XENON 2

Xenon 2 is a multiple award winning vertically scrolling shooter that was, at the time, (1989) the best example of the genre bar none.
Piloting the 'Megablaster', its your mission to shoot your way through five levels of increaingly nasty alien scum, all bent on one thing, your destruction. The aliens inhabiting the space of Xenon2 are wonderfully varied and come at you in waves thick and fast, even kamikaze style. Destroying these waves results in the reward of glass orbs which, when collected, can be spent in the shop on powerups for your ship. Xenon 2's shopkeeper has a wide range of goodies to spend your hard earned cash on, from the basic energy boosts to a nice little power up called 'Super Nashwan Power'. Nashwan power is a ten second taster of what your ship is actually capable of, and is a sight to behold as you wipe the floor with anything that dares to enter the screen with you. However, although extremely tempting, your money is better spent on weapons that will last. Learning what weapons to buy and when is all part of the difficulty of Xenon 2 and you will have to discover through trial and error which level is best to buy that rear mounted gun, and in which level the side shot is more suitable.

A nice innovation in Xenon 2 is the ability to stop the screen scrolling and scroll it backwards. This feature isnt just there for a gimmick either as some points in the game actually require you to use this option, either after taking a turn into a dead end of scenery, or to backtrack to attack different parts of the huge bosses.

The graphics are nice clear and typically Bitmap in style. The levels all feature beautiful parallax scrolling which (with the aid of another powerup) can even be dived into, for a few brief seconds of respite from the carnage. The quality of the visuals is stunning throughout and really were top notch for when it was released, and still look more than acceptable today.

The sound was a real selling point for this game when it first arrived as it used 'real' music. 'Megablast' by Bomb the Bass plays throughout the game and compliments the frenzied on screen action perfectly. Using famous artists for games music today is an everyday thing but Xenon 2 is where it all started.

Difficulty wise, Xenon 2 is certainly no pushover. Even the most hardened shooter fanatic will find this game a serious challenge and will have to put in long hours before finally completing it. The difficulty curve is steep, but in my opinion thats what shoot em up's are all about.

Overall Xenon 2 is a fantastic shooter that, while being hard as nails, still manages to be addictive even today. With benchmark graphics and awesome sound, its place is secured in classic gaming history.