Tempest 2000

The Good
Quite frankly, Tempest 2000 could have used a bit more work.

The only nice thing about it was really the music and the powerups. But then the same 2 were part of it's downfall (more on that later).

The Bad
OK, It's later. There were a lot of problem with this game that just completely detracted from the gameplay.

The Graphics were... blah. They could have done a lot better considering the state of computers in this day and age.

The Control is lousy. You can either use a joystick or the keyboard. No Mouse options. I would have loved to play the game with the mouse. When playing with the keyboard it is EXTREMELY difficult to control.

The sound is adequate, although the background music gets extremely annoying after a while.

But out of all the different problems, The gameplay in general is the worst. OK, flashback to the original game. The enemies come up from the center of the screen and you shot towards them. The same happens here, but the problem is increased when you get power-ups. The programmers must have thought it would be "cool" if the name of the power up appeared... guess where.... in the MIDDLE of the screen! So the powerups which are supposed to help you win the game end up hindering your progress because they block the view of the enemies as they advance.

The Bottom Line
If you are into Retro-gaming, by all means pick it up for the fact that it's Tempest. But if you are looking for a shooter, by all means there are better ones out there.

The Good
One word sums up this game well: intense. But you probably want more than one word, huh? Okay.

There are numerous enemies, both old and new. The game starts out slowly, but quickly builds so that there's a constant stream of enemies is coming at you. It'll take all your skill and reflexes to keep them from overwhelming you.

Also, the graphics still have a vector graphic style to them, but with added affects like fill effects on the "webs" of each level. There are also several options that allow you to customize the graphics to your taste.

Then there's the powerups. These go against the pure simplicity of the original game, but some of them are just too cool! In particular, there's the ability to jump OFF THE BOARD! This lets you avoid the enemies that you didn't manage to stop and gives you a fighting chance (assuming you've earned this powerup on the current level). The AI Droid is also particularly helpful, basically letting you be in two places at once.

The Bad
Well first of all, Tempest just isn't Tempest without a spinner control. In Tempest 2000, you're forced to use the keyboard or a joystick. With some practice, I've managed to do quite well with the keyboard.

The other problem is they decided to have text messages come towards you from a point in the center of the screen. This can obscure the gameplay and is very distracting. You get used to it with time, but it's a very questionable decision.

The Bottom Line
If you like intense action or are a fan of the original game, check this one out. I never really cared greatly for the original Tempest, but this game I like!

The Good
The basic concept of this game (Shooting things which try to advance towards you through a tunnel, while avoiding their fire and other hazards) makes this a very easy-to-learn game. The only thing you have to do is move either left or right and shoot whenever you're in the right position.

The fact that it has a total of 3 versions of this great game only adds up to the fun! Some might say the windows version is just another way to make easy money, but get this: You get the DOS version on the same disc + the 11 music tracks to listen to using your regular CD player!

Also, this game is as addictive as any game since tetris and ranks high up in the addictiveness charts.

This game doesn't need nice graphics to work and I can see people playing this game for as long as computer-systems can support it's requirements and don't get too fast. (Still playable on an AMD XP 1700+)

The soundtrack of this game is superb and it proves the fact that techno is the perfect music for this kind of game. 11 different songs are worked into the game and every level has one of them with 1 song reserved only for the bonus-levels.

The fact that the tunnels you're playing on are either round or flat, with all kinds of shapes, makes this a very interesting game to play, as some tunnels allow the player to just circle around and shoot everything that moves, (Not a good idea... tust me.) and in the 'flat' levels to just hide in a corner and shoot every enemy who comes near. (Also: not a good idea.)

When you use the 'superzapper', you may notice that all enemies are killed one-by-one, allowing you to just grab the different powerups which come flying towards you with a certain easy. (Not to be misunderstood: the speed of the game is still very high, don't slack off!)

The Bad
The fact that it is easy to learn does make you wonder whether it is just a game for your 5-year old sister or whether it can actually give you some opposition. Well, guess what? The learning curve shoots high up into the sky after the first few levels! There's no way you get an easy shot to the top, you got to battle some crazy opponents which will shoot you before you get the chance to do anything about them!

Also, some opponents produce green spikes on the other end of the tunnel and these spikes remain there until you shoot them. You can't remove them with one shot however, you gradually remove layer by layer of these spikes, while dodging enemy fire and removing the rest of the opponents from the level. If you happen to clear the level before you've removed the spikes, you'll have a hard time dodging them when you advance through the tunnel towards you're next challenge and, if you happen to hit one of these spikes, you get to do the same level again!

Also, the shape of some of the tunnels will allow some opponents to 'hide' behind it, causing you to meet an untimely end when they do emerge. You can choose to make the tunnel-walls transparent, but you have to be pretty fast to decide whether an opponent is located on one side or on the other, resulting in some pretty difficult times when you finally do hit them, because the other opponents won't wait.

Also, the 'bonus-levels' are totally different from the rest of the game, because you have to fly through floating hoops while gradually increasing in speed. This wouldn't be so difficult, were it not that you can only fly up to a certain height and, if you go any lower than that, might not make it back up. Also, if you miss even 1 of those hoops, you will leave the bonus-level and advance towards the next regular level, missing out on a lot of points.

Speaking of points, the system which informs you of the different points, upgrades and other things is made in such a way that it sometimes blocks your entire point of view. It can be altered in the options to be somehow transparent, but it still is a thorn in the eye sometimes.

The Bottom Line
If you love fast-paced action, this is the game for you. If you can't watch fast-moving, flashing screens, don't play this game. In fact, don't even watch someone playing this game!

All in all is the addictiveness rating for this game (On a scale of 1 to 10) 8.5. Once you begin, you don't want to stop!