Tempest
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| Tempest | |
| | |
| Developer(s) | Atari |
| Publisher(s) | Atari |
| Designer(s) | Dave Theurer |
| Release date | Arcade: 1980 (NA) |
| Genre | Shoot 'em up |
| Mode(s) | Single player 1 or 2 players alternating |
| Age rating(s) | N/A Arcade |
| Platform(s) | Arcade |
| Input | Arcade: 2-directional spinner with 2 Action Buttons |
| Credits | Soundtrack | Codes | Walkthrough | |
Tempest is an arcade game released in 1980.
[edit] Gameplay
You control a yellow crab-shaped shooter that travels along the outside rim of a 3-dimensional tunnel, shooting enemies down the alleys of the tunnel while avoiding any coming down the alleys. The tunnel takes on many different forms, and the shooter has a special "superzapper" that enables it to kill all enemies present in the tunnel
You are given a vanishing-point perspective from the top, looking down into a geometric shape. The shapes vary from a line, to a triangle, to a circle, to more complex shapes. Enemies enter from the bottom and work their way up towards the top. Collision with an enemy or an enemy's shot is fatal.
The most common enemy you'll deal with is a flipper, because it will flip around the lanes until it reaches the rim of the playfield, where it continues to flip around until it collides with you. The tanker, which appears in level 3, simply causes two flippers to appear when it is destroyed or reaches the rim. The spiker, appearing in level 4, causes spikes to grow in the playfield, which can destroy your shooter when you travel down the playfield. The fuseball, appearing in level 11, dances around the lanes until it suddenly zooms up to the rim. The pulsar, appearing in level 17, will cause the lane it's on to short-circuit, and if you're on the lane while it does that, you will be short-circuited!
A level is cleared when all the enemies have been destroyed, or the only enemies left are the red shooters that have reached the top of the tunnel. When proceeding to the next level, shoot and destroy, or avoid, the green spikes that are left over, as a collision with them is fatal.
The superzapper will destroy all the enemies on screen the first time it is used. The second time has a much more limited effect. The superzapper will not work a third time. However, the superzapper recharges itself at the start of each new level. The final levels of the game are the green, which begin at level 81, and repeat thereafter with no increase in difficulty.
[edit] Notes
Atari developed prototype versions of this game for the Atari 2600 and Atari 5200, with the Atari 5200 version much closer to completion and having more screens than the Atari 2600 version. However, neither of them have been finished or released.
