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ST-urday #018: Xenon & Xenon 2: Megablast

By Mento 2 Comments

I'm looking at the number of games that have been released or will be released for the Autumn of this year and the immensity of it still astounds me. It's no secret that my present list of beaten games, which is a literal list on this website, is packed with many games from last year and depressingly few from this one: that's partly for financial reasons, sure, but we're also living in an age where there's so many notable and play-worthy games from various different markets that I can't see myself stopping this eternal game of catch-up any time soon. I'd either have to raise my standards even further, which I'd hate doing for fear of missing some niche game that hits me just right rather than the perfectly satisfactory games that everyone seems to rate highly, or figure out how to forego sleep. Let's hope the future has an answer to the latter - because make no mistake, after October 21st we're officially finally there.

While my Yakuza 3 playthrough chugs along swimmingly - the story's presently taken a backseat to substory exploration, including a rather tricky golf game and an episode in a batting cage; two Japan-friendly sports I'm not particularly proficient at - I'm also happy to have received the kind gift of Undertale days before I was to cave in and purchase it myself. That'll be a Comic Commish for next month which, uncharacteristically given my "wait until the last second to do anything" approach that has served me well since middle school, I'll be knocking out as soon as November begins. I was also surprised to learn that XSEED's localization of Trails in the Sky: Second Chapter is hitting PSN, Steam and GOG days after this ST-urday goes up, so that'll be another to add to my long list of long but (allegedly) fantastic RPGs to check out alongside Wasteland 2, Divinity: Original Sin, Witcher 3 and, to pre-suppose its quality, Fallout 4.

It's a good time to be an RPG fan, that's for sure. A good time to be a fan of anything, really, with how busy this year's been.

Xenon

No Caption Provided

Conversely, I'm not such a big fan of shoot 'em ups. The genre never grabbed me as a kid: I was terrible at them and I guess I never nutted up and gave one the rote memorization the genre frequently requires. You can do well in certain games on skill and quick reactions alone, but shoot 'em ups and fighters always demanded a little bit more effort before they could evolve from a fun way to waste five minutes to a lifelong passion.

Xenon is a vertically-scrolling shoot 'em up from The Bitmap Brothers: we've encountered these image format frères before with ST-urday #006's Cadaver. Xenon is actually their first game, published as far back as January 1988 according to their own website. That's almost a year before the Japanese release of the Mega Drive and only four months after NEC's PC Engine: considered the earliest of the 16-bit systems. As you'll see below, while there's not a whole lot of visual variation, it's a striking-looking game. The Bitmap Brothers and their in-house artist Dan Malone would eventually become renowned for their incredible presentations, often overshadowing the competent but unremarkable gameplay of their games. Credit too goes to David Whittaker's music, which hits the right level of blip-bloopy tension and excitement: Stage 1, Stage 2.

Xenon's very much a sum of its parts; those parts being inspiration clawed from various different extant shoot 'em ups of some repute. The most apparent of these would be Namco's 1982 game Xevious, thought to be the father of vertically-scrolling shoot 'em ups but also known for its variation of ground-based and air-based enemies which required different weapons to defeat. There's elements of vertical run-and-guns Jackal and Commando too, and of Konami's Gradius. Xenon was the first shoot 'em up I think I ever owned, so a lot of these inspirational sources were lost on me at the time. Shmup fans will probably recognize a few more below, if they haven't already stopped reading as soon as I said "shmup".

