<s>
Xenon	B-Application
2	I-Application
:	I-Application
Megablast	I-Application
is	O
a	O
1989	O
shoot	O
'	O
em	O
up	O
video	O
game	O
developed	O
by	O
The	O
Bitmap	O
Brothers	O
and	O
published	O
by	O
Image	O
Works	O
for	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
and	O
Atari	B-Device
ST	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
later	O
converted	O
to	O
the	O
Master	O
System	O
,	O
PC-98	B-Operating_System
,	O
X68000	B-Device
,	O
Mega	B-Operating_System
Drive	I-Operating_System
,	O
Commodore	B-Device
CDTV	I-Device
,	O
Game	B-Device
Boy	I-Device
,	O
Acorn	B-Device
Archimedes	I-Device
and	O
Atari	B-Device
Jaguar	I-Device
platforms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
is	O
a	O
sequel	O
to	O
Xenon	B-Application
and	O
takes	O
place	O
a	O
millennium	O
after	O
the	O
previous	O
title	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Xenon	B-Application
2	I-Application
:	I-Application
Megablast	I-Application
is	O
the	O
third	O
major	O
video	O
game	O
release	O
by	O
The	O
Bitmap	O
Brothers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
release	O
of	O
Xenon	B-Application
2	I-Application
:	I-Application
Megablast	I-Application
was	O
met	O
with	O
critical	O
acclaim	O
and	O
commercial	O
success	O
,	O
with	O
reviewers	O
praising	O
the	O
detailed	O
visuals	O
,	O
addictive	O
gameplay	O
,	O
variety	O
of	O
weapons	O
and	O
innovative	O
soundtrack	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Xenon	B-Application
2	I-Application
:	I-Application
Megablast	I-Application
is	O
a	O
vertically	O
scrolling	O
shoot	O
'	O
em	O
up	O
in	O
which	O
the	O
player	O
takes	O
on	O
the	O
role	O
of	O
a	O
starship	O
pilot	O
who	O
must	O
destroy	O
five	O
bombs	O
planted	O
throughout	O
history	O
by	O
the	O
villainous	O
Xenites	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
all	O
three	O
lives	O
are	O
lost	O
,	O
the	O
game	O
ends	B-Application
prematurely	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Xenon	B-Application
2	I-Application
:	I-Application
Megablast	I-Application
is	O
primarily	O
single-player	O
,	O
but	O
allows	O
for	O
two	O
players	O
to	O
play	O
intermittently	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Xenon	B-Application
2	I-Application
:	I-Application
Megablast	I-Application
was	O
conceptualized	O
and	O
designed	O
by	O
The	O
Bitmap	O
Brothers	O
(	O
consisting	O
of	O
Mike	O
Montgomery	O
,	O
Steve	O
Kelly	O
and	O
Eric	O
Matthews	O
)	O
and	O
published	O
by	O
Image	O
Works	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
the	O
third	O
major	O
release	O
by	O
The	O
Bitmap	O
Brothers	O
after	O
Xenon	B-Application
and	O
Speedball	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Matthews	O
reckoned	O
that	O
"	O
everyone	O
seems	O
to	O
be	O
into	O
destruction	O
and	O
extra	O
weapons	O
in	O
a	O
big	O
way	O
"	O
,	O
and	O
sought	O
to	O
satisfy	O
this	O
demand	O
with	O
Xenon	B-Application
2	I-Application
:	I-Application
Megablast	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
development	O
team	O
drew	O
inspiration	O
from	O
Scramble	B-Application
,	O
Gradius	B-Application
and	O
R-Type	B-Application
,	O
and	O
attempted	O
to	O
deviate	O
from	O
the	O
shoot	O
'	O
em	O
up	O
formula	O
by	O
making	O
the	O
enemy	O
characters	O
less	O
predictable	O
and	O
predetermined	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
was	O
programmed	O
by	O
The	O
Assembly	O
Line	O
,	O
who	O
wrote	O
the	O
code	O
on	O
an	O
IBM	B-Device
Personal	I-Device
Computer	I-Device
and	O
then	O
