Cardiaxx By Eclipse (UK) Design – A Classic Or Just Pants?

Cardiaxx By Eclipse (UK) Design – A Classic Or Just Pants?

Back on the first launch, I naturally grabbed the (insert cracker).dms(?) file from a popular BBS over what must have been an 800‑baud modem. It took ages. I don’t remember every detail anymore, but I’m certain it took several hours — hours I absolutely couldn’t afford, because back then we paid by the minute. Phone line providers were absolute villains in those days.

Of course, I never paid for anything. My grandparents did. Needless to say, that arrangement didn’t last long once they figured out what I was doing.

The modem wasn’t even mine. I had borrowed it from a guy at school — and the reason he loaned it to me was simple: he wasn’t allowed to use it anymore after his parents nearly killed him over the last quarterly phone bill. (Yes, quarterly. Imagine the horror of that envelope arriving.)

So there I was, happily draining someone else’s phone line budget, downloading a cracked game for hours, and feeling like the king of the world. What a great friend I was, eh?

The Mix & Tricks Of The Yesteryear…

I’ll never forget the moment it finally said: “download complete.” Writing it to disk was a nightmare back then, but my big brother and I had figured out a decent method that avoided too much disk swapping. This was just weeks before I got my first hard drive, so everything still depended on juggling floppies like circus performers.

We had several external floppy drives stacked up just to make the process safer — anything to avoid losing the download if the machine crashed or the power flickered. Those were the days. And honestly, how we managed to pull off half the things we did without a hard drive is still baffling to me.

For years after that, I actually preferred getting disks by snail mail. Even once I finally had a hard drive, the whole process was — to put it gently — a fucking nightmare until proper GUI‑driven, Workbench‑friendly tools became common.

But somehow, we made it work. And looking back, that chaos is half the charm of the era.

Cardiaxx — An Orgasmic Sound Trip…

Cardiaxx finally loaded, and like every snail‑mail delivery or painfully slow download back then, my expectations were sky‑high. One‑disk games were still common, but we were entering that era where multiple disks meant quality (yeah, we were kids, what did we know).

Then the intro hit — clean vector graphics, slick art, and a tune I instantly fell in love with. Was it because I’d spent half a lifetime downloading it and needed to like it? Or was it genuinely magical?

It felt like a scene demo disguised as a game: awesome tracker music, smooth vector objects, that unmistakable Amiga “we’re showing off now” vibe.

And then — BOOM. The most tingling sound slammed in, layered over what felt like a wannabe Iron Maiden track, and it absolutely blew me away.

I was sold. Completely. Instantly. Cardiaxx wasn’t just an intro — it was a full‑on audio experience that hit you right in the spine.

And all this was before I actually tried the game…

Cardiaxx – The Game…

It didn’t take long before I realised this was the game — one that ticked all my boxes and one I knew I’d be playing for days, if not weeks. It was brutally hard, yet at the same time, oddly approachable for a Uridium fan like myself.

It took me a while to fully understand how to play it properly. Yes, it’s very much a Uridium-style experience — insane scrolling speed, a ridiculously huge score counter in the background (yes, I know…), ultra-smooth movement, thumping music, and gorgeous visuals. And of course, it’s a horizontal shoot ’em up — my favourite genre at the time.

I just had to crack how it all worked.

And then it hit me.

The single most hated feature in gaming had made its way in…

A goddamn timer.

AAAAARGH!

Shoot To Pass…

Cardiaxx is, at its core, a very straightforward game. Your objective is simple: destroy all enemies to unlock the next section of the level. Each stage is divided into multiple segments, and across the four (or eight) levels, this can feel like a fairly large game — especially for newcomers.

For more seasoned players of the genre, however, it’s a different story. You’ll likely be able to complete it in under an hour — just like I did last night.

As you improve, you’ll gain access to stronger weapons, and at a certain point, you’ll start to feel almost godlike. It’s very much a case of practice makes perfect.

It’s not a huge game by any means, but it’s a polished experience that absolutely deserves recognition.

Cardiaxx, Two Launches = Still No Dice…

The crazy part about this game is that it became a victim of Electronic Zoo going out of business just a couple of weeks after Cardiaxx launched.

Copies had already been shipped out to distributors, and while the number of boxed units was limited, some still made their way to shops and smaller distribution channels.

The game clearly sold and generated revenue — but none of that money ever reached the developer, Eclipse (UK) Design.

Back then, I never once saw this game in stores. I actively searched for it — along with other Electronic Zoo titles — because I genuinely loved the game and wanted to own it.

Team 17 Presents Cardiaxx…

WTF? A few years later, I received a brochure from Martyn James Brown at a demo party (and much later, a good friend — RIP). It showcased their upcoming Amiga titles, and towards the back there was a section dedicated to a new budget range.

And in that very section? Re-releases of several Team17 titles — as expected — but also completely random picks like Apidya and Cardiaxx.

How crazy is that?

Onto Greener Pastures…

I asked him how it came about that they suddenly started publishing these titles, and he explained that they were expanding the company and wanted to branch out into publishing non-Team17 games as well — especially ones that had struggled commercially.

However, when Cardiaxx was re-released under Team17, there were virtually no changes made beyond the publisher text. That, understandably, left a slightly sour taste to many gamers and collectors out there…

There You Have It, 10 Games On Floppy, Later A Bunch Of CD32 Games…

Anyway — happy days, right?

Cardiaxx was finally within reach for everyone who had been chasing it for years. Budget pricing, a strong publisher, and plenty of copies produced — more than enough to go around.

I made sure to secure my copy at launch. There was no way I was missing out again — and judging by sales, many others felt the same. The entire budget range did well; it was clearly a success.

But then came the shock.

In an interview, one of the coders — Josef — revealed that they had been stiffed once again. This time by the legendary Team17.

In other words, they got burned twice. Not a single penny made its way to the developers at Eclipse (UK) Design.

How that was even possible is beyond me.

And honestly… It’s no surprise the developer walked away from Amiga game development after just that one title.

Oh Wow, It Landed…

Mission accomplished — I managed to secure an original boxed copy back in the late ’90s. I actually stumbled across it by accident, and at first glance, I thought it was a completely different game.

It’s not the most impressive box design out there — I actually prefer the Team17 version — but finally holding the original release in my hands was something special. This is a game I would have happily paid full price for back at launch.

Oh, and yeah, there’s a fullblown story in the manual which is nowhere to be seen in the T17 release.

The craziest part, though, is that I’ve never seen it for sale again. I’m part of several collector groups, as well as plenty of “wanted/for sale” communities, which only makes that find feel even more special.

Verdict…

Cardiaxx is, to me, a very special game. There are undoubtedly better titles on the Amiga — I mean, we even got Uridium 2, another Amiga exclusive — but Cardiaxx still stands out in its own way.

The story behind the game is a sad one, though it wasn’t something I fully understood back then. I probably read about it — I bought and read just about every Amiga magazine available — but I couldn’t grasp why the game never showed up in stores.

Cardiaxx — and its developers — deserved better. As a debut title, it made excellent use of the Amiga 500: running at 50 frames per second, featuring tight controls, strong presentation, and a fantastic soundtrack. It was exclusive, polished, and clearly built with care.

Is it a game you should try? Absolutely. But I can’t guarantee you’ll enjoy it as much as I have over the past 30+ years. After all, this is a game that received review scores ranging from as low as 37 to as high as 81 in the major magazines.

Hate it, love it, appreciate it — or if you have something to say about my article — feel free to drop a comment below.

So, yeah, is Cardiaxx by Eclipse (UK) Design – A Classic or Just Pants?