Tempest for the Atari 5200

[ledzep]

For any of you vector arcade game fans who love Tempest and own an Atari 5200, your prayers (like mine) have been answered -

www.atariage.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1014

Limited edition in a box with a manual, the years-ago discovered incomplete prototype of the game that Atari never released has been completed by the original programmer and is available from AtariAge. I think 250 will be full-boxed versions, after that it's cart only. It looks and sounds pretty good, I cannot wait for this thing to get to my house!

[VectorX]

Are the controls good, have anyone heard? Because I played an earlier version of it at an expo a couple of years ago and it wasn't very controllable.

If so, it could be pretty good indeed

[ledzep]

There's a forum topic on AtariAge about it. Ya, the trackball code wasn't that good, it worked fine for some trackballs but not others, it seemed it was difficult for some people to move slowly around a tube. Then one of the other members read about the problem and provided code that was from Atari or one of the former Atari programmers (memory of the forum topic is vague) for the sort of official way they dealt with trackball calibration within the games and that seemed to do the trick. Weird how that worked out so well, actually.

I would expect that it plays way better with the trackball controller than the analog sticks though I've read from the playtesters that the sticks are pretty good.

[VectorX]

That's good to hear. When I played it it was way too difficult to try to move over a lane or two to shoot Flippers or whatever was menacing you, and someone else said the same thing who had played it a few months before myself at a gaming expo as well.

[ledzep]

I finally got it this weekend. Didn't have too much time to play it but, man, it really rocks with the trak-ball controller! The graphics are pretty damn good considering the resolution limitations of the 5200. The sound is really close, too. I think a spinner would get me a higher score but I don't care, I finally have Tempest on the 5200!

[TrekMD]

I got this as well and the trackball control just makes for a fun game.

[sj]

I'm pretty sure the 5200 never officially made it to the UK. I think I read recently Jammajup was playing one so there must be one or two 'unofficial'. He must be using a step-down transformer for the different voltage, I guess.

[Mayhem]

Atari was planning it, there are PAL 5200s in existence, but it never made it to release in Europe.

[TrekMD]

Mar 5, 2013 14:38:02 GMT -5 Mayhem said:

Atari was planning it, there are PAL 5200s in existence, but it never made it to release in Europe.

Unfortunately, it was only released on North America, from what I know. One of the reasons it did not do as well commercially.