ported	O
to	O
an	O
Atari	B-Device
ST	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
graphics	O
were	O
created	O
by	O
Mark	O
Coleman	O
,	O
who	O
designed	O
the	O
visuals	O
based	O
on	O
Matthews	O
's	O
brief	O
descriptions	O
using	O
both	O
DEGAS	B-Application
Elite	I-Application
and	O
additional	O
animation	O
routines	O
written	O
by	O
Montgomery	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
early	O
version	O
of	O
Xenon	B-Application
2	I-Application
:	I-Application
Megablast	I-Application
was	O
demonstrated	O
on	O
the	O
Channel	O
4	O
programme	O
Signals	O
in	O
mid-January	O
1989	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
game	O
was	O
formally	O
announced	O
in	O
April	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
an	O
additional	O
showing	O
at	O
a	O
promotions	O
event	O
by	O
Mirrorsoft	O
in	O
Amsterdam	O
,	O
Xenon	B-Application
2	I-Application
:	I-Application
Megablast	I-Application
was	O
released	O
in	O
September	O
1989	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ten	O
second-prize	O
winners	O
received	O
a	O
copy	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
and	O
a	O
special	O
limited-edition	O
Xenon	B-Application
2	I-Application
:	I-Application
Megablast	I-Application
t-shirt	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
November	O
1991	O
,	O
Epic/Sony	O
Records	O
also	O
published	O
versions	O
for	O
PC-98	B-Operating_System
and	O
X68000	B-Device
in	O
Japan	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Sega	B-Operating_System
Genesis	I-Operating_System
version	O
was	O
programmed	O
by	O
Delvin	O
Sorrell	O
and	O
released	O
in	O
February	O
1992	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Master	O
System	O
and	O
Mega	B-Operating_System
Drive	I-Operating_System
versions	O
were	O
published	O
by	O
Virgin	O
Games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Game	B-Device
Boy	I-Device
version	O
was	O
published	O
by	O
Mindscape	O
and	O
released	O
in	O
October	O
1992	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
version	O
for	O
the	O
Commodore	B-Device
CDTV	I-Device
,	O
also	O
programmed	O
by	O
Sorrell	O
,	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
the	O
same	O
month	O
,	O
and	O
includes	O
a	O
high	O
fidelity	O
remix	O
of	O
"	O
Megablast	O
"	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
voice	O
acting	O
for	O
the	O
character	O
Crispin	O
provided	O
by	O
Richard	O
Joseph	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
version	O
for	O
the	O
SNES	B-Application
was	O
announced	O
the	O
following	O
month	O
,	O
but	O
not	O
released	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
version	O
for	O
the	O
Acorn	B-Device
Archimedes	I-Device
and	O
other	O
Acorn	O
32-bit	O
machines	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
late	O
1993	O
,	O
published	O
by	O
GamesWare	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
May	O
27	O
,	O
2016	O
,	O
a	O
version	O
for	O
the	O
Atari	B-Device
Jaguar	I-Device
,	O
created	O
by	O
AtariAge	B-Application
user	O
Cyrano	O
Jones	O
,	O
was	O
released	O
with	O
Mike	O
Montgomery	O
's	O
blessing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Atari	B-Device
Jaguar	I-Device
version	O
includes	O
a	O
new	O
soundtrack	O
composed	O
by	O
505	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Amiga	B-Device
and	O
Atari	B-Device
ST	I-Device
versions	O
of	O
Xenon	B-Application
2	I-Application
:	I-Application
Megablast	I-Application
were	O
met	O
with	O
critical	O
