45:
31:
614:"Review: Uridium (Virtual Console / Commodore 64)"
407:(a modified version containing new levels), and
337:In-game screenshot from the first level of the
322:In-game screenshot from the first level of the
608:
606:
8:
1012:Wii Virtual Console Review on VC-Reviews.com
576:
574:
267:In 2008, the C64 version was a title on the
1092:Video games developed in the United Kingdom
696:
694:
582:"The Making Of Uridium | Retro Gamer"
428:
37:
28:
669:"Commodore 64 coming to Virtual Console"
739:1/1987, pp. 50–51. Available online at
527:
679:from the original on January 20, 2021
537:Hints and Tips for Videogame Pioneers
7:
424:
1042:BBC Micro and Acorn Electron games
713:from the original on July 12, 2020
701:Reed, Kristan (October 26, 2007).
624:from the original on March 4, 2021
14:
733:Uridiumin ja Parallaxin grafiikka
855:"The 1986 CRASH Readers' Awards"
1072:Horizontally scrolling shooters
836:from the original on 2016-12-22
786:from the original on 2018-07-02
782:. No. 45. pp. 24–25.
592:from the original on 2019-07-18
388:in the background stay still.
1:
1057:Golden Joystick Award winners
824:Tevervaugh, Rick (May 1988).
758:Game review, Crash magazine,
298:is under attack! Enemy Super-
248:Nintendo Entertainment System
772:Wilson, David (March 1988).
1082:Science fiction video games
832:. Vol. 7, no. 1.
246:was later released for the
1118:
982:at SpectrumComputing.co.uk
234:fictional metallic element
18:
1087:Single-player video games
813:(11): 100–101, March 1986
762:, issue 35, December 1986
563:"The Making of Uridium".
437:
434:
290:is described as follows:
36:
1067:Hewson Consultants games
916:Popular Computing Weekly
884:Computer and Video Games
879:"Golden Joystick Awards"
204:(released on the NES as
19:Not to be confused with
646:. TEMPE. Archived from
535:Hewson, Andrew (2016).
366:GOOD ZAPPING... TURKEY.
220:originally designed by
865:Newsfield Publications
760:Newsfield Publications
485:Golden Joystick Awards
342:
330:
311:
1097:Virtual Console games
779:Computer Gaming World
675:. February 21, 2008.
539:. Lulu. p. 103.
457:Computer Gaming World
336:
321:
292:
421:Reception and legacy
257:The Last Starfighter
207:The Last Starfighter
867:: 34–35, March 1987
588:. 10 October 2014.
504:'s later releases,
431:
1047:Commodore 64 games
1002:2007-09-27 at the
891:: 101. April 1987.
745:2015-06-10 at the
620:. March 29, 2008.
586:www.retrogamer.net
429:
382:parallax scrolling
343:
331:
64:Hewson Consultants
1102:ZX Spectrum games
1032:Amstrad CPC games
452:
451:
372:Technical details
197:
196:
182:Scrolling shooter
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102:
97:
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87:Andrew Braybrook
1109:
1027:1986 video games
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805:"Uridium Review"
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502:Andrew Braybrook
491:Megagame award.
487:. It received a
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403:was followed by
262:C64 Direct-to-TV
222:Andrew Braybrook
171:28 February 1986
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93:Dominic Robinson
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76:Andrew Braybrook
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29:
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272:Virtual Console
212:science fiction
158:Virtual Console
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99:Nick Eastridge
98:
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27:
26:1986 video game
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16:1986 video game
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961:External links
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707:Eurogamer.net
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673:Nintendo Life
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650:on 2001-08-17
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83:Programmer(s)
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946:. Retrieved
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920:. Retrieved
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858:
849:
838:. Retrieved
829:
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799:
788:. Retrieved
777:
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732:
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715:. Retrieved
706:
681:. Retrieved
672:
663:
652:. Retrieved
648:the original
638:
626:. Retrieved
617:
594:. Retrieved
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344:
339:Commodore 64
327:
300:Dreadnoughts
296:solar system
293:
287:
286:The plot of
285:
266:
255:
243:
242:
229:
226:Commodore 64
218:shoot 'em up
206:
205:
200:
199:
198:
113:Steve Turner
59:Publisher(s)
47:Developer(s)
997:at CPC Zone
990:at Lemon 64
717:October 28,
683:October 28,
628:October 28,
565:Retro Gamer
518:, as well.
435:Publication
326:version of
324:Amstrad CPC
162:ZX Spectrum
138:Amstrad CPC
128:Platform(s)
108:Composer(s)
71:Designer(s)
1021:Categories
948:26 January
938:"Hit List"
922:26 January
840:2016-12-22
790:2015-06-17
654:2007-04-04
596:2018-05-04
522:References
417:platform.
276:Wii Points
135:(original)
96:(Spectrum)
1077:IOS games
1052:DOS games
973:MobyGames
703:"Uridium"
644:"Uridium"
516:Uridium 2
426:Reception
410:Uridium 2
252:Mindscape
250:in 1990.
146:BBC Micro
52:Graftgold
1000:Archived
912:"Charts"
834:Archived
784:Archived
743:Archived
711:Archived
677:Archived
622:Archived
590:Archived
507:Morpheus
460:praised
405:Uridium+
359:joystick
314:Gameplay
224:for the
177:Genre(s)
142:Atari ST
1010:Uridium
995:Uridium
987:Uridium
979:Uridium
968:Uridium
810:Zzap!64
737:C-lehti
512:Uridium
500:One of
495:Uridium
466:Zzap!64
462:Uridium
413:on the
401:Uridium
396:Sequels
378:Uridium
341:version
328:Uridium
304:planets
288:Uridium
244:Uridium
238:iridium
230:Uridium
210:) is a
201:Uridium
188:Mode(s)
168:Release
32:Uridium
21:Iridium
887:(66).
863:(38),
543:
860:CRASH
830:Antic
480:Crash
471:Antic
448:Smash
444:Crash
438:Award
430:Award
415:Amiga
386:stars
376:When
348:mines
121:(NES)
116:(C64)
101:(NES)
89:(C64)
950:2023
924:2023
889:EMAP
719:2021
685:2021
630:2021
541:ISBN
294:The
282:Plot
971:at
514:or
269:Wii
232:(a
154:NES
150:DOS
133:C64
1023::
940:.
914:.
881:.
857:,
828:.
807:,
776:.
735:.
709:.
705:.
693:^
671:.
616:.
605:^
584:.
573:^
555:^
278:.
264:.
160:,
156:,
152:,
148:,
144:,
140:,
952:.
926:.
843:.
793:.
749:.
721:.
687:.
657:.
632:.
599:.
549:.
23:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
