By the summer of 1989 the Bitmap Brothers were famous enough that their names sold the game, and Xenon 2: Megablast was sold on their names even though they had not written its code. They came up with the concept and oversaw everything “from graphics to guardians”, ST Format explained, while a team called The Assembly Line did the programming. The result was a vertical shoot-’em-up with a shop, a shopkeeper who took off his Walkman to haggle, and a hip-hop record on the title screen. ZZAP! called it “quite simply the definitive Amiga shoot-’em-up”.
Fast facts
- Design: The Bitmap Brothers (Mike Montgomery, Steve Kelly and Eric Matthews).
- Programming: The Assembly Line. Graphics: Mark Coleman.
- Music: David Whittaker, arranging Bomb the Bass’s “Megablast”.
- Publisher: Image Works, Mirrorsoft’s label; £24.99 on the Amiga and ST.
- Released: autumn 1989, reviewed in the October issues.
- Later versions: PC, Sega Master System (1991), Mega Drive (1992), Acorn Archimedes and others.
Who made it
Xenon 2 was the Bitmaps’ third major game, after Xenon, published by Melbourne House, and Speedball, their first game for Mirrorsoft’s Image Works. ST Format’s profile in October 1989 set out who did what. The Bitmaps “came up with the game concept and oversaw the entire project from graphics to guardians”, while The Assembly Line wrote the program. The code was written on an IBM machine and then moved across to the ST. Mark Coleman, who had drawn Speedball, did the graphics in Degas Elite, with extra animation routines written by Mike Montgomery. The Games Machine made the same point in its review: “Although not programmed by the Bros, a development team called The Assembly Line do a great job.”
The game had changed in development. When The One visited in May 1989, Eric Matthews explained that the ship had originally been able to turn from a tank into a fighter, as in the first Xenon, but the idea “was dropped in favour of a more straightforward blast”. “Everyone seems to be into destruction and extra weapons in a big way,” he said. “We wanted to satisfy this demand.”
Five time bombs
The story is the usual excuse. A thousand years after the first Xenon, the Xenites have planted five time bombs at points in Earth’s history. Each of the five levels is a different period, and the aliens evolve as you go. The first is a primeval sea of anemones, tadpoles and trilobites, ending at a giant nautilus shellfish. Then come insects, with a huge spider at the end; a level stuffed with fish and piranhas; dinosaurs; and finally a metallic future of robot craft. Every level after the first has two big guardians.
The ship scrolls slowly up the screen, but it can also move back down the level, which The Games Machine thought turned “an already highly playable shoot-’em-up into a classic”. Another add-on let it dive to a lower layer beneath the action for a few seconds, while the aliens multiplied overhead. Zero was pleased that losing a life did not send you back to the start of the level, only to the last of several restart points in it.
Crispin’s Swop Shop
Destroyed aliens leave cash bubbles behind, and twice a level you spend it. The shopkeeper, Crispin, is a horned reptilian alien who turns off his Walkman as you enter; The Games Machine noted that he frowns and rubs his chin before making an offer, “but don’t expect a good price!” He will buy back your add-ons for about half what they cost.
There was plenty to buy. ZZAP! counted 24 items and ST Format 29, priced from 200 to 6,000 credits: rear and side shots, lasers, mines, homing missiles, a flamethrower, drones and “Super Nashwan Power”, which fitted every weapon for about ten seconds. The cheapest item was advice about what to buy next. Some add-ons also turned up in capsules left by destroyed aliens, but the heavy weapons had to be bought.
“Megablast”
The music was a record. Bomb the Bass’s “Megablast (Hip Hop on Precinct 13)” played over the title sequence, and David Whittaker arranged it for the game, working from samples of the recording, as Computer and Video Games reported. On the Amiga the boot disk played a sampled version, and a simplified arrangement continued in the game if you wanted it; otherwise you got the sound effects, in which every weapon had its own voice. Zero noted that Tim Simenon, who was Bomb the Bass, wrote his music with an Atari ST. The Bitmaps’ dealings with Bomb the Bass’s label, Rhythm King, later helped give them the idea for their own publishing label, Renegade.
When ZZAP!’s readers voted on Amiga music in July 1990, Xenon 2 came top.
