Xenon II: Megablast

"The Xenites have returned and thrown time into turmoil. With five time bombs planted through history it is your task to take on the Xenites and save the universe. Xenon 2, cited by the specialist press as being the finest example of its genre; with a mix of superb graphics, and the most impressive sound heard on a home computer, Xenon 2 soon achieved cult status.
With its transition to the superior Commodore CD-TV system Xenon 2 has undergone a transformation. Game play has remained unchanged, but enhancements include a choice of 12 tracks from artists such as Bomb the Bass, S'Express, Betty Boo and Baby Ford; in addition to digitised pictures and biogs of all the featured artists. The game also contains an integral manual with further animations and a choice of five languages, including Xenitese (for any aliens wishing to play). Xenon 2 is now the complete visual and audial experience."

Xenon 2: Megablast, maybe the only release for the CDTV from Commodore that makes some use of the cd format to give you a game that is an improvement over the original floppy disk release. The base game is the same but Colin the shopkeeper now speaks in English instead of his native language. Faster level loading but the main addition is the licenced soundtracks from Bomb the Bass. The floppy game only has the one tune but on the CD we can setup six. A couple are just remixes but we still have a unique track for each level. There are also six other tracks you can hear through the bonus info section or by changing the title screen music. They cant be selected for use in game.

Xenon II is a marmite shooter in that it has it likes and dislikes. The way it plays is a bit different from most other vertical shooters in that you can also move down to avoid bullet fire or change course. You collect credits which you spend to build up your firepower but even here, there are weapon options you can accidently buy that wont likely help much. Some strategy is needed to ensure a good weapon for the level ahead and the shopkeeper does allow you to sell weapons in order to buy different ones. Weapons are powered up by buying the .. Powerup.

My main dislikes is that the ship control is sluggish with slight inertia and the overall scrolling framerate is low. The dim colour palette and the fact that enemy fire also uses the same palette makes there projectiles hard to see, especially when the screen fills up with yours and enemy fire. You get an energy bar and can take a couple of hits, but it goes fast often wondering what hit you. The enemy waves come at you in some odd patterns making some enemy fire hard to avoid.

Overall, this cd release is the definitive version of the game. It might just be the added music, but the experience is better than the original. It is a shame more games didn't take advantage of the cd format. I think I could have better managed the weapon buying and selling to end up with an ultimate laser build but I wanted to show other weapons even if they caused me some issues during play. The bonus sections are quite short but I try to let a little of the music track play before moving on. Pause the video if you want to real the instructions and credits.

Even the the Amiga500 got the A590 CD drive, developers just weren't ready for the amount of storage on offer and how to best utilise it in the games and probably didn't want the headache of breaking them down for a floppy disk release.

00:00:00 Title Music
00:07:10 Level 1
00:15:17 Level 2
00:24:20 Level 3
00:34:26 Level 4
00:43:04 Level 5
00:54:45 Info & Tips
00:58:00 Bonus: Bomb the Bass
01:00:24 Bonus: Betty Boo
01:03:25 Bonus: S'Express
01:06:22 Bonus: Bitmap Brothers
01:07:44 Bonus: Mirrorsoft / Imageworks
01:10:18 Bonus Rhythm King
01:13:23 Music Credits