Uridium certainly caused a stir when we reviewed it back in March, so much so that Andrew Braybrook, the game's creator, has revamped it for a new lease of life. If you missed our review and never played the original game, Uridium has to be the ultimate C64 shoot-'em-up with fifteen screens of the fastest, cleanest and meanest action you're ever likely to see outside a 10p-hungry coin-op.

Andrew's trademark (often copied, rarely equalled) is shiny metal and shadows, which both feature heavily in this sequel.

The action takes place above the surface of a fleet of Super Dreadnoughts in orbit around a planet are designed to extract the particular minerral, from which it takes its name.

The surface of each Dreadnought is littered with aerials and air vents, all of which have to be avoided, and the ship is protected by fleets of fighters and homing mines. Your objective is to reach the Dreadnought's landing strip and activate its self-destruct mechanism.

The Dreadnoughts scroll horizontally beneath you, exposing a complicated array of air vents and communication aerials, all of which have to be avoided - on higher levels, the gaps are so small you have to flip your ship on its side to squeeze through.

The enemy fighters are nowhere near as manoeuvrable as your Manta, but have the advantage of numbers and surprise on their side. Surface features can be straffed for extra points, grounded enemy fighters and surface defences readily fall prey to your twin guns. Homing mines are another major headache, they pop out of their bunkers (occasionally in pairs) and track you incessantly for a few seconds before detonating. Many a time I've run headlong into an air vent while trying to outmanoeuvre one of those dratted mines!

The enemy attacks come in waves of up to six fighters, in a variety of formations. A useful tip here, the speed of an enemy wave is proportional to your speed as they appear! As you near the end of the Dreadnought you will see the landing strip stretched out beneath you. Once you reach it you can land, or hang on and build up your score (the bonus Mantas every 10,000 points are well worth going for) but watch out, the enemy fighters get more vicious the longer you hang around! Landing is simply a matter of lining up your fighter and crossing the threshold - descent and docking are automatic.

Bonus time! Nothing too taxing here, a quick round of 'double or quit' decides your bonus while allowing you a brief respite from the battle. Whatever your level of skill here, the end result is the same - all your bonuses are totalled and the Dreadnought's self-destruct mechanism is primed. Your final task is to fly back over the disintegrating vessel and strafe any remaining surface features. No obstacles this time, just a straight run back to the other end of the Dreadnought and the level is completed!

How does it compare with the original? Well, there's no difference in the way the game plays so it all comes down to the Dreadnoughts themselves. All the Dreadnoughts have been totally restyled, so if you're 'learnt' the originals, you'll be in for a bit of a shock!

The only other difference I can detect is in the landing procedure. In the original, you had to wait until the 'Land Now' indicator flashed, while in the new version you can land anytime.

Talking of bonuses, alongside Uridium II you get an improved and faster version of Paradroid thrown in for free! Paradroid is another of Andrew Braybrook's successes dating back to the end of 1985, a frantic battle to gain control of a space freighter overrun by the ship's misguided droid crew. The game featuers superfast eight-way scrolling, spherical antigrav propelled droids, and the now familiar shiny metal look.

Well, there you have it - fifteen new Dreadnoughts to contend with and a superfast Paradroid, both featuring arcade quality graphics and action of a standard not often seen on the humble C64. Much as I abhor the term, both Uridium and Paradroid are certainly addictive in the extreme! Even if you already own the originals I would recommend rushing out and grabbing a copy, if only to complete your collection.