acclaim	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Roland	O
Waddilove	O
of	O
Atari	B-Device
ST	I-Device
User	O
gave	O
the	O
game	O
a	O
perfect	O
score	O
and	O
declared	O
it	O
to	O
be	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
year	O
's	O
best	O
vertically-scrolling	O
shoot	O
'	O
em	O
ups	O
,	O
but	O
stated	O
that	O
while	O
the	O
gameplay	O
is	O
"	O
fast	O
and	O
addictive	O
"	O
,	O
it	O
lacked	O
originality	O
in	O
the	O
face	O
of	O
a	O
saturated	O
shoot	O
'	O
em	O
up	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gary	O
Barrett	O
of	O
ST	O
Format	O
called	O
the	O
game	O
"	O
extremely	O
addictive	O
and	O
exciting	O
"	O
in	O
spite	O
of	O
its	O
lack	O
of	O
new	O
concepts	O
,	O
and	O
considered	O
it	O
to	O
be	O
"	O
in	O
the	O
same	O
elite	O
class	O
as	O
Blood	B-Application
Money	I-Application
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Tony	O
Horgan	O
of	O
Amiga	B-Device
User	O
International	O
was	O
grateful	O
for	O
the	O
feature	O
of	O
retaining	O
weapons	O
after	O
losing	O
a	O
life	O
,	O
which	O
he	O
felt	O
made	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
balance	O
"	O
perfect	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mike	O
Pattenden	O
of	O
Commodore	O
User	O
observed	O
that	O
"	O
Xenon	B-Application
II	I-Application
pursues	O
the	O
relentless	O
quest	O
for	O
an	O
arcade	O
quality	O
shoot'em	O
up	O
on	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
,	O
and	O
it	O
's	O
probably	O
the	O
closest	O
yet.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Lapworth	O
considered	O
Whittaker	O
's	O
re-sequenced	O
version	O
of	O
"	O
Megablast	O
"	O
to	O
be	O
"	O
an	O
excellent	O
soundtrack	O
"	O
,	O
but	O
expressed	O
disappointment	O
at	O
the	O
arrangement	O
of	O
the	O
Atari	B-Device
ST	I-Device
version	O
,	O
which	O
consisted	O
of	O
"	O
very	O
ordinary	O
in-game	O
spot	O
effects	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Amiga	B-Device
and	O
Atari	B-Device
ST	I-Device
versions	O
topped	O
the	O
Gallup	O
sales	O
charts	O
for	O
their	O
respective	O
consoles	O
in	O
their	O
debut	O
month	O
,	O
and	O
stayed	O
within	O
the	O
Top	O
20	O
charts	O
for	O
the	O
next	O
three	O
months	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
was	O
ranked	O
the	O
33rd	O
best	O
Amiga	B-Device
game	O
of	O
all	O
time	O
by	O
Amiga	B-Device
Power	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Rignall	O
and	O
Leadbetter	O
also	O
complimented	O
the	O
visuals	O
of	O
the	O
Mega	B-Operating_System
Drive	I-Operating_System
version	O
,	O
but	O
were	O
disappointed	O
by	O
the	O
jerky	O
scrolling	O
and	O
poor	O
musical	O
arrangement	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Damien	O
Noonan	O
of	O
Amiga	B-Device
Format	O
rated	O
the	O
Commodore	B-Device
CDTV	I-Device
version	O
a	O
paltry	O
32%	O
,	O
commenting	O
that	O
,	O
while	O
innovative	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
it	O
was	O
first	O
released	O
,	O
the	O
game	O
had	O
aged	O
poorly	O
and	O
its	O
gameplay	O
was	O
not	O
well-balanced	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
middling	O
review	O
of	O
the	O
Game	B-Device
Boy	I-Device
version	O
,	O
Nintendo	B-Application
Power	I-Application
spoke	O
positively	O
of	O
the	O
mechanic	O
of	O
buying	O
weapons	O
to	O
upgrade	O
the	O
ship	O
and	O
the	O
challenge	O
provided	O
by	O
the	O
enemies	O
approaching	O
from	O
all	O
sides	O
,	O
but	O
criticized	O
the	O
slow	O
speed	O
of	O
the	O
ship	O
and	O
the	O
absence	O
of	O
continuous	O
firing	O
.	O
</s>
