Uridium
Side-scrolling speed on the C64
Andrew Braybrook's metallic dreadnoughts, written for the C64 and converted outward. CRASH gave the Spectrum version 90%; Sinclair User gave it full marks.
What the press gave it
The Spectrum conversion arrived in late 1986 and did well: 90% in CRASH in December, 5/5 in Sinclair User in November, 9/10 in Your Sinclair. Sinclair User was still giving it 90% for a budget re-release in 1988.
⚠ The original is a C64 game — Braybrook wrote it there, as he had Paradroid — and its famous scrolling belongs to that machine. The scores above are the conversion’s.
Strafing the dreadnoughts
Released in 1986 by Hewson Consultants, Uridium tasks pilots with strafing enemy dreadnoughts, dodging towers, and landing for reactor destruction. Its smooth scroll and crisp controls made it a C64 showcase.
Fast facts
- Developer: Andrew Braybrook, following the success of Paradroid.
- Tech: 50 Hz scrolling achieved through careful CPU budget and sprite multiplexing.
- Ports: Spectrum and Amstrad conversions reimagined the action with clever compromises.