Tempest

Details

Playtime Not Played
Last Activity Never
Added 16-Dec-24 0:46:22
Modified 16-Dec-24 2:17:50
Completion Status Not Played
Library Playnite
Source
Platform PC (Windows)
Release Date 01-Oct-81
Community Score 79
Critic Score 45
User Score
Genre Arcade
Shooter
Developer Atari
Publisher Atari
Atari Corporation
Electric Dreams Software
Superior Software Ltd.
Feature
Links Wikipedia
Tag

Description

Tempest is a 1981 arcade game by Atari Inc., designed and programmed by Dave Theurer. It takes place on a three-dimensional surface, sometimes wrapped into a tube, which is viewed from one end and is divided into a dozen or more segments or lanes. The player controls a claw-shaped spaceship (named Blaster) that crawls along the near edge of the playfield, moving from segment to segment. Tempest was one of the first games to use Atari's Color-QuadraScan vector display technology. It was also the first game to allow the player to choose their starting level (a system Atari dubbed "SkillStep"). This feature increases the maximum starting level depending on the player's performance in the previous game, essentially allowing the player to continue.

An official port was released for the Atari ST. An official port that bears the Atari logo was released by Superior Software for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron in 1985, and another by Electric Dreams for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC in 1987. Versions for the Atari 2600 and 5200 were in the works in Atari, Inc. during 1984, and unfinished prototypes exist for both of them.