Tempest

Tempest is an arcade game by Atari Inc. from 1981, designed and programmed by Dave Theurer. It takes place on a three-dimensional surface, sometimes wrapped in a tube, viewed from one end and divided into a dozen or more segments or tracks. The player controls a claw-shaped spaceship (called a blaster) that crawls along the near edge of the playing field, moving from segment to segment. Tempest was one of the first games to use Atari's Color QuadraScan vector display technology. It was also the first game to allow players to choose their own starting level (a system Atari called "SkillStep"). This feature increases the maximum starting level depending on the player's performance in the previous game, allowing the player to continue. An official port was released for the Atari ST. An official port with the Atari logo was released by Superior Software for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron in 1985, and another by Electric Dreams for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC in 1987. Versions for the Atari 2600 and 5200 were in the works at Atari, Inc. in 1984, and unfinished prototypes exist for both.