Software:Xenon 2 Megablast

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Xenon 2 Megablast
Xenon 2 Megablast Amiga cover.jpg
Developer(s)The Bitmap Brothers
Publisher(s)Image Works (AMI, AST)
Virgin Games (GEN)
Designer(s)The Bitmap Brothers
Programmer(s)The Assembly Line
Artist(s)Mark Coleman
Composer(s)Bomb the Bass
David Whittaker
SeriesXenon
Platform(s)Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, IBM PC, Sega Master System, Sega Mega Drive, Acorn Archimedes, Game Boy, Sharp X68000, NEC PC-88, NEC PC-98, Atari Jaguar
ReleaseAmiga, Atari ST
August 1989
Genre(s)Shoot 'em up
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Xenon 2 Megablast is a shoot 'em up video game developed by The Assembly Line and published by Image Works for the Amiga and Atari ST in 1989. It was later converted to the PC, Sega Master System, Sega Mega Drive, Acorn Archimedes, Game Boy and Atari Jaguar platforms. The game is a sequel to Xenon and takes place a millennium after the previous title. The goal of the game is to destroy a series of bombs planted throughout history by the Xenites, the vengeful antagonists of the first game. The game's subtitle is derived from the Bomb the Bass track "Megablast", which serves as the game's theme music.

Gameplay

An example of gameplay in the Atari ST version of Xenon 2 Megablast.

Xenon 2 Megablast is a shoot 'em up[1] in which the player takes on the role of a starship pilot who must destroy five bombs planted throughout history by the villainous Xenites.[2] The player controls the Megablaster, a small battlecraft that can move in multiple directions, is equipped with a raygun as an offensive measure, and is shielded from enemy attacks and collisions for a temporary period.[1] The game is split into five scrolling levels ranging in theme from the Cambrian era to futuristic metallic spaceways. The levels are primarily inhabited by aggressive lifeforms that have been mutated by radiation emanating from the bombs planted at the end of each level.[3] Attacks from these enemy characters will decrease the player's shield. If the shield is completely depleted, the ship will be destroyed by the next hit it sustains, and the player will lose a life.[1] Each level contains six "restart positions", from which the ship will respawn at the most recent position passed if a life is lost.[4] If all three lives are lost, the game ends prematurely.[1] The shield can also sustain damage if the ship is trapped in a corner of the scenery and is crushed as the screen continues to scroll. The player can reverse the direction of the scrolling to a limited extent by pulling back on their directional input when the ship is at the bottom of the screen. A boss character is found at the end of each level and requires a specific strategy to destroy. When the boss is defeated, the bomb within the level will defuse. The first level only features one boss character, while the other four feature another boss at the level's halfway point.[5] Capsules can occasionally be found within the levels, and release one of a variety of collectible tokens when destroyed.[6] These tokens can augment the ship's weaponry or speed, restore a portion of the ship's shield, or allow the ship to dive into the background for a limited time.[7] Destroyed enemies leave behind currency known as Real Cash, the quantity and value of which depending on the size of the enemy. Real Cash can be used to buy and sell tokens at "Crispin's Swop Shop", which the player can access twice per level.[6]

Development and release

Xenon 2 Megablast was designed by The Bitmap Brothers, programmed by The Assembly Line and published by Image Works. The graphics were created by Mark Coleman, and the audio was created by David Whittaker,[8] who arranged the Bomb the Bass track "Megablast" as the game's background score. The game's subtitle is derived from this track.[9] The Bitmap Brothers announced the game's development six months prior to its release.[10]

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
CVGAMI: 96%[11]
AST: 94%[11]
Zzap!64AMI: 97%[12]
Atari ST UserAST: 10/10[10]
The Games MachineAMI: 96%[9]
AST: 95%[9]
ZeroAMI: 94%[13]
AST: 93%[13]

The Amiga and Atari ST versions of Xenon 2 Megablast were met with critical acclaim. Roland Waddilove of Atari ST User gave the game a perfect score and declared it to be one of the year's best vertically-scrolling shoot 'em ups. He praised the graphics as "superb" (while highlighting the detailed sprites and parallax scrolling backgrounds) and the soundtrack as "very professionally performed", but stated that while the gameplay is "fast and addictive", it lacked originality in the face of a saturated shoot 'em up market.[10] The reviewers of Zzap!64 lauded the game's presentation, visuals and difficulty, and said that while the gameplay was standard for its genre, the wide range of power-ups to enhance the ship with served as a vital difference.[12] The Games Machine described the game as "a truly awesome sight", "a superlative shoot-'em-up", and "a classing sounding, looking, and playing blaster, wholly deserving of the prefix 'Mega'." They commended the "pleasingly vicious" enemy designs as "imaginative and conception and brilliant in execution", the shop feature as "brilliantly presented and cleverly thought-out", and the ability to reverse course as a "great idea ... [that] helps transform an already highly playable shoot-'em-up into a classic, addictive one".[9] Paul Glancey of Computer and Video Games praised the gameplay, graphics and sound and called the game "utterly superb".[11] Duncan MacDonald of Zero declared that the game "is (to date) the DEFINITIVE vertical scrolling shoot 'em up" and "has the best music, graphics, gameplay and doner kebabs this side of Crewe".[13] The loading times between levels and the Swop Shop were criticized.[9][12][13]

The game was ranked the 33rd best Amiga game of all time by Amiga Power.[14] In contrast, Amiga Format's review of the CDTV version (Issue 39, October 1992) was very harsh: they rated it a paltry 32%, commenting that, while innovative at the time it was first released, the game had aged poorly and its gameplay was not well-balanced.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Xenon 2 Megablast instruction manual, p. 5
  2. ↑ Xenon 2 Megablast instruction manual, p. 3
  3. ↑ Xenon 2 Megablast instruction manual, p. 6
  4. ↑ Xenon 2 Megablast instruction manual, p. 9
  5. ↑ Xenon 2 Megablast instruction manual, p. 7
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Xenon 2 Megablast instruction manual, p. 8
  7. ↑ Xenon 2 Megablast instruction manual, pp. 10–12
  8. ↑ Xenon 2 Megablast opening credits
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 "Review: Xenon 2 – Megablast". The Games Machine: 80–81. October 1989. https://archive.org/stream/the-games-machine-23/TheGamesMachine23#page/n79/mode/2up. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Waddilove, Roland (October 1989). "Blast it!". Atari ST User: 36–37. http://www.atarimania.com/atari-magazine-issue-atari-st-user-vol-4-no-08_1133.html. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Glancey, Paul (September 1989). "Review: Xenon 2". Computer and Video Games (94): 52–53. https://archive.org/stream/cvg-magazine-094/CVG_094_Sep_1989#page/n51/mode/2up. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "Zzap! Test: Xenon 2 Megablast". Zzap!64: 70–71. October 1989. https://archive.org/stream/zzap64-magazine-054/ZZap_64_Issue_054_1989_Oct#page/n69/mode/2up. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 MacDonald, Duncan (October 1989). "Review: Xenon II Megablast". Zero: 8–11. https://archive.org/stream/zero-magazine-00/Zero_00_Oct_1989#page/n7/mode/2up. 
  14. ↑ Amiga Power magazine issue 0, Future Publishing, May 1991

External links




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