Game 75: Tempest

Name:Tempest
Number:75
Year:1981
Publisher:Atari
Developer:Atari
Genre:TPS (?)
Difficulty:5/5
Time:1 hour 30 minutes

Tempest is one of the weirder arcade titles I've played. Its not entirely clear as to what I'm playing. Not just what kind of shooter, but whether I'm in space or I'm just fighting random geometric shapes. People are always making the case that they don't care much for, well, any aesthetical choice in games. Here's your game bro. I hope its everything you wanted.

Jokes aside, Tempest is...something. Its weird. You play as a thing shooting at other things approaching on a set of lines. If one of the things reaches the end of the line, that doesn't mean its the end of the line for you, you can still shoot it...just don't go over it not shooting. You have a cooldown weapon. It effectively works where if you want, you can shoot single shots, or you can spray. It functions basically like a burst fire weapon if you spray. You also get a sort of smart bomb that destroys anything that's leeched onto your moving area. Its always luck if you can kill the things that latch onto the area you move around outside of that. It controls very well. Which is good because this is one of those arcade titles that are hard to master.

I was struck at how impenetrable this game seemed. For one thing, this is a reflex game of the highest caliber. You need to be fast. My speed limit is about roughly where this game wants me to be. It took me a while to reach level 4. I kept expecting this to get better, but it just wasn't happening. While its cool the way the level shape was changing, its intended trick of making the game harder worked. Too well. This game was already an endurance test and its not clear what I'm supposed to do beyond shooting things until something happens. I need more than that.

Weapons:
I liked the gun. As a burst fire weapon, it was really cool to use. On the other hand, its speed when you're firing in a straight line seems too fast. Its probably mental trickery on my part. 1/10

Enemies:
I believe I saw three enemies types as far as I got. They're basic video game enemy type stuff. One is stupid, one goes in a circle, and another turns into smaller enemies. I guess it should get points for doing this first, but eh. 1/10

Non-Enemies:
None.

Levels:
A series of shapes that technically don't change the way the game is played, it just makes it slightly harder to navigate. 1/10

Player Agency:
You basically just turn and shoot. It works. 3/10

Interactivity:
None.

Atmosphere:
This is something messed up. Its telling how simplistic this is, it still comes off as something alien. 5/10

Graphics:
Very basic wireframes. 0/10

Story:
None.

Sound/Music:
Simple 2600-level sound effects. 1/10

That's 12. A very hard-fought 12. I don't know if this is something I can recommend to someone. Castle Wolfenstein remains my only must-play title of 1981. Tempest starts off hard, then turns tedious. I'm still looking forward to Tempest 2000, if only because of the music.

This game was interesting for one reason that's probably not apparent at first. I played the Atari ST version. This represents the first time that's worked for me. This however lacks the continue function that the original arcade machine had. Oh, well.

Next up in 1981 is Yars' Revenge, which is actually less important than I thought it was. Ending 1981 on a minor disappointment seems appropriate to me.