Tempest X3

The Good
Tempest X3 was the first Tempest game I personally owned (I went on to get prior and post versions afterward). The graphics are phenomenal, very trippy; the gameplay is as intense as the original arcade version. There's no real describing this game to anyone who hasn't played it, but the negative aspects are clear as day...and are what hold this version of Tempest back from getting a perfect rating.

The Bad
First thing, like Jeff Minter commented (Jeff Minter = Tempest 2000, Tempest 3000 creator), the AI Drone does nothing but follow you...instead of it being programmed to seek out new enemies on the web as Minter had told it to do in the JAGUAR version of T2k (it didn't do this in any other version of T2k), it just sort of lagged behind you a few tracks.

Music; X3 has all the remastered music from the Tempest 2000 soundtrack (nice, crisp, higher sample rate versions of the Jaguar music; along with new tracks), and you can input a code that SUPPOSEDLY makes remixed music play instead of the standard fare CD quality T2k music...well what this code does is just play a recording of one of a few tracks from the Jaguar T2k's music.

The Bottom Line
Again, very hard to describe outside of saying "original Tempest on acid"...but even still, that title is reserved for Tempest 3000. X3 is just stoned. Bottom line, if you like repetitive shooters that get progressively harder and more complex as you play through them, get this game. It's totally worth it, and by now I'm sure it's dirt cheap to find- so even if you don't rave over it, it isn't a big loss.