The rush of classic arcade games on Xbox Live Arcade will continue this fall with a host of old-school Atari titles, among them Asteroids and Asteroids Deluxe and Tempest. Tempest is one of those original coin-op games that newer gamers might not “get,” but that older gamers remember fondly while reminiscing about its dial-like controller. Fortunately, Atari is giving both types of gamers an appropriate taste of Tempest, with both a Classic and Evolved mode in this upcoming download.
For all intents and purposes, both modes are identical save for (much) fancier graphics in the Evolved version. Players still select at which level they want to start, they still revolve around the perimeter of oddly shaped 2D rooms, and they still shoot oncoming enemies and projectiles over and over and over. The thing is, gamers won’t still be using the classic dial controller, and in the early version of the game we’ve been playing, that sad fact actually causes some awkward moments.
In our preview build of Tempest, the controls are mapped to the thumbsticks and the bumpers, giving players the choice of how they wish to maneuver their ship around each level’s perimeter. The only problem with this is that the thumbsticks fail to consistently respond to the player’s relative position on the board, which leads to sudden and unexpected changes in direction — which in turn can lead to some frustrating deaths. In addition, although the bumpers are both consistent and accurate in terms of control, using them doesn’t feel nearly as natural as using the old-school dial or a potentially more-accurate thumbstick, so their inclusion feels somewhat like a crutch.
Much like its Asteroids kin, Tempest’s Evolved version suffers from some overdone graphics, at least at this point in development. The biggest challenge has to do with the laser fire, as the highly stylized lasers have so much pizzazz that they can obscure enemies’ incoming fire and even some of the smaller enemies themselves. For that reason alone, it’s probably best to play the Classic version, because Tempest was never exactly an easy game to begin with.
Now, as much as this sounds preview sounds like it was written by a curmudgeon who can’t stand to see Tempest updated, that’s not the case at all. To be honest, the gameplay in Tempest is so straightforward that it’s pretty hard to mess it up, so there’s nothing to possibly be bitter about. In fact, the only thing that could really be altered while keeping the gameplay intact is the graphics, and that’s exactly what’s been updated here. But with gameplay this straightforward, the graphics will really make or break this remix, so it will be important for the developer to spend some quality time making sure the graphics don’t interfere with the gameplay, or the update will cause more frustration than good feelings.
The same goes for the controls as well, which still need some fine-tuning prior to release. However, keep in mind that it’s still August, so there’s plenty of time for Atari and its developers to fix things up and make Tempest — and its Evolved version — as memorable and enduring as the original coin-op game from our collective childhood.
— Jonas Allen