Originally Posted by
me in another thread
Tempest 2000 is probably my favorite game ever made, and the Jaguar version is heads and tails better than any other version I think. And I have played -- and beaten -- every other version of the game that exists since I like it so much. There was:
Tempest 2000 for the Jaguar, Sega Saturn and PC
Tempest X3 for the Playstation
Tempest 3000 for the Nuon, a sequel to the Jaguar game
Ignoring 3000 for a minute, as the other four came out basically together, the issue that Tempest 2000 not on the Jaguar has is that they messed with the balance. Instead of the spikes being able to be blown through once you get the higher powered shot, they remain very difficult to shoot through, basically much like the original game had them, which means that you have to sit in one spot to shoot through them, but the enemies move down at you.
Tempest X3 basically had the difficulty dialed back. Otherwise, I'd adore it, but the biggest issue is the electrical enemies (Pulsars, I believe) get to the end of the web and then act just like any other enemy -- slow. In Tempest 2000 for the Jaguar, the Pulsars were the thing that were both the most dangerous on the web -- as if they did their pulsing thing they could fry you at any moment with basically no warning -- and the most dangerous at the end of the web, as they would race around and you'd have to frantically jump to avoid them. Changing this basically made it so that they weren't as big of a threat, and it really dialed back the intensity that the original has.
Finally, and I think this is in all of the versions except 3000, but I might be wrong as it has been a while -- in the Jaguar version, when you get the AI droid, it goes off and starts shooting things for you that are coming down the web -- in fact, a way to score points if you're patient is to let the spike thing make spikes and then you just shoot them away, and you can't do this if the AI droid is there as it will instantly find and shoot it. On the other versions, the AI droid is basically just like extra shot power, as it hangs on you the entire way around, and won't drift off to take care of an area by itself.
Overall, the games are still good -- I've still managed to play and beat all of them, but the Jaguar version is perfectly balanced and, according to me at least, the most perfect retro update ever done, and simply put the best game ever. The others are all very good games, but they aren't that good. It's worth buying a rotary controller for in my opinion, and is one of the few games that I break out every couple years to beat again.
Finally, Tempest 3000 was the update that Jeff Minter who did the Jaguar version of Tempest 2000 did for the NUON DVD Players. Yup, I bought a NUON just to play this, and the gameplay is solid, but the effects are just a little too much -- whereas Tempest 2000 sometimes had words and power ups and explosions and crap interfere with your view, you never felt like it was cheap -- that was just stuff going on as you advanced in the game. I can never say that I have had a death in Tempest 2000 that I didn't feel was basically my own darn fault, which is the gold standard for me in a game. In Tempest 3000, I found that one in probably four of my deaths were due to a lack of ability to see what in the world was going on, so that alone drop it to my least favorite Tempest update position, and the only one that I haven't beaten. I hear it goes on forever actually, but I haven't even tried getting to level 99 on it.
Writing this makes me want to bust it out and try it again.
If you're collecting for the Jaguar - and I've had a full collection for over a decade now I think - the biggest reason to do it I think is Tempest 2000. The library isn't nearly as bad as people make it out to be, it just hasn't aged well as it was at that weird point where 3D was just starting and people didn't exactly know how to use it. Most of the 3D games, even if they were decent in their time (Cybermorph, I'm lookin' at you) look like garbage now. BattleMorph and Iron Soldier II are the few exceptions, and BattleSphere if you have the money for it. The 2D games I think for the most part do hold up well.
I don't remember seeing these mentioned, but I would suggest checking out Zoop and NBA Jam TE on the Jaguar too -- both of these are games that are multiplatform, but the Jaguar versions of both are far and away the best versions of these two games I believe. I also really enjoy or have enjoyed Zool 2, Missile Command 3D, Protector SE, Rayman, Power Drive Rally, FlipOut, Super Burnout, Breakout 2000, and Val D'Isre.