Reviewed by Nebagram, January 24th 2006

Pretty often you'll find games that define systems. Pretty often you'll find a game that no matter what other games are available, the console is simply incomplete without this encoded treasure. Quite often the game that is such a treasure might not be as good on other consoles. Sometimes it might not even be converted to other consoles. But the fact remains- that console and that game, together, are such a magical combination it's almost unreal.

Perhaps now you're beginning to discover just what this oft-overlooked game and even more oft-overlooked system can provide. Way back when it was released in 1994, the Jag promoted itself as "64-bit" a powerhouse of a console that will provide the next generation of consoles (still 18 months off, apart from the 3DO, which doesn't count) right there and then. Sadly for Atari, people saw through the sleek outline and the 64-bit billing and saw a console filled with Mega Drive/SNES conversions, various non-EA sports games and a few 3D shoot-em-ups that, while impressive, weren't anything special compared to what the Saturn and the Playstation were offering. Thusly, consumers stayed away from the Jaguar in droves, and in doing so, put Atari firmly in their grave.

What they also did, that they maybe didn't realise at the time, was deprive themselves of possibly the most playable and most trippy game ever invented. The original "Tempest" was a wonder of vector-graphics and pseudo-3D shooting when it was originally released by Atari in 1980, and despite conversions to a few of the home computers at the time and a good cult following, it never really hit the heights that Pac-Man or Space Invaders did. And more's the pity.

Enter Jeff Minter, sheep-shagging head programmer of Llamasoft to save the day. Following a few successful games involving mutant camels for the C64 and the Speccy way back in the 80s, Jeff was tasked by Atari to create a killer app for their fledgling Jaguar system.

Oh boy. Did he ever deliver.

What makes Tempest so great is its perfectly balanced learning curve. You're on the lip of a web, which can be cyclic or point-to-point, and enemies are advancing on your claw-type thing (which incidentally, is EXACTLY the same shape as the afterimage when you stare at a lightbulb for too long) you have to shoot these enemies to pieces before they can reach the lip of the web, grab you, and cost you a life. Perhaps if it had ended there, Tempest would've become part of the staple diet of gamers the world over. But it's never quite that simple- the enemies get tougher, faster, smarter, more trigger-happy. You get cluster enemies, that when shot, break into pieces and keep advancing. Fortunately, you have two more weapons in your arsenal- a "superzapper" that nukes every enemy on the web at the time (but from which you only get one shot per web), and a jump function, to allow you to leap over any enemies that have reached the lip of the web and are advancing along it to your position.

On paper it sounds like any other 1980's shoot-em-up but as with many games, it has stood the test of time extremely well (the original is in Atari Anthology on the Xbox and the PS2- check it out if you don't believe me). Jeff simply perfected it.

As well as the kick-arse two-player mode, Tempest 2000 offers an updated version with so many more features. Upgradeable weapons, artificial droids to help you waste the aliens, and a special "flying through space... under a rasher of bacon" bonus round that really redefines the whole concept of "mental". Rounding it all off is the superb soundtrack, a CD compilation of which came with the ill-fated (even more so than its parent console) Jaguar CD system, which I also happen to own (both the Jag CD and the Tempest CD, although only the latter works).

It's so difficult to describe in words just what makes Tempest 2000 so special. You can't help but have one more go. The music never distracts you, the sfx is perfectly tuned, the learning curve is neither too difficult nor too steep, you never feel cheated when an alien blasts the merry old shite out of your claw, the list goes on and on. Like Mr. T, I pity the fools who have never experienced Tempest 2000. It was rereleased on Saturn and on Playstation (the latter as "Tempest X3"). Please, do yourself a favour. Pick it out of a bargain bin, off ebay, just whack it in your console and share the love that Jeff has so kindly offered you.

I'm off to fire up my Jag. Eat electric death, everyone!

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