Reception
The reviews were close to unanimous:
- ZZAP! (October 1989) gave the Amiga version a Gold Medal and called it “the definitive Amiga shoot-’em-up”.
- The Games Machine (October 1989) gave the Amiga version 96% and called it “by far the best blaster of the year so far”.
- ACE (October 1989) rated the Amiga version 910 and the ST version 905 out of 1,000, adding that the game “almost lives up to the hype”.
- ST Format (October 1989) gave the ST version 90%, placing it “in the same elite class as Blood Money”.
- Zero’s preview issue said it “IS as brilliant as you were expecting it to be. Maybe it’s even better.”
Not every reviewer thought it new. ACE found “elements of just about every shoot-’em-up you’ve ever played… from Space Invaders through to R-Type”, and Zero thought the Bitmaps had learnt about playability “from the arcades — and in particular from R-Type”. Most added that it did not matter. Amiga Format put a playable demo on its coverdisk that month, and in May 1991 Amiga Power ranked the game 39th in its All-Time Top 100.
Later versions
A PC version followed; PC Gamer later called it “an average version”. Image Works published a Master System version in 1991, and Mean Machines reviewed the Mega Drive version in February 1992. By late 1992 Virgin Games was advertising the Sega versions, after Mirrorsoft’s collapse. Mirrorsoft’s budget label, Mirror Image, had reissued the Amiga version at £9.99 by September 1991, and an Acorn Archimedes version was on sale by 1993. Reference works also list a CDTV version and a Game Boy version in 1992, Japanese versions for the PC-98 and X68000, and an Atari Jaguar version published in 2016 with new music.
Sources
- The One issue 8, May 1989: “Megablast!” preview and progress report (Eric Matthews on the dropped tank idea and “satisfy this demand”); Mirrorsoft’s release schedule for Image Works.
- ST Format issue 3, October 1989, p. 82: review by Gary Barrett, 90% (the Bitmaps’ concept and oversight, The Assembly Line, the IBM-to-ST port, Mark Coleman and Degas Elite, 29 add-ons from 200 to over 5,000, advice, Bomb the Bass).
- ZZAP! issue 54, October 1989, p. 70: Amiga review, Gold Medal, £24.99 (five evolutionary phases, two guardians per level, Crispin’s Swop Shop at half price, 24 items, Dive, Super Nashwan Power, the Bomb the Bass album track, “definitive Amiga shoot-’em-up”).
- The Games Machine issue 23, October 1989, pp. 80–81: review, Amiga 96% (The Assembly Line, Mark Coleman, David Whittaker, the horned reptilian shopkeeper and his Walkman, prices from 200 to 6,000, reversing, “best blaster of the year so far”).
- ACE issue 25, October 1989: review, Amiga 910, ST 905 (five levels, Crispin’s swop shop twice per level, “13th Precinct Hip Hop”, “almost lives up to the hype”).
- Zero preview issue, October 1989: review (the five time zones, the restart points, the sampled soundtrack, Tim Simenon and the ST, R-Type).
- Computer and Video Games issue 94, September 1989: ST review by Paul Glancey (David Whittaker’s use of samples from the recording).
- Amiga Format issue 3, October 1989: coverdisk demo.
- Amiga Format issue 20, March 1991: Renegade’s origins in the Bitmaps’ dealings with Rhythm King.
- ZZAP! issue 63, July 1990: readers’ Amiga music chart.
- Amiga Power issue 1, May 1991: All-Time Top 100. Issue 5, September 1991: budget chart (Xenon 2, Mirror Image, £9.99).
- Mean Machines issue 12, September 1991: Image Works advertisement for the Master System version. Issue 17, February 1992: Mega Drive review.
- Computer and Video Games issue 132, November 1992: Virgin Games advertisement (Xenon 2 © The Bitmap Brothers, © 1992 Virgin Games).
- Acorn User games review supplement, December 1993: the Archimedes version.
- PC Gamer (UK) issue 5, April 1994: “an average version of Xenon II: Megablast” on the PC.
- Wikipedia, “Xenon 2 Megablast” (web, secondary): the CDTV, Game Boy, PC-98, X68000 and 2016 Atari Jaguar versions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenon_2_Megablast