Welcome to Xenon! I like that it takes the Arcade route of having an inert
Welcome to Xenon! I like that it takes the Arcade route of having an inert "Game Over" version of the HUD up on the screen. Always made it feel as if the game's anxiously waiting for the next playthrough.
Each stage starts with this goofy little video clip of a guy (presumably your General Pepper-esque commander) announcing which
Each stage starts with this goofy little video clip of a guy (presumably your General Pepper-esque commander) announcing which "sector" you're on. Video clips! In a 1988 home video game!
The tank is multi-directional, like the jeep in the aforementioned Jackal, and while the player cannot return south, they are capable of changing direction to fight enemies from eight angles. Power-ups follow the then shmup-standard single-letters: R boosts the tank's speed (
The tank is multi-directional, like the jeep in the aforementioned Jackal, and while the player cannot return south, they are capable of changing direction to fight enemies from eight angles. Power-ups follow the then shmup-standard single-letters: R boosts the tank's speed ("rate") while P adds more range to its bullets ("power").
I mention the tank
I mention the tank "mode" because there's also a jet plane option you can switch between on the fly (so to speak). The plane can hit flying enemies and high gun turrets, but doesn't have the multi-directional freedom of movement the tank enjoys. The game also starts auto-scrolling in this mode.
Flight can be convenient for skipping over the annoying ground-based enemies that home in on your craft, but it means potentially missing out on the score/power-ups you earn for destroying them. The player a health bar - it's the blue line next to the
Flight can be convenient for skipping over the annoying ground-based enemies that home in on your craft, but it means potentially missing out on the score/power-ups you earn for destroying them. The player a health bar - it's the blue line next to the "F" - so it's occasionally worth getting your hands dirty with the tank.
The homing missile power-up is very overpowered compared to the others, but the game only allows you to have it for about twelve seconds. Darn.
The homing missile power-up is very overpowered compared to the others, but the game only allows you to have it for about twelve seconds. Darn.
The jet-only lasers, however, stick with you for the whole level. You can see which power-ups are activated on the bottom right panel. Homing missiles and the A power-up have their timers underneath.
The jet-only lasers, however, stick with you for the whole level. You can see which power-ups are activated on the bottom right panel. Homing missiles and the A power-up have their timers underneath.
These grumpy looking faces, the Sentinels, are the game's everpresent bosses and Xenon's most overt Gradius reference. Like the Big Cores of Gradius, the goal is to remove the barrier to the boss's only weak point with accurate fire.
These grumpy looking faces, the Sentinels, are the game's everpresent bosses and Xenon's most overt Gradius reference. Like the Big Cores of Gradius, the goal is to remove the barrier to the boss's only weak point with accurate fire.
Removing the two barriers allows you to attack the ship's core (or giant nose, it looks like) directly. Later instances don't change the formula, but they do change the path the boss travels in to make it harder to hit that core.
Removing the two barriers allows you to attack the ship's core (or giant nose, it looks like) directly. Later instances don't change the formula, but they do change the path the boss travels in to make it harder to hit that core.
The second half of Sector One has a lot of forced jet sections. You can't get over these walls without transforming.
The second half of Sector One has a lot of forced jet sections. You can't get over these walls without transforming.
Though, naturally, I've managed to take a screenshot when the power-up wasn't flashing, the ship is presently invincible thanks to the Armor
Though, naturally, I've managed to take a screenshot when the power-up wasn't flashing, the ship is presently invincible thanks to the Armor "A" power-up. If I felt like it, I could shift to the tank and run into these glowy blobs without suffering harm.
Sector One ends with another Sentinel fight, though instead of spending most of his time on the top of the screen, this one will sweep across the bottom to keep things interesting.
Sector One ends with another Sentinel fight, though instead of spending most of his time on the top of the screen, this one will sweep across the bottom to keep things interesting.
Stage 2 drops you in the shit almost right away, and there's no longer an opportunity to turn into a tank. It definitely feels more like a standard vertical shoot 'em up.
Stage 2 drops you in the shit almost right away, and there's no longer an opportunity to turn into a tank. It definitely feels more like a standard vertical shoot 'em up.
Anyway, I'm just going to die a lot from here on out, so we'll bring this to a close.
Anyway, I'm just going to die a lot from here on out, so we'll bring this to a close.

Xenon's the only shoot 'em up I spent a lot of time with as an ST-owning kid. It wasn't the only shoot 'em up I owned at the time - the system was swamped with them, thanks to the relative ease of programming them and their popularity in the Arcades - but the visuals and sound went a long way to get me hooked on trying to stay alive. Plus, I always appreciated having a health bar and intermittent health boosts to keep my little croissant-shaped tank ticking. The Bitmap Brothers wouldn't be done with Xenon, however...

Xenon 2: Megablast

No Caption Provided

Xenon 2: Megablast was The Bitmap Brothers' follow-up to Xenon, released the following year in 1989. It marked one of the earliest cases of a recurring The Bitmap Brothers' tactic of "downgrading" a popular song as their game's MIDI opening theme track. In this case, it was Bomb the Bass's 1988 hip-hop/dance track Megablast, also the origin of the game's subtitle. Later The Bitmap Brothers games would also employ "collaborations" like this with the world of popular music. (You can listen to the Xenon 2 version here.) The original track is, in turn, inspired by and references John Carpenter's theme music for his movie Assault on Precinct 13, in case the hook sounded familiar.

Another curious bit of trivia is that this game was coded by The Assembly Line. We've met these guys before too, back with Demo Derby Alpha's Helter Skelter. Xenon 2 also had the privilege of being released for the Sega Master System, Sega Genesis and Nintendo Game Boy, expanding its reach beyond what most Atari ST/Amiga games could manage. I've no idea who created that box art, but it sure is something.

