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Xenon 2: Megablast
Xenon 2: Megablast is a 1989 shoot 'em up video game developed by The Bitmap Brothers and published by Image Works for the Amiga and Atari ST. It was later converted to the Master System, PC-98, X68000, Mega Drive, Commodore CDTV, Game Boy, Acorn Archimedes 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.
Xenon 2: Megablast is the third major video game release by The Bitmap Brothers. Its subtitle is derived from the Bomb the Bass track "Megablast (Hip Hop on Precinct 13)", which serves as the game's theme music. The original release of Xenon 2: Megablast was met with critical acclaim and commercial success, with reviewers praising the detailed visuals, addictive gameplay, variety of weapons and innovative soundtrack.
Xenon 2: Megablast is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up in which the player takes on the role of a starship pilot who must destroy five bombs planted throughout history by the villainous Xenites. The player controls the Megablaster, a small battlecraft that can move in multiple directions, is equipped with a blaster as an offensive measure, and is shielded from enemy attacks and collisions for a temporary period. 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.
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. Each level contains six "restart positions", from which the ship will respawn at the most recent position passed if a life is lost. If all three lives are lost, the game will end. The shield can also sustain damage if the ship is trapped by 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 be defused. The first level only features one boss character, while the other four feature another boss at the level's halfway point.
Capsules can occasionally be found within the levels, and release one of a variety of collectible tokens when destroyed. 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. 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. Xenon 2: Megablast is primarily single-player, but allows for two players to play intermittently.
Xenon 2: Megablast was conceptualized and designed by The Bitmap Brothers (consisting of Mike Montgomery, Steve Kelly and Eric Matthews) and published by Image Works. It is the third major release by The Bitmap Brothers after Xenon and Speedball. Matthews reckoned that "everyone seems to be into destruction and extra weapons in a big way", and sought to satisfy this demand with Xenon 2: Megablast. The development team drew inspiration from Scramble, Gradius and R-Type, and attempted to deviate from the shoot 'em up formula by making the enemy characters less predictable and predetermined. The Megablaster's ability from the previous title to transform into a tank was omitted to make the gameplay more straightforward.
The game was programmed by The Assembly Line, who wrote the code on an IBM Personal Computer and then ported to an Atari ST. The graphics were created by Mark Coleman, who designed the visuals based on Matthews's brief descriptions using both DEGAS Elite and additional animation routines written by Montgomery. The audio was created by David Whittaker, who arranged the Bomb the Bass track "Megablast (Hip Hop on Precinct 13)" as the game's background score. The game's subtitle is derived from this track. The arrangement heard in the title screen includes the samples from the original version, while the arrangement heard during gameplay is slightly stripped down. The development team had been eager to include the track in a shoot 'em up game, with Matthews saying "It's perfect music for a shoot 'em up. It's instrumental, which makes it relatively easy to reproduce on computer, and the title says it all." Rhythm King founder Martin Heath and Bomb the Bass headman Tim Simenon were both avid fans of computer games, and their favourable response resulted in "Megablast" being licensed for the game.
An early version of Xenon 2: Megablast was demonstrated on the Channel 4 programme Signals in mid-January 1989, and the game was formally announced in April. After an additional showing at a promotions event by Mirrorsoft in Amsterdam, Xenon 2: Megablast was released in September 1989. On that month, a promotional sweepstake was run by Computer and Video Games and Mirrorsoft in which contestants who filled and mailed a postcard were eligible to win the grand prize of a Discman and a copy of the Bomb the Bass album Into the Dragon, from which the game's titular track originates. Ten second-prize winners received a copy of the game and a special limited-edition Xenon 2: Megablast t-shirt.
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Xenon 2: Megablast
Xenon 2: Megablast is a 1989 shoot 'em up video game developed by The Bitmap Brothers and published by Image Works for the Amiga and Atari ST. It was later converted to the Master System, PC-98, X68000, Mega Drive, Commodore CDTV, Game Boy, Acorn Archimedes 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.
Xenon 2: Megablast is the third major video game release by The Bitmap Brothers. Its subtitle is derived from the Bomb the Bass track "Megablast (Hip Hop on Precinct 13)", which serves as the game's theme music. The original release of Xenon 2: Megablast was met with critical acclaim and commercial success, with reviewers praising the detailed visuals, addictive gameplay, variety of weapons and innovative soundtrack.
Xenon 2: Megablast is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up in which the player takes on the role of a starship pilot who must destroy five bombs planted throughout history by the villainous Xenites. The player controls the Megablaster, a small battlecraft that can move in multiple directions, is equipped with a blaster as an offensive measure, and is shielded from enemy attacks and collisions for a temporary period. 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.
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. Each level contains six "restart positions", from which the ship will respawn at the most recent position passed if a life is lost. If all three lives are lost, the game will end. The shield can also sustain damage if the ship is trapped by 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 be defused. The first level only features one boss character, while the other four feature another boss at the level's halfway point.
Capsules can occasionally be found within the levels, and release one of a variety of collectible tokens when destroyed. 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. 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. Xenon 2: Megablast is primarily single-player, but allows for two players to play intermittently.
Xenon 2: Megablast was conceptualized and designed by The Bitmap Brothers (consisting of Mike Montgomery, Steve Kelly and Eric Matthews) and published by Image Works. It is the third major release by The Bitmap Brothers after Xenon and Speedball. Matthews reckoned that "everyone seems to be into destruction and extra weapons in a big way", and sought to satisfy this demand with Xenon 2: Megablast. The development team drew inspiration from Scramble, Gradius and R-Type, and attempted to deviate from the shoot 'em up formula by making the enemy characters less predictable and predetermined. The Megablaster's ability from the previous title to transform into a tank was omitted to make the gameplay more straightforward.
The game was programmed by The Assembly Line, who wrote the code on an IBM Personal Computer and then ported to an Atari ST. The graphics were created by Mark Coleman, who designed the visuals based on Matthews's brief descriptions using both DEGAS Elite and additional animation routines written by Montgomery. The audio was created by David Whittaker, who arranged the Bomb the Bass track "Megablast (Hip Hop on Precinct 13)" as the game's background score. The game's subtitle is derived from this track. The arrangement heard in the title screen includes the samples from the original version, while the arrangement heard during gameplay is slightly stripped down. The development team had been eager to include the track in a shoot 'em up game, with Matthews saying "It's perfect music for a shoot 'em up. It's instrumental, which makes it relatively easy to reproduce on computer, and the title says it all." Rhythm King founder Martin Heath and Bomb the Bass headman Tim Simenon were both avid fans of computer games, and their favourable response resulted in "Megablast" being licensed for the game.
An early version of Xenon 2: Megablast was demonstrated on the Channel 4 programme Signals in mid-January 1989, and the game was formally announced in April. After an additional showing at a promotions event by Mirrorsoft in Amsterdam, Xenon 2: Megablast was released in September 1989. On that month, a promotional sweepstake was run by Computer and Video Games and Mirrorsoft in which contestants who filled and mailed a postcard were eligible to win the grand prize of a Discman and a copy of the Bomb the Bass album Into the Dragon, from which the game's titular track originates. Ten second-prize winners received a copy of the game and a special limited-edition Xenon 2: Megablast t-shirt.