Xenon 2: Megablast

The Good
Released way back in 1989, this was one of the games that established the Bitmap Brothers as gods of the Amiga games scene. With time it became obvious that the funky, 'metallic' graphics were all they could do, but they fit the game superbly. The Bomb the Bass soundtrack (Amiga only, although amusingly Tim Simenon sequenced the original record with an ST) was the first proper dance / computer game cross-over, years before 'Wipeout', and is fantastically old-fashioned and fun.

The Bad
The actual game itself isn't actually much fun. In keeping with the spirit of the times, it's very hard, unfairly. If you don't have masses of power-ups at strategic points in the game you die repeatedly, 'R Type 2'-style. The Bitmap Brothers struck a much better balance between gameplay and technology with 'Speedball 2', 'Godz' and others.

The Bottom Line
Epoch-making, gorgeous vertically-scrolling shoot-em-up with dodgy gameplay and fantastic Bomb the Bass soundtrack.