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It’s time to kick it old-school with the Atari and Llamasoft’s release of the newest incarnation of a classic arcade game,Tempest. From the man behind Tempest 2000, Jeff Minter, comes Tempest 4000. The new release of this classic arcade game is an important moment and one that has quite the history for game and creator.

The original iteration of the game, Tempest, was originally released in 1981 as an Atari Arcade Cabinet. The chief designer and engineer of the game was Dave Theurer. Visually, the game featured a vector-based presentation and colorful line graphics simulating a 3D effect. The player would be looking at the center of the screen, down at the enemies coming toward them, creating a deep 3D perspective, This is also the first the first video game to ever this.

Theurer introduced some revolutionary mechanics, like progressive level structures, making history in the process. However, as revolutionary as Tempest was, the game’s sophistication came at a price. The arcade cabinets for Tempest were notorious for breaking, as well as being a challenge to fix. Still, despite this, the game went on to earn a popular status among gamers around the world. The original Tempest was selected as a highlight for the Smithsonian Art of Video Games Exhibition in 2012.

In 1994, Jeff Minter, the founder of Llamasoft, created Tempest 2000, a familiar successor to Tempest with an entirely new direction for the Panasonic 3DO. The game featured new 3D graphics, tight controls, and a rocking soundtrack. It became the highest selling game for the ill-fated 3DO, as well as a legendary title to some in the gaming community. Multiple successors and sequels were made over the coming decades, including a spinoff, TxK, for the PlayStation Vita, also created by Minter.

Regrettably, in 2015, Atari approached Minter, filing a Cease & Desist order. Atari accused Minter of infringement and plagiarism because of TxK. This forced Minter to cancel porting TxK to other systems. For several years, the two sides clashed over Tempest, TxK, and the comparisons of the two games, with the gaming community rallying behind Minter. After much deliberation, Minter helped Atari create and release Tempest 4000, and the game was launched for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC platforms.

I’ ve had the chance to play this newest game from the era of arcade classics, it is a 3D tube shooter using vector-based graphics and extremely polished gameplay. Featuring exciting arcade gameplay and incredible visuals. Tempest 4000 and as fun to play as it ever has been before. The game puts players on a spaceship, known as “The Claw,” which can crawl around levels, based on geometric shapes. Enemies will appear to form the center and crawl up to the player. The objective is to destroy them while handling the different challenges that each shape represents. Players will have to keep a close eye on avoiding fire, as it is easy to get lost in the bright color visuals With well over 100 levels and several game modes, Tempest 4000 is a must-play for all gamers and a testament that arcade games are timeless.

Do you parents have any memories of playing Tempest? Ready to dive into the colorful world of arcade bit-blasting? Let us know!