4 ms·

Best. Game. Ever. Tempest came out when I was in high school, and my buddy and I would rather skip lunch and play this instead of eat each day. We produced a li

Best. Game. Ever. Tempest came out when I was in high school, and my buddy and I would rather skip lunch and play this instead of eat each day. We produced a little booklet of each level we kept in our wallets so we could jot down where we had the best luck leaving the flipper while we fired away. I was thrilled to find a working Tempest at the “Game Master” exhibit in San Diego's Balboa Park last summer.

JohnJamesRambo 9y ago
I don't think we could ever make people from this generation understand how awesome and mind grabbing this game was back then. It was like nothing I had ever seen and I just wanted to watch it, mesmerized.
- mcndjxlefnd 9y ago
  I was born in 1987 and I totally get it. This has always been my favorite retro game; I first encountered it for PS2 I think. I've only found one multicade machine at a local juice bar that had it. I've never before or since been devoted to maintaining high score on a public machine like that before. Unfortunately, that machine is now gone.
  - ZenoArrow 9y ago
    I remember going to a classic games exhibition in London around the year 2000, I played Tempest for the first time there, it was one of my favourite games I played at the show. Jeff Minter is clearly a fan as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePW33ZmC04c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePW33ZmC04c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS9alQbHHPk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS9alQbHHPk
    - bhauer 9y ago
      Yes! Not only Tempest 2000 and Tempest 3000, Minter's Polybius [1] is very similar to Tempest. (It's also just awesome that Minter named his game Polybius.) [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VXsAiNdelk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VXsAiNdelk
crispyambulance 9y ago
Goddamnit yes! Raw, minimalistic, and utterly satisfying. Atari did so much with so little. The end of every level felt like a rush of endorphins. This needs a youtube link for the young ones: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af4uPgYcm04 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af4uPgYcm04 [this one seem to capture the bass in the audio effects]
0x445442 9y ago
I'm fortunate enough to live a few miles from this place... https://www.yelp.com/biz/starfighters-arcade-mesa?adjust_creative=dWJMtmYxpd5N5yoyzSuhtA&utm_campaign=yelp_api&utm_medium=api_v2_business&utm_source=dWJMtmYxpd5N5yoyzSuhtA https://www.yelp.com/biz/starfighters-arcade-mesa?adjust_cre... They have Tempest as well.

JohnJamesRambo 9y ago

I don't think we could ever make people from this generation understand how awesome and mind grabbing this game was back then. It was like nothing I had ever seen and I just wanted to watch it, mesmerized.

mcndjxlefnd 9y ago
I was born in 1987 and I totally get it. This has always been my favorite retro game; I first encountered it for PS2 I think. I've only found one multicade machine at a local juice bar that had it. I've never before or since been devoted to maintaining high score on a public machine like that before. Unfortunately, that machine is now gone.
- ZenoArrow 9y ago
  I remember going to a classic games exhibition in London around the year 2000, I played Tempest for the first time there, it was one of my favourite games I played at the show. Jeff Minter is clearly a fan as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePW33ZmC04c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePW33ZmC04c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS9alQbHHPk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS9alQbHHPk
  - bhauer 9y ago
    Yes! Not only Tempest 2000 and Tempest 3000, Minter's Polybius [1] is very similar to Tempest. (It's also just awesome that Minter named his game Polybius.) [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VXsAiNdelk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VXsAiNdelk

crispyambulance 9y ago

Goddamnit yes! Raw, minimalistic, and utterly satisfying. Atari did so much with so little. The end of every level felt like a rush of endorphins. This needs a youtube link for the young ones: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af4uPgYcm04 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af4uPgYcm04 [this one seem to capture the bass in the audio effects]

0x445442 9y ago

I'm fortunate enough to live a few miles from this place... https://www.yelp.com/biz/starfighters-arcade-mesa?adjust_creative=dWJMtmYxpd5N5yoyzSuhtA&utm_campaign=yelp_api&utm_medium=api_v2_business&utm_source=dWJMtmYxpd5N5yoyzSuhtA https://www.yelp.com/biz/starfighters-arcade-mesa?adjust_cre... They have Tempest as well.