Tempest X3 - A Short Review
It's baaack!!

I always loved Tempest.  The fact that it was to find its way to the
Playstation was a surprise to me, until a few weeks before it was released.
 From the arcades, translated by The Yak himself for the Jaguar, now for
the Playstation, Tempest has been one of those few games that stood for
panicked, pulsing, in-your-face action.  Very few games have ever matched
the intensity of Tempest - Robotron comes to mind…

The Playstation owes more of its heritage to the Jaguar version than to the
arcade version.  I bought a Jaguar (but sold it later - after I saw the
light that is PSX ;) for the primary reason of playing Tempest 2000.  For
those familiar with the Jag version, its all there - the techno tunes, the
melt-o-vision effects (*unbelievably fast* in comparison to the Jag), and
explosion effects that make seeing what you are shooting at impossible at
times.

But there is more.

There are effects that nothing less than amazing.  Glow effects, aura
borealis effects, fades all over the place, a new mega-droid power up and,
get this, live lens flare effects.  What Photoshop does in an editor, the
PSX does LIVE.  A *major* trip, for those who have their TV's hooked up to
surround sound stereos.

As for playablity, well, I am a bit biased.  It may just be a shooter, but
the effects and the music sell it.  You may never remove your finger from
the fire button, but you still have to keep your enemies from overwhelming
you.  I did score over 250,000 the first time I played it, but I *still*
think it has a lot of replay value. 

A "classic" version of Tempest is included, but I don't know why they
bothered - it really has no fire, even compared to the arcade classic.  It
seems a bit flat, even on it own terms.

The bottom line - if you loved the arcade classic, you may like this.  If
you are one of those who believed that Tempest 2000 was a justifiable
reason to own a Jaguar, you will lose it over Tempest X3.  If you never had
the pleasure of playing the Jag Tempest 2000, prepare to experience extreme
mind expansion.

-- 



--Jeffrey Schrab ------------- http://www.execpc.com/~j_schrab/ ---

     "All that is visible must grow and extend itself into
      the realm of the invisible."
					Dumont - TRON