Xenon 2 definitely got something of a graphical boost, and it was equally well-regarded by the press of the day, but it didn't click with me like the first one did. It lost the tank mode, for one thing, and despite the more complex visuals it didn't seem to variate the enemy patterns a whole lot. Whereas Xenon was almost all turrets and auto-tracking ground enemies, Xenon 2 had a nasty case of the Galaga swoopers. (If your Galaga swoopers persist for over eight hours...) With so many enemies flying in from the sides of the screen and far more real-estate given to your ship's sprite, it was hard to anticipate collisions in time. The game also had a mean streak a mile-wide: I couldn't say for sure whether Xenon 2 was harder than the first - it not only had generous checkpointing for when you lost a life, but also let you restart at those checkpoints after using a continue - but the fact that I couldn't reach anything resembling a boss below should give you a sign of how easy it is to stay alive in this game.

Welcome to Xenon 2: Megablast! That bad cropping/centering job is on them, not me.
Welcome to Xenon 2: Megablast! That bad cropping/centering job is on them, not me.
Xenon 2 goes more
Xenon 2 goes more "Life Force" than "Gradius" in this sequel, filling the screen with creepy biomechanical visuals. The various lifeforms clinging to the slate-like walls look like alien barnacles and anemones.
Xenon 2 throws in a lot of geographical complexity, but like Xenon 1 won't penalize you for colliding with the landscape. This is also true for most of the inert creatures on those walls. Those tubeworm things won't attack you directly, but certain enemies will fly in and out of its orifice. Man, maybe don't read this ST-urday while eating, huh?
Xenon 2 throws in a lot of geographical complexity, but like Xenon 1 won't penalize you for colliding with the landscape. This is also true for most of the inert creatures on those walls. Those tubeworm things won't attack you directly, but certain enemies will fly in and out of its orifice. Man, maybe don't read this ST-urday while eating, huh?
These centipedes are the worst: each segment is a separate enemy, and they can quickly destroy the ship by flying through it. Also, at some point, I picked up a butt-cannon that fires backwards. Upgrades in Xenon 2 never disappear after losing a life, thankfully, though you can sell them.
These centipedes are the worst: each segment is a separate enemy, and they can quickly destroy the ship by flying through it. Also, at some point, I picked up a butt-cannon that fires backwards. Upgrades in Xenon 2 never disappear after losing a life, thankfully, though you can sell them.
The split path in the above screenshot lead to this unfortunate scenario if you go right, but Xenon 2 does give you the uncommon ability to scroll the screen backwards. It does means pressing down the bottom of the screen to shift downwards, however, and that puts you at the mercy of any enemy that spawns from that direction.
The split path in the above screenshot lead to this unfortunate scenario if you go right, but Xenon 2 does give you the uncommon ability to scroll the screen backwards. It does means pressing down the bottom of the screen to shift downwards, however, and that puts you at the mercy of any enemy that spawns from that direction.
Destroying most enemy formations - that is to say, every instance of an enemy type as they swoop in - drops these
Destroying most enemy formations - that is to say, every instance of an enemy type as they swoop in - drops these "credit bubbles". These add to an invisible money total which will come into use...
...here, at the store. These just seem to happen randomly, unlike the visible storefronts of Fantasy Zone or Ordyne. You first get the option to sell whatever power-ups you've found so far.
...here, at the store. These just seem to happen randomly, unlike the visible storefronts of Fantasy Zone or Ordyne. You first get the option to sell whatever power-ups you've found so far.
And then you have the option of buying new power-ups. Some of these are consumable one-offs, while others are permanent. The circled
And then you have the option of buying new power-ups. Some of these are consumable one-offs, while others are permanent. The circled "A" is actually just advice from the brawny prawn-y shopkeeper, which isn't all that helpful.
The game has a bad habit of creating a lot of over-elaborate sprites. This enormous side-cannon thing doesn't have to be this big, surely?
The game has a bad habit of creating a lot of over-elaborate sprites. This enormous side-cannon thing doesn't have to be this big, surely?

Xenon 2 is one of those games that wowed reviewers at release but has clearly been hit with the poor aging fairy due to its emphasis on style over substance. It does have a handful of interesting ideas for the genre, like selling undesirable power-ups to put towards more desired ones and being able to reverse the scrolling to fix for errors, but having all those enemies flying into your enormous slow ship becomes maddening after a while. Still, how many games have I covered so far have Master System and Game Boy adaptations?

(Back to the ST-urday ST-orehouse.)

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