Game Review: Uridium Plus (Commodore 64, Rack-It)

Back in early 1986, Uridium wowed Commodore 64 game players. Although graphically, the bas relief look resembled the arcade shooter Star Force, this was not vertical, but left to right horizontal, with fast paced arcade action, fifteen levels of dreadnought ships to tackle, an impressive turn of speed, along with a bonus game at the end of each level. The game stopped anyone in their tracks and demand that it be played, only for your efforts to be felled by a mine that would chase after you, or waiting around for the land now signal to be given. To this day it is a purely addictive shoot-em-up, with the BBC Micro conversion being a close second as all the speed is retained impressively.

Uridium was released as a double pack with Paradroid, but both of them would be enhanced. Uridium would be Uridium Plus with different dreadnought layouts, and Paradroid was the competition edition, which played faster and smoother. In addition, both games would also have enhancements for Commodore 128 owners, and have some gameplay tweaks too. This version also was released as part of Hewson’s Four Smash Hits compilation, which had Exolon, Rana-Rama and Zynaps as the other games. The Rack-It release may not be clear from the front cover, but the inner inlay and indeed when the game is found when loading shows Uridium Plus, and playing it certainly shows it is the Plus version here.

 

Dreading the Dreadnoughts

The basic plot of the game is that the solar system is under attack, with fifteen planets each having a super dreadnought being placed in orbit around them. Each of these super dreadnoughts seeks out a metal required for its metal converter. You have a manta class space fighter, transported to each planet and need to destroy each dreadnought, attacking the defensive fighters and neutralise the ground targets before landing on the master runway to cause the necessary destruction. The manta uses a low-level strafing run, avoiding the meteor shields and communications aerials along the way.

The game loads with a nice attract screen during loading, showing how much time the game needs to load, and the logo showing different colours. The title screen then shows, with a short but sweet soundtrack by Steve Turner which sets the tone well. The screen goes to a scrolling message, the high score table and also rolls into a demonstration mode showing off a level and also what to expect from the enemy ships, the mines, and all sorts. All of that adds really well to the presentation and shows off what the game can do, as well as having the options on the title screen as follows:

• F1 – one player with one joystick in either port
• F2 – two players sharing one joystick in either port
• F3 – two players with two joysticks
• F5 – increase music volume
• F6 – decrease music volume
• F7 – colour mode
• F8 – monochrome mode

All of these when selected are showed by icons or lettering at the top of the title screen. Pressing fire will start the game, and for two players it is each player in turn, and using the relevant joystick – so either sharing one joystick between or playing with their own.  You will also notice that the screen shows settings for PAL (or NTSC if in the US) as well as (1Mhz) for Commodore 64 owners. For the Commodore 128, this shows as (2Mhz) and we will detail the extra enhancements when running on a 128 in Commodore 64 mode.

Dance the Manta Ray

One immediate difference you will notice from the original Uridium that the launch of your Manta at the start of each level is much quicker, and gets you straight into the gameplay. You scroll from the left and head along the dreadnought to locate the landing strip at the far right, with ground objects to avoid hitting, enemy attack wave patterns to shoot down, and also mines to avoid. These are normally released from an area containing a flashing block and if your Manta craft is nearby, the mine will launch, and you will need to take avoiding action including turning around in order to avoid being hit and losing one of your precious lives. Later in the game, these mines get trickier to avoid, especially with more ground objects to avoid, and so becomes suitably frenetic as a result.

Shooting down a complete wave does contribute towards your bonus at the end of the level, and hitting the ground targets also helps increase the score well. The enemy formations can be very fast too and if they fire any bullets at you, be ready to avoid at all costs or lose a life. As you progress to the right, you can of course go faster in the direction you are facing, or go the opposite way to turn around as you need. Up and down moves the Manta in that direction, and if you hold down fire whilst moving up or down, the Manta flips on its side, meaning it can head through narrower gaps on the dreadnoughts. The first one of these you will encounter where this needs to be done is close to the end of the fifth dreadnought, Basilon, and the first time you get there and not realise it, you will be losing lives as a result.

Destroying Dreadnoughts

Unlike the original Uridium, on the Plus version you can land on the runway at the end of the dreadnought at any time – you do not have to wait for the Land Now message complete with siren warning to land. This can prove to be very helpful as you can go through the opening level at some pace and get to the runway and no need to wait, which is a good idea. You can accumulate through the earlier layouts quickly and get to where you might have failed last time around. However, do note that some of the runways can be positioned in tricky places, especially in later levels, where steering and skill are required as well as those pesky mines to avoid.

