#Tempest 4000 game play upgrade

This makes unlocking new levels in Tempest 4000 really difficult. It's much easier starting at level 14 with six lives than level 16 with two, for example.

This means I'll often have to play through a level or two below the one I want, because I'll have access to more lives that way. Nothing seems to change the starting lives number. Here lies one of the strangest game mechanics that either I just don't understand, or is simply head-scratchingly dumb: when choosing a stage, you'll have a different number of starting lives for each one. You're either starting at the first level and going as long as you can until you run out of lives, or you start at a selected stage and see how many new stages you can unlock.Īn early level in Tempest 4000, before things get too challenging Atari There are three different modes to play in Tempest 4000, but they all are basically the same thing. The other upgrades are nice, like unlimited bullets or an AI companion for the remainder of the level, but none are as crucial to success as jump.

#Tempest 4000 game play upgrade

You also lose your upgrades after completing a level, starting back at the basic abilities.Īll this means you'll have to grab various pickups before unlocking the jump upgrade for each level, which is pretty much the only way to make it through alive, as it allows you to jump back from the level and blow up enemies that you normally wouldn't be able to easily reach. The pickups found on each level are all the same, but come in different orders for each level. These pickups are crucial to success, which means if you miss one or two you are going to lose a number of lives. A square-shaped level, where players need to destroy all the incoming enemies Atari