Tempest

1001 Video Games

The Arcade version of Tempest appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Cancelled ports

Tempest was being ported to both the Atari 2600 and 5200 systems, but both were eventually cancelled, even after being featured in a 5200 catalogue with a release date set for the 1983 autumn. Prototypes have surfaced and been leaked onto the internet, albeit in an unfinished state.

Development

Tempest's initial working title and format was as First Person Space Invaders. Following a cool reception at an internal meeting, its display was revised to the cylindrical tunnel (after a nightmare designer Dave Theurer recounted of monsters climbing up out of a pit), but there was one further change needed before the game could hit prime time: early versions of the game kept the player's gun's position constant and rotated the tunnel around it, using a dial. In testing, this was found to make many players nauseated and the tunnel's orientation was fixed, the gun now moving around its perimeter.

References to the game

In the music video Subdivisions, by Rush, a boy is seen playing the coin-op version of Tempest. Right beside the machine there's a Pac-Man one.

Awards

• Happy Computer
  • 1986 - Runner-up as Best Action Game of the Year

Information also contributed by chirinea, Pseudo_Intellectual and FatherJack