Tempest

Copyright : Electric Dreams | Reviewed by : Malc Jennings

Tempest is another classic arcade game that has since been emulated by the mighty MAME arcade emulator and it has to be said the home computer version of the arcade is pretty much spot on.

Set in the future you have been sent out to stop the aliens from taking over the universe (not just the Earth this time) and travel through warp after warp of alien infested zones. Your ship is capable of high speeds and angles that others can only dream of, for once we have the power over the aliens and can destroy them all - the future lies on your hands.

Of course the above story is made up by the CPC Zone staff because we have lost the original inlay and have nothing to fall back on - but that?s the idea anyway.

On with the review...

Graphics

First of all let me apologise for the bad quality, hard to see thumb shots on the right but the game uses vector lines and nothing else - very hard to capture and resize, try it yourself if you don?t believe me.

The graphics in this game are arcade perfect, there is nothing else you could describe them as. The reason for this is because the original used vector graphics (lines to the rest of us) to create the levels, enemies and you the good guy. The colour in the original was basic with only a few colours being used for each wave (about 3 maximum), because of this the Amstrad and every other computer this game was released on managed to convert it perfectly.

Sound

Sound in the original was pretty basic and only emitted a few beeps and bangs, the Amstrad version yet again converted and handled this very well indeed. Plenty of sounds to be heard throughout the game that will keep you glued to your keyboard.

Gameplay

Gameplay is again as good as the original arcade machine. Because such a good job has been made on the graphics and sound in the conversion the game looks, sounds and feels like a smaller version of the over sized arcade cabinet. Controls are easy, the game starts out easy but gets harder as it progresses (as did the arcade) so if you loved the original you will love the fast paced addictiveness of the conversion. A very good job well done.