☆ The A To Z Of Atari - T is For ☆ #Retrogaming #GamersUnite

T is for...........

TEMPEST

Tempest is an absolute iconic Atari Arcade game from 1981.

When you see the wireframe graphics on screenshots you recognise this game immediately and it is held in high regard to this day as being another piece of ground breaking work by the master programmers and designers at ATARI.

Here’s some things that you might not know about Tempest…..

1. The Claw Shaped Space Ship Is Named 'BLASTER'

2. Tempest used Atari’s Colour Quadra Scan Vector Display Technology

3. Atari named the feature which allowed you to skip levels as “SKILLSTEP”

4. It is widely thought that Tempest was one of the first examples of a video game where the levels changed as they got higher rather than just repeating the same level but at a higher difficulty

5. The weapons which destroys all enemies on screen in one go is called “SUPERZAPPER”

6. The game consists of 16 screens and when all sixteen have been completed the sequence repeats with a different colour scheme and higher difficulty level

7. The game was originally meant to be a 3D remake of Space Invaders

8. The design came from a dream by the game designer where monsters crawl out of a hole in the ground

9. During the prototype stage of development the game was named “Aliens”, “Vortex” (which I quite like) and finally “Tempest”

10. Three different arcade cabinet designs exist for Tempest:

1) Upright Cabinet 

2) Cabaret Cabinet 

3) Cocktail Table Cabinet

11. The legend that is Jeff Minter created two authorised sequels – Tempest 2000 (Atari Jaguar) and Tempest 3000 for Nuon Enhanced DVD Players

12. An unfinished prototype for the Atari 5200 port was discovered in 1999 and the original programmer resumed work on finishing the port which was eventually released on the Atari Age store in 2013

13. After the original arcade game was released, an arcade owner named Duncan Brown modded the game and made a more difficult version called “Tempest Tubes”

There you have it…..

13 Tasty Tempest Pieces For You To Digest...

Tempest, WE SALUTE YOU!