Uridium 2

The Good
Uridium 2 took seven years, and the original was almost a forgotten game by the time it was released. And when it was released, it had to contend with so many other games; this was a time when the Amiga was still supplied with a steady stream of high-quality games. So Uridum 2 was never the instant hit that the original once was, even though it was the perfect update.

Everything in the original Uridium, that showed lots of potential, was in Uridium 2 brought out of the cupboard, polished and fitted together into an amazing piece of craftmanship. Andy Braybrook was no longer a superstar, but this game showed how much his former stardom was deserved. Uridium 2 was released at the same time as another return from the annals of gaming history, namely Elite 2, and both were the kind of immaculate updates of 80s games which, however dated they seemed, contained enough much potential to be remembered by virtue of that alone.

But enough about potential, what about the game? It is, just like its predecessor, a unique kind of "shmup". Go back and forth above a giant space battleship no more than seven screens long, and try to bomb everything in sight. Just like the predecessor, but without the rough edges. The Manta turns silky-smooth. The screen scrolls silky smooth. The dreadnoughts have that particular graphical style which only Amiga games had, for whichever reason. The design, even with its Japanese-style mechs, does not try to mimic something else, and the sound is not bad at all.

The Bad
Like the predecessor, Uridium 2 is very difficult. Still, it's not by far as difficult as the predecessor, hence I can't bring this up as criticism. Even so, failing at the core destruction sequence will always feel unfair, since it is such a minor portion of the game.

The Bottom Line
Like so many other Amiga games, Uridium 2 would be remembered as a classic, had it been released for the SNES or Megadrive. This was not the case, and even the Amiga owners didn't seem to pay the attention it deserved.