Once you complete a level, you get to the bonus game, where you need to press fire on the bonus score instead of QUIT when it flashes at the right time. As the timer ticks down, the points added to the bonus added as you progress through up to a maximum of six bonuses decreases, but if you are quick, you can rack up a good 4,000 to 5,000 points plus as an end of level bonus for ship destruction. You also get bonuses for any entire formations of enemies you destroyed, and then the destruct sequence sees your Manta flying left and over the dreadnought. If a ground target is hit you can add some extra points here too, but if you have shot almost all of them, it will be a ceremonious flypast.

Commodore 128 Enhancements

There is more to the game too, especially if you have a Commodore 128. Selecting the Commodore 64 mode and loading the game reveals the fact that the title screen detects the 2Mhz mode available on the 128, and using the VIC-II chip extra registers correctly for detection means that there is some extra screen time to be able to utilise some enhancements.

In the main, these are that there are more stars in the background starfield under the dreadnoughts, giving that a nicer feel, and there are also more bullets that can be shot – not only by you, but also the enemies as well. That is all very nice, and does at least give you a little bit extra visually to take advantage of the extra speed on offer, although it does not make the game any easier either.

Hard To Beat

The original Uridium was difficult, with arcade levels of difficulty in some of the dreadnought layouts and some tight spots to get through, with mines chasing you a lot of the time. Even though the Land Now wait has been removed, that does not make Uridium Plus any easier. Oh no. The controls are smooth as silk and precise, and they respond correctly to your every move. Getting the manta on its flatter side to go through gaps is immensely satisfying. However, the game still can prove to be very difficult when you have a tight gap to go through and an enemy attack wave can head over and fire at you. Some of the landing strips are really hard to get to as well which does mean practice (and lots of it I should add) will make perfect.

Like the original version, if you lose a life, you have to do the whole dreadnought again. Thankfully, as most of these layouts are not that long, it is not too much of a bind to try and get through to the end on one life, but it can prove frustrating if you have lost two or three lives when being hit by the same wave of enemies. That may put some off playing and it is understandable, but the key here is to learn from those errors and instead try something different, even if it is going a little slower to get used to the dreadnought layout and working out where you can safely go a lot faster along towards the runway, and when you need to go slow. And believe me, you will need to in some of them.

Tricky Trickster

If you do get to the fourteenth dreadnought, Trickium, then it is absolutely fiendish, with plenty of tight gaps to steer through including the Manta being on its side for some time, and some mines positioned right near the landing runway does mean that it is one that you may be pleased to get to, but will soon lose lives at a rapid rate in your attempts to finish that. The final dreadnought is Uridium II, and like the original, the second half of which on the right side reveals a message when you fly over it when completing the level and the game – unlike the original’s good zapping turkey, instead you get a different message. You will find out what it is when you get there, but it was nice to see that it was changed too, so you get more for the money and not just a simple re-hash. Credit where it is due.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics in Uridium Plus are just as good as the original, with plenty of good use of the colour palette to bring forth the bas relief style, with its targets on the dreadnoughts themselves. The enemy formations move and fire smoothly with some good animation, and your Manta fighter has impressive animation when you flip directions and turn it over, with a shadow effect as you fly over the surface of the dreadnought too. The scrolling is super smooth even at its fastest pace, and the text used for the score and title screen displays is clear and functional. Although some of the backdrop colours can be a little loud (take note on level two, Zelanite) it all works well and shows attention to detail. The music by Steve Turner on the title screen is iconic, and works well to bring forward the attract mode to the game, whilst the sound effects are a good mix of blasting, explosions and the noise when the mine chases you, as well as the loud siren for the land now warning. It is all thoughtfully put together and works well.

Final Thoughts

The original release of Uridium was one of those games I played which said to me that I wanted a Commodore 64 sooner rather than later, such was its impact on seeing it. The Uridium Plus version here has some good tweaks, and a whole new set of dreadnought layouts to learn and conquer gives it marked differences from the original. Several gamers loathed the waiting around for the land now message, so removing that was a positive for definite. As well as the Commodore 128 enhancements which are welcome, the game still has that addictive quality for one more go to try and beat your high score or get as far as you can, even if the difficulty level is pretty hard from the get go and can get very tricky later on. You will need patience to complete this game and learning time to learn all the layouts and attack patterns, and remembering to dodge those pesky mines, but make no mistake about it, Uridium Plus is still a benchmark for shoot-em-ups on the Commodore 64, and at a budget price it is an essential purchase to play.

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