Tempest 2000

"You'd swear you were having an Out-of-body experience"

I'm a collector of old systems both U.S and Japanese. Though I import and order the majority of my systems, I often enjoy looking around thrift stores and flea markets to see if I cant get games/consoles at dirt cheap prices. Anyway I was touring around the almost empty Pensacola flea market unimpressed by the lack of stalls that were carrying old video games. That was until I came across a booth that had 2 Atari Jaguars on display, both hooked up to a TV and playing 2 different games. One of the Jaguars was playing the wannabe Starfox game Cybermorph, and the other was playing Tempest 2000. After Purchasing both the Console and Tempest for $20 all together, I immediately when home to try out my new toys. 20 minutes later I think I had a seizure.

Tempest 2000 is probably the trippyest game I have ever played in my life. With its impressive graphics, really really REALLY bright colors, and its intense action, It is easy to see why this is probably the best game on the Jaguar, if not the only reason to own one.

Gameplay-10/10
The Action is very similar to Konami's Gyruss. Your "C" fighter is on a grid in which you can rotate 360 degrees. The enemies are also on this grid, in which you fire at them to collect power ups and clear a level. Each level consist of a unique grid to fight on, different enemies that get harder the farther you play through the game, and different power-ups you gain by shooting down a number of enemies. These power ups range from stronger weapons to a co-op CPU that shoots down enemies with you. After you clear all the enemies in the stage, you are instantly warped to the next stage where you are stripped of the power-ups that you gained in the previous stage, thus having you collect new power-ups in order to get by the stage easier. You lose a life when ever you are hit by enemy fire, or if an enemy ship get too close. If you loose all your lives, then the game is instantly over. The overall game-play of Tempest 2000 is easy to learn, but hard to master.

Graphics- 7/10
The reason I give the graphics on this game a 7 is not because they're necessarily bad. In fact in some instances they're TOO good. The games bright 3D graphics created a very surreal atmosphere that adds to the games experience, but sometimes these graphics such as the power-up and bonus images are so bright and "in your face" that they can distract you from the game you are playing, thus lead to what could be an easily avoidable death. Other than the distracting elements, the graphics are mostly polygons you would find in most early 3D games like Starfox. If anything the characters and objects look like the ones from Geometry Wars. Other than some rather stunning visuals, and a very dreamy game environment, These are not the best graphics I have seen in a "64" bit game.

Music- 10/10
At first I thought the game had no music. I was flipping through the options seeing if the BGM was turned off, only to find you have too press the 0 button on the keypad in order to turn the music on or off. After I got that fixed, I was treated to one of the best in-game soundtracks I have ever heard. Even though its not like the music that you would find in something like a JRPG that gets stuck in your head for years, Its the type of music that syncs perfectly with the game and graphics too created the overall stunning environment of the game. Even though this game actually has a soundtrack for it, which was rare for games to have back in the 90's, its best heard when playing the game itself.

Overall- 9/10
With all the crap that was released on the "crapper" system, Its good too know that there were a few good games released on it that make it more than a collector's item today. Tempest 2000 is a prime example of "That One Gem Title" that even makes the worst of systems a pleasure too have in your collection.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/20/09

Game Release: Tempest 2000 (US, 04/01/94)