Tempest (Atari Vault, 1981 arcade)

This is the game played in Night of the Comet. A couple of times over the years I have thought I would try to better the high score in that film, only to find out this game is poorly designed in terms of competitive high scores unless rules are set out in advance and everyone agrees to plays by the same rules. For instance, this is 'novice'. It may be easier starting from an easier point, but the game gives score bonuses for completing levels for higher difficulties, several of which will give you scores eclipsing that set in the film in no time. Those modes are also extremely luck based and very short. If you want to get a good, fair game that has even a small degree of skill (I do believe there are probably tactics here), you play from level 0. Without knowing what level they started off in the film, it is impossible to compare scores. But at the base level, this is one of my highest scoring efforts and it is 10,000 points shy of the mark in the film. I think it is quite possibly beatable on the base level. The game is otherwise great. Movement is very sensitive and it hurts your hands, but I like it.