Tempest X - Sega Saturn

As I've said in my other reviews, the Sega Saturn did arcade ports damn near perfect and Tempest 2000 is no exception. In the golden age of arcade video games ( 1979-1989 ) there was: Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Mr.Do, Donkey Kong, Galaxian, Defender, Asteroids, Star Wars, and in 1981 Tempest. There were many more games, but those stuck out in my mind the most. Sega Saturn's Tempest 2000 by Atari was regular Tempest on steroids. You have your ship ( The Blaster ) and you battle your way through sixteen levels, and over 100 webs of 3D heart pumping fun! I love the fact that every few levels you earn a key that allows you to return to the last stage after you die. ( and you will die! )............( lots of times! ) You get many power-ups to help you on your way, they consist of floating polygons you collect after blasting a certain number of enemies. You get: Particle Lasers, Points, Jumps, A.I. Droid, ( nice ) Warp Tokens, and Outta Here. ( my favorite ) No self respecting space shooter would be complete without cool space aliens to fight. You have: Flippers, Spikers, Spikes, Fuseballs, Pulsars, Tankers, Muntant Flippers, Mirrors, Demon Heads, and UFO's. There are also many modes in the game to play. There is: Traditional Tempest, Tempest Plus, Tempest 2000, Tempest Duel, Beastly Mode, and the Warp Bonus Round. The music is Techno Rave type, and it was so well received that they released an audio CD of the songs from the game that was very successful. The graphics are colorful and bright, simple by today's standards, but does that bother me? " I think not! " Tempest 2000 for the Sega Saturn is a fun, 'easy to play, hard to master' game that every S.S. owner should have in their collection. " Happy Retro Blasting! "