Tempest 2000

History

The original design appeared first on the early Atari console game cartridges in 1981and was designed by Dave Theurer. In 1991, Jef "Yak" Minter designed a next generation Tempest game called Tempest 2000 for the new Atari Jaguar game machine. The game now had new enemies, a techno soundtrack, and better graphics.

Company Line

The first time you did it you were excited, frustrated, and you lasted about 10 seconds.

It's back. Will you be any better?

Excitement. Destruction. And killing. It's Tempest 2000. With over 90 levels of challenging game play, bonus warp worlds and evil enemies. Even more excitement. Even more destruction. And more killing than ever before. It's Tempest X3, exclusive to the Sony PlayStation! With all-new weapons, badder bad guys, and a stickier web.

Hey, we'd like to say you're ready this time. But that would be a little premature, now wouldn't it.

Game Play

There are three game modes: Tempest Plus, Tempest 2000 and Tempest Duel. There are 90 levels of game play which incorporate enemies called flippers, spikers, spikes, fuseballs, pulsars, tankers, mutant flippers, mirrors, demon heads, adn UFOs. Each enemy has its own way from attacking from within and above the web to catch you off guard. Bonus modes and levels result from playing well.

"The reason Tempest was such a success in the early arcade era is because the gameplay itself was addictive, easy to learn, and fun to play," said Trish Wright, vice president of marketing for Interplay Productions. "When Tempest 2000 was created for the Jaguar system in the early 90s, it became an instant hit and virtually sustained the platform. Now Windows 95 and Macintosh users can enjoy the game as well."

Plot

The goal of the game is to survive while avoiding missiles and spikes that fly up at you from the depths of a growing web, while shooting at the advance of the color patterns toward the outside of the web where your shooting platform rotates around the periphery of the screen. The web vortex is suspended in space and will continue to grow unless held in check by quick reflexes and a fast trigger finger.

Graphics

The graphics are much better than the original game.

Animation

Voice Actors

Music Score

The music is the electrical techno music that is produced by a synthecizer and really works well with the high tech game and graphics.

Sound Effects

Utilities

Unfortunately, the current game does not use a pinwheel controller which precisely controlled the direction of the bolts that moved down the webs created by the tempest. Saving your bacon often involved spinning the controller very quickly to the desired location firing and spinning again and firing, over and over again. Any loss of the speed the controller provided eliminated you from the competition. Without the controller the game is not quite as much fun.

Multi-player Features

There is a special two-player VS mode allows two players to compete on the same machine.

Cheats, Hints, Walkthrough

Journalists

References

Interplay's Tempest 2000 Web Site Kevin J. McCann, Computer & Net Player, volume 3, number 10, pg. 82, 70%.

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