Tempest 2000

Llamasoft, the legendary British developer behind Atari Jaguar classic Tempest 2000, is working on a reboot of the futuristic shooter for the PlayStation Vita named TxK. Designer Jeff Minter – who’s probably best known for the Gridrunner games – confirmed the news on the developer’s official blog, stating that the studio is eager to return to the series’ roots.

“19 years ago saw the release of one of the best games Llamasoft ever made, a game which came to be recognised as one of the best games on an entire system – Tempest 2000 on the Atari Jaguar,” he explained. “I’ve often thought that one day I would like to revisit that game and do some kind of an updated version on modern hardware.”

Minter added that while spin-offs such as Space Giraffe on the Xbox 360 have returned to the rough template of Tempest 2000, none of the studio’s recent releases have captured the essence of the original. TxK, however, is going right back to basics.

“We’re not going to overload you with ultra psychedelia, but we will make it fluid and colourful and awesome-looking,” he said. “We’re going to give you a perfect treat for your eyes, ears, and thumbs with a modern extrapolation of one of the best shooters ever made on hardware that’s just perfectly suited for it, and in a way that retains the purity of the original design.”

There’s no word on a release date just yet, but Minter’s planning on keeping a development blog to record the project’s progress. “I’ll link it up when we make the first entry,” he declared. “But right now it’s back to the development kit for me.”

For those of you unfamiliar with the original Tempest 2000, we’ve included a video in the space below. There was a version for the PSone named Tempest X3, but it’s not considered to be as good as its Atari Jaguar counterpart due to some of the tweaks made to the gameplay. Still, if you’re eager to explore the origins of TxK, you can pick up a copy for around £10 from eBay.

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[source minotaurproject.co.uk]