N2O: Nitrous Oxide

N2O (or N2O: Nitrous Oxide) is a tunnel shooter (similar to the 1980 hit Tempest) notably featuring a soundtrack composed by the American electronic music duo, The Crystal Method. The soundtrack was heavily used to promote the game, and the music is stored in Red Book format meaning the game disc can be played as a music CD on an ordinary CD player. N2O was given an official port on Steam on June 29, 2015, based on the free and open-source emulator PCSXR.

Plot

 * From the instruction manual:

Introduction

Somewhere deep in the future our Galaxy is at war. On the nearby planet of Neptune, forces of evil have initiated their new plans to invade the Earth. By accelerating sub-atomic particles around a tubular shaped circuit known as The Torus, they are developing a race of Super Warriors. Together with advanced genetic engineering, this central birthing canal is capable of producing an army of lethal genetically mutated insects.

Nitrous Oxide, a pollutant by-product emitted inside The Torus, provides a high octane fuel for your Tunnel Runner, but unfortunately it also provides the perfect breeding environment for the secretly incubating species.

Your Mission:

Set a course for Neptune.

Fly your Tunnel Runner into the Nitrous Oxide filled tubes.

Destroy the Super Warriors and genetic mutations before they are strong enough to invade Earth.

Come home for milk and cookies.

Gameplay
N2O takes the form of a tube shooter in which the player shoots insects while collecting "E" coins, mushroom shields, and other psychedelically-themed weapon power-ups. As more and more insects are shot the game increases speed. Besides the single player mode, N2O features a cooperative multiplayer mode with a shared screen or a split screen.

N2O has been noted for its aesthetics and for having smoothly seamless but fast-paced gameplay. It has been suggested that the game is similar in presentation to a Crystal Method concert and that the game is best played at high volume and in total darkness to maximize the "intense and dynamic" effects of data flashers and strobes. The superior audio capacities of televisions (especially those attached to home theater systems) over typical computer systems has been suggested as one of the advantages to restricting the game to the console market and not releasing it as a PC game.

Soundtrack
The Crystal Method supplied the music with tracks from their debut album, Vegas:


 * 1) Trip Like I Do
 * 2) Busy Child
 * 3) Vapor Trail
 * 4) Keep Hope Alive
 * 5) Now Is The Time - Industrial Cloud Mix
 * 6) Cherry Twist
 * 7) Busy Child - Uberzone Mix
 * 8) Comin' Back - Front BC's Comin' Twice Remix
 * 9) She's My Pusher
 * 10) Keep Hope Alive - AK1200 Mix