Cheats in MAME add a new dimension to playing.

[Keatah]

I royally suckadickus at most arcade games, but for a few I become savant-like. Tempest's mindless beating of buttons ain't my style.

 

Got to exploring the upper echelons yesterday. Typically I can play to about 400,000 without cheats or pause and only a few extra quarters. But I turned on the cheat to always have SuperZapper and had at it. Once reaching level 65 or so, the game dynamics shift to where it's a whole new challenge just to time the unlimited SZ shots in just right way. With the right timing. It like becomes your primary weapon of destruction, with the regular fire button relegated to mop-up and auxiliary support. Love it!

 

Sure it's not meant to be played that way. The designer could hardly have envisioned it running on MAME in 1980. But it's essentially a whole new game.

 

I was hoping Tac/Scan would've been as exciting. But it seems the game just ramps up to a certain difficulty and stays there for the next thousand levels. I loved TS when I was a kid. But now? Far too repetitive and nothing to explore. No depth. A continual grinding.

Edited July 23, 2022 by Keatah