Wherein I am asked by Vangelis, during a conversation about the use of his music in the TV show Cosmos hosted by Carl Sagan, about the arcade game Tempest. [apparently this is a 1981 game but I saw it listed otherwise somewhere, which is why I played it. So I'm talking about it anyway]
from arcade-museum.com
I like the sounds and look of this game. Who made it and what is it called? Dave Theurer made this game for Atari with a vector graphics design. It's called Tempest and it uses a spinner to move your "ship" and a button to shoot the enemies. You perch atop a three-dimensional abstract field or tube and roam the edge shooting at enemies coming up from the bottom or inside of it. When you clear them, you travel down the field or tube to emerge atop the edge of another, differently shaped geometric object. Keep going to score points.
from arcade-museum.com
I'd like to do the music for the sequel. You do that Vangelis. I think, however, you should talk to Ridley Scott about his next scifi project based on a Philip K. Dick story.
Little did he know there wouldn't be a sequel (actually a remake) to Tempest until the '90s with Jeff Minter's Tempest 2000. Maybe Vangelis is working with Jeff right now in making Tempest 4000 which should be out soon.
Anyway, once I left Vangelis, I met Carl Sagan and shook his hand. Then I zippped back to the future and jumped on my Xbox One to play Tempest on Atari Flashback Classics Vol. 1.
The Xbox One's controller analog sticks are a nightmare to control movement in this game. Precision is impossible. I also played this in Game Room for Xbox 360. Same issue there. This is the original control deck shown below. A spinner gives you great control and the original game was a blast to play.
from arcadesandmore.com
Did Carl Sagan remind you of how insignificant we all are in the vast cosmos?
Caused me a nervous breakdown. I'll never forgive him.
I've never played the original Tempest, or its sequel, but when I was a kid we had a shareware game on our Mac called Mac Attack which was the same thing (little did I know at the time). I've also played Jeff Minter's spiritual follow up, TxK, on my Vita. I wasn't very good at it! Maybe if I had a spinner thingy to control it with!
I was never very good at it in the arcades but it was pretty unique. I always gave it a few tries.
Ive never heard of this game, interesting information! Id love to have a arcade cabinet at some point.
Cabinets are super cool. I'd have one if I had a garage, which I don't.
Jeff Minter is working on Tempest 4000. I played it at PAX West.
I hear the Tempest arcade machine is a pain in the butt to maintain.
Oh cool! Is Tempest 4000 another remake or is it something newer?
Those vector graphics monitors apparently. The Tempest one was in color. I've heard issues with that one.
Tempest 4000 looked a lot like 3000 and 2000 to me, but I'm no expert.
I watched a trailer. Yes, it's very much the same.
I love everything about tempest but havent played the arcade machine too much. Definitely the best way to play it though
I wish there was a simple solution like buying a seperate spinner. I mean, I could probably cobble one together and make it work if I really wanted to. I wonder if the Elite Xbox controller, the one you can modify alot, can be made to work like a spinner?
Your discription kind of reminds me of Gyruss, except the ship there moves in a circle.
Oh man, I love Gyruss. It's very similar. Galaga in a tunnel.
Did you know the creator of Gyruss went on to make Street Fighter?
Well how about that, that's a fun fact. Small gaming world.
I wish he'd done Gyruss 2.