I first played Xenon 2 : Megablast on the Atari ST and Amiga 500 about 15 years ago. Back then it was highly rated as an addictive shoot ‘em up with great graphics and a wicked soundtrack. Having borrowed it from my friend I found out that the rave reviews it had been getting were definitely on the mark.
The first thing that struck you was the music as the game was starting up – it was like a genuine tune from a dance or techno group – the quality was that good.
Anyway, I always thought that was what the title “Megablast” referred to; not just the fact that you are shooting a lot of bad guys. As for the actual game, well it was a brilliant shooter in the style of space invaders but scrolling downwards as you moved through the levels facing new bad guys of ever increasing toughness. One of the best bits for me was the power ups – when a stage ended you could spend your money you had collected in an alien’s shop (after he’s turned off his stereo which is playing the title tune).
There were all sorts of different add-ons which for me, as a newish gamer, were half of the fun, as well as being needed to get
through the levels. With each power up your spaceship had new weapons bolted on which got bigger and more powerful. I particularly liked having a massive laser. The eye catching, crazy graphics just enhanced the game so much as the aliens were flying around and the bullets and lasers were spraying everywhere. The backgrounds, parallax scrolling and sprites were all also very sumptuous for the time. The only problem for me was that it was quite hard. This wasn’t a big problem though as it was the right level to make you want to come back and keep trying, progressing bit by bit.
All in all I would have to give this game a 9 out of 10. It’s not my favorite genre but it was definitely one which was perfect if you fancied a good blast and was a certainly well ahead of its time.
