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Tempest 4000


Gregory DG

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My review is that it's Tempest 2000 for today's TVs. :)

 

Seriously, it doesn't seem to have anything different or special (or recall worthy). I've played it for a grand total of maybe twenty minutes so far, so if there's anything crazy, I have yet to see it. If you've played TvK on PSTV, you've played this already. If you've played Tempest 2000 on your platform of choice, really, you've played this.

 

Shoot this. Get the supperzapper. Get the jump. Watch out for The flower pedals. Tilt the controller to fly thru the rings. The achievements seem, for the most part, out of my reach, as I'm generally only good for fifteen or twenty boards before my eyes start to betray me. I saw one that was like "don't die for 51 levels," which I don't know I've ever been good enough at any version of this game to do. Controls okay; would work better with a spinner. The game still mainly tries to overwhelm you with visual input. And, for me, succeeds.

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I doubt we'll ever see Defender 4000 (Was there a 3000?).

 

Defender is a Warner Brothers property and they don't do very much with that catalog, so creating a modern sequel/remake would be out of character. And Atari SA or whatever they're called seems little more than a holding company these days, so it's difficult to envision them licensing that IP from WB while also contracting with Jeff Minter to develop it.

 

I'm pleasantly surprised we're getting Tempest 4000 digitally from them at a time when Atari SA doesn't even do physical game publishing anymore it seems and has resorted to the crowdfunding model just to port their Rollercoaster Tycoon mobile release to the Switch (Unless Atari Flashback Volumes 1-3 counts; But I suspect the traditional duties of a publisher are where AtGames enters the equation there, even though Atari SA is listed as publisher).

 

The cynical part of me wonders if Atari even has paid Jeff Minter anything up front, or if Jeff's payment will just be a portion of each sale in exchange for the Tempest branding being attached to his game that probably will double or triple the sales compared to a generic name like TxK.

Edited by Atariboy
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As Eddie VanHalen once said, its like someone taking your keys and saying "hey man check out my new car...."

Minter may have made this but it feels sorta soul less. Like he did it for the payday. Tempest 2000 won best game at E3 back in the day, and the day I got it on 2 day delivery and payed through the nose to do so, was so damn worth it. Game was that good and fresh.

But I think I'm gonna just stick with the OG Jaguar version,thanks. Nice effects though.

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I suppose it does look to lack a bit of soul compared to previous renditions of the formula, at least to us that have been around to play them. I'm just happy a younger generation will get to experience the joy that is the Tempest 2000 formula, as few if any games outside of this specific series play like it or give the kind of feeling they do when you're in the heat of the action.

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I'm reserving judgment until I play it for myself. I find it difficult to get a sense of a game like this from watching a video. I want to see how it responds to my inputs.

 

It's crazy that they're using the old Tempest 2000 songs. I liked that game a LOT, but the music is a little played out for me. Remember when the Atari lawyers complained that Minter's TxK used "identical" music, even though they were all new tracks? I sure hope there's an option to switch things up or add a custom soundtrack.

 

The cynical part of me wonders if Atari even has paid Jeff Minter anything up front, or if Jeff's payment will just be a portion of each sale in exchange for the Tempest branding being attached to his game that probably will double or triple the sales compared to a generic name like TxK.

 

 

Having watched the crash and burn of Minotaur Project (series of self-published Llamasoft games on iOS that I loved more than anything), I strongly suspect Jeff got paid up front from Atari, Sony, or both.

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All the gameplay videos I've seen look ... slow? I seem to recall T2K being faster and more hectic.

Totally agree. Tempest 4000 looks slightly slower and clunkier than TxK. TxK was so damn smooth and fun.

 

I'm reserving judgment until I play it for myself. I find it difficult to get a sense of a game like this from watching a video. I want to see how it responds to my inputs.

 

It's crazy that they're using the old Tempest 2000 songs. I liked that game a LOT, but the music is a little played out for me. Remember when the Atari lawyers complained that Minter's TxK used "identical" music, even though they were all new tracks? I sure hope there's an option to switch things up or add a custom soundtrack.

 

Being able to switch between the TxK soundtrack and the original Tempest 2000 soundtrack would be awesome. I loved the sound effects and music in TxK.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Graphics look underwhelming. I fully appreciate "retro" styled graphics, but these just look plain. It'd be cool to see some fake phosphor effects or other stuff to spice it up. Some depth of field to make the web feel like it has real depth, change the stuff in the background from random things to something that gives a real sense of movement, etc.

 

I mean - once I finally get a PS4 this is still a day one pickup for me, but I'd like to have seen a bit more effort put into it.

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I suppose it does look to lack a bit of soul compared to previous renditions of the formula, at least to us that have been around to play them. I'm just happy a younger generation will get to experience the joy that is the Tempest 2000 formula, as few if any games outside of this specific series play like it or give the kind of feeling they do when you're in the heat of the action.

Yes, good comment. I have a coworker who's 26, that I'm trying to convince to buy this next month. He's never played a Jaguar or played a game anything like this, and he seems receptive to trying 'new' things outside of FPS and RPGs. We're getting well out now in years where 'our' games are foreign. Reintroduction is great here, and if its simply Tempest 2000 for 4K televisions, that's good enough for me, I'm buying it. It'll still be one bad-ass game if that's the case.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Seems more like an "Atari SA sancationed" version of TxK....

 

Of course I would have prefered it would have new music and even better have a "retro" T2K mode witth the original music of they can't/won't get Jag games on AtariVCS.

 

But I'll still buy it just because. :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Playstation Store says release in "2018", but I'm reading all over the place about release this June which would be awesome.

 

Anyone happen to know when in June it drops as I'll be buying a box of beer and some bags of chips for the occasion.

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