Tempest 2000

Tempest 2000
Original Atari Jaguar cover art in all regions
Developer(s)
Publisher(s)
  • Jaguar
    • NA/EU: Atari Corporation
    • JP: Mumin Corporation
    MS-DOS
    Saturn
    PlayStation
    • NA/EU: Interplay Productions
    Macintosh
    • NA: Logicware
Producer(s)John Skruch
Designer(s)Jeff Minter
Programmer(s)Jeff Minter
Artist(s)Joby Wood
Writer(s)Joe Sousa
Composer(s)Alastair Lindsay
Ian Howe
Kevin Saville
SeriesTempest
Platform(s)
Release
1994
  • Jaguar
    • NA: 13 April 1994
    • EU: 27 June 1994
    • JP: 15 December 1994
    MS-DOS
    • NA: 31 October 1996
    • EU: 31 October 1996
    PlayStation
    • NA: 29 November 1996[1]
    • EU: 1 February 1997
    Saturn
    • NA: 20 December 1996
    • EU: 20 March 1997[2]
    Macintosh
Genre(s)Tube shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Tempest 2000[a] is a tube shooter video game originally developed by Llamasoft and published by Atari Corporation for the Atari Jaguar in North America on 13 April 1994.[3] It was released in Europe on 27 June and in Japan on 15 December of the same year, with the Japanese release being published by Mumin Corporation.[4][5] Part of Atari Corp.'s 2000 series,[6] it is a remake by Jeff Minter of Dave Theurer's 1981 arcade game Tempest, which used Atari's QuadraScan vector color display technology.[7]

Taking control of the claw-shaped Blaster spacecraft from the original game, the player has to survive and travel across multiple levels until the end of an intergalactic war, battling against a variety of enemies that appear on the playfield. Originally an exclusive for the Jaguar, Tempest 2000 was ported to MS-DOS, Macintosh, Sega Saturn, PlayStation and Windows, each with several changes and additions from the original version.

Tempest 2000 was critically acclaimed when it was released on the Jaguar, with critics praising the graphics, gameplay and soundtrack. It has often been called one of the best games released for the Jaguar and as of 1 April 1995, the Jaguar version has sold more than 30,000 copies during its lifetime, making it one of the best-selling games for the system.[8][9][10] Critical reception to the various ports, though still mostly positive, was more mixed than reception for the original version, owing to the aging of the game and differing opinions of the enhancements the ports offered.

  1. ^ "Atari Gaming Headquarters -- News Briefs (1997 Archive)". www.atarihq.com. Archived from the original on 11 February 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  2. ^ "Checkpoint - Events And Software Releases". Computer and Video Games. No. 185. April 1997. p. 49.
  3. ^ "ATARI SHIPS TEMPEST 2000 FOR JAGUAR; NEW JAGUAR GAME GARNERS TOP INDUSTRY AWARDS". Nine Lives. 13 April 1994. Archived from the original on 24 October 2003. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  4. ^ Castle, Justin (21 July 2018). "Historical Atari Jaguar UK Magazine Advert/Reviews Collection". Issuu. p. 340. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 January 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  5. ^ "JAGUAR Soft > 1994-1995". GAME Data Room (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 25 August 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  6. ^ "Jaguar: software - The 2000 Series". Edge (Special Edition). Future Publishing. Autumn 1995. p. 71.
  7. ^ Kunkel, Bill (May 1994). "Cartridges - Tempest - A remake of a favorite plays great on the Jaguar!". Electronic Games. No. 54. Decker Publications. p. 74.
  8. ^ Hawken, Kieren (July 2013). "Minority Report Special: Jaguar - Tempest 2000". Retro Gamer. No. 118. p. 46.
  9. ^ "Top Ten Atari Jaguar Games". Retro Gamer. 23 June 2014. Archived from the original on 19 January 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  10. ^ "Atari Jaguar Lifetime Sales". betaphasegames.com. Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2018.


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