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Feb 28th, 2015 at 19:55:44 - Tempest (Arcade) |
Tempest is a "shoot 'em up" (shmup) developed by Atari Inc in 1981. Like most games of that genre, the objective of Tempest is to survive for as long as possible while simultaneously scoring points by destroying enemies. The design of Tempest is unlike many other shumps, in that it does not allow for free two-dimensional movement. More widely known games like Gradius or R-type allow the player to freely control the x and y coordinate of the player. In tempest, however, the player is fixed to the edge of a 3 dimensional hollow figure, and only movement along the "rim" of this figure is allowed.
This fixed movement also defines a large part of how enemies operate in Tempest. Enemies rise-up from the bottom of the level-figure toward the player at the top. The player must then destroy these enemies and avoid their bullets by aligning themselves to be 'above' the enemy and firing down into the hollow shape. If an enemy reaches the "top" of the level where the player resides, they will begin to travel along the edge toward the player. As the player can only fire down into the figure, he or she cannot damage these enemies in the typical way. Instead, the player must use the "super-zapper", which may be activated once per level to destroy all enemies currently on screen.
When a level is completed, the player will automatically "warp" to the next level, which consists of a different geometric shape, as well as more difficult and varied enemies. Some levels are made more difficult by not being "connected". That this, the level may take a "V" shape, so when on the left the player has only one route to the righter (versus an "O" or "8" shaped level).
The player is initially given three lives, which, if lost, trigger a game over. Losing one life restarts the current level. Tempest cannot be won, although the level counter will stop incriminating after 99, one of the 16 designs will be randomly chosen for subsequent levels.
Generally, Tempest is a very enjoyable game. The simplicity of the gameplay allows the player to grasp it very quickly. The skill ceiling is, however, very high. In some of the later levels, the field becomes invisible, not unlike the infamous Tetris: The Grand Master. The version available at (chrome.atari.com/tempest/), is enjoyable, but seems to have some issues with controls, making playing the game more difficult. Accurate emulators do not experience such issues.
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