We are still waiting on a suitable Amiga AGA emulator with robust recording features before tackling such games.
Xenon
Xenon, original Amiga game by Bitmap Brothers. C64 conversion by Lothlorien and published by Melbourne House in 1989.
| 
Screenshot |
Player's Review
"From the moment that Captain Xod's face appeared out of the static on the communicator, you knew he was in trouble. As the only other Federation ship in the sector you had to go to his aid. You need to fight your way through sixteen zones, collecting essential supplies for the fleet. At the end of each sector you have a chance to refuel and restock but only after you have defeated the most vicious alien you have ever seen. A strategic vertically scrolling shoot-em-up. You have the option of swapping between two very different craft, to suit the challenge facing you at the time; either a ground based saucer or a well armed, and faster fighter aircraft."
Whilst not an amazing game on any platform, the C64 conversion makes it even less so and is possibly the worst version of all the home systems. The music isn't great and I think the Spectrum game did a better job of it.
Sixteen levels (Zones) are made up of four sectors each with two levels and two boss battles. You can be either a tank or fighter in the first and third sectors although being the tank is mostly useless in this version as you can go very far before needing to destroy higher targets before they get you. You are forced into the tank for the boss battles though. Collision detection is sketchy as enemy shots flicker on/off and can get you while in off state as well as losing energy if you so much as go near the walls.
The levels are fairly short and dying sends you back to the start of each. Interestingly if all lives are lost, you start from the last sector loaded. There is nothing random about the power ups and they always appear in the same location. What is weird is that extra energy can be found right at the start of the sector when you don't need any as your bar is auto refilled. yet Sector two has hardly any energy pickups. The game is endless and loops back round with no changes whatsoever.
Also, the game seems to have a game breaking bug (I never noticed such in other versions) where you will auto destruct as you enter the boss stage if you get there with less than half health as you lose energy the moment you enter the zone.
Overall, a terrible conversion that barely resembles the source material (st/amiga) although i guess it at least has different boss graphics whereas the spectrum game only had the level one boss all the way through.
00:00:00 Music
00:02:25 Zone One
00:06:30 Zone Two
00:10:08 Zone Three
00:13:38 Zone Four
Whilst not an amazing game on any platform, the C64 conversion makes it even less so and is possibly the worst version of all the home systems. The music isn't great and I think the Spectrum game did a better job of it.
Sixteen levels (Zones) are made up of four sectors each with two levels and two boss battles. You can be either a tank or fighter in the first and third sectors although being the tank is mostly useless in this version as you can go very far before needing to destroy higher targets before they get you. You are forced into the tank for the boss battles though. Collision detection is sketchy as enemy shots flicker on/off and can get you while in off state as well as losing energy if you so much as go near the walls.
The levels are fairly short and dying sends you back to the start of each. Interestingly if all lives are lost, you start from the last sector loaded. There is nothing random about the power ups and they always appear in the same location. What is weird is that extra energy can be found right at the start of the sector when you don't need any as your bar is auto refilled. yet Sector two has hardly any energy pickups. The game is endless and loops back round with no changes whatsoever.
Also, the game seems to have a game breaking bug (I never noticed such in other versions) where you will auto destruct as you enter the boss stage if you get there with less than half health as you lose energy the moment you enter the zone.
Overall, a terrible conversion that barely resembles the source material (st/amiga) although i guess it at least has different boss graphics whereas the spectrum game only had the level one boss all the way through.
00:00:00 Music
00:02:25 Zone One
00:06:30 Zone Two
00:10:08 Zone Three
00:13:38 Zone Four
No Comments have been Posted.