Xenon 2: Megablast was designed by The Bitmap Brothers and published by Image Works in 1989, with Amiga and Atari ST versions released simultaneously. Its defining trait is the soundtrack: composer David Whittaker adapted Bomb the Bass's "Megablast (Hip Hop on Precinct 13)" for the game, after Martin Heath — founder of the Rhythm King label — and Tim Simenon, the mastermind behind Bomb the Bass, became fans of the game and granted the license; Simenon had, in fact, used an Atari ST to create part of the original track. The game itself is a vertical-scrolling shooter with a shop between levels where you spend collected cash on weapon upgrades, an idea that at the time added an extra layer of planning unusual for the genre. It was a critical and commercial hit, praised for its detailed graphics, weapon variety, and that soundtrack, which linked the game directly to late-1980s British club culture — one of the clearest crossovers between electronic music and video games of the entire era.
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