Tempest
- Genres
- Shooter Arcade
- Platforms
- Amstrad CPC · ZX Spectrum · Arcade · Atari ST/STE · BBC Microcomputer System · Acorn Electron
- Release
- Arcade Oct 1981 Exact BBC Microcomputer System 1985 Month only Acorn Electron 1985 Month only Amstrad CPC 1987 Month only ZX Spectrum 1987 Month only Atari ST/STE 1989 Month only
- Credits
-
A
Atari
AC
Atari Corporation
SS
Superior Software
ED
Electric Dreams Software
PS
Paradox Software
- Board status
- —
About
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.