Tempest brought a number of key innovations to arcades in 1981 – it was one of the first arcade games to feature full color vector graphics, it featured a wide range of level designs and it made use of a convincing 3D perspective, among other things. Though visualized in the cabinet's art with terrifying aliens crawling out of a space portal, the game itself is simple and geometric, with abstract shapes that represent the game's protagonist and enemies. Tempest was fairly intimidating to many arcade-goers in 1981, but it has endured as one of Atari's high points and a classic that continues to be sought after decades later.