Centipede

Skip the Arcade game, unless you’re just buying it for the nostalgia, and go straight for the Adventure game. It’s very fast-paced and utterly addictive. The look and feel is very much like some of the newer console games out there (Mario 64, etc) and as a result, you may want to use a gamepad for your controller rather than a mouse. This new version has all the elements that made so many of the original arcade games so popular: simple, mindless, blast-the-bugs, save-the-cute-critters fun. Highly recommended for maturing Gen-Xers looking to recapture their youth, and younger kids raised on Nintendos and overly violent combat games who never had the original arcade experience.

While not for everyone, those wanting simple, classic entertainment done up in 3D accelerated clothing, this is it. Overly hard and incredibly fun, Centipede may end up becoming a classic all over again.

In the end, Centipede is just as much a work of art as it is a game. It is well designed and well implemented and it stays true to the feel of the original game. If you've got a 3DFX card, this is a must-get. If you are stuck with D3D, it's still rock solid gameplay wise, so you really can't go wrong. Hasbro, put this team to work on another classic - they've got the touch of Midas.

This game was a blast. Anyone who liked the original Centipede in any way will love this new, updated version. Atari really outdid themselves with their awesome graphics and sounds. The Arcade and Adventure options of play were really cool and refreshing, while the 3 different views in the Adventure mode were really fun. This game is a lot of fun, and I recommend it to every type of gamer out there who appreciates something simple but fun.

This is my kind of game. It is beautiful, fast-moving, and a true arcade action experience. Centipede drastically exceeded my expectations in every aspect of its design and execution, and I can guarantee you that I will be playing it for many months to come. If all the games that have been dredged up from the 1980s had this kind of resuscitation, then the recent trend to bring back the golden oldies would make perfect sense. Unfortunately, I have yet to see a re-creation of a game from the last decade that is anywhere near as successful as this one in capturing the essence of the original while shooting the gameplay forward in amazing new directions. Centipede is thus a marvelous exception to the generally lackluster nature of these 1980s game revivals, and I sincerely hope that its commitment to both quality and innovation somehow manages to worm its way into other attempts to bring back the classics.

That aside, this is probably the best product of the recent retro gaming craze (Activision's BattleZone notwithstanding, it's nothing like the original). It manages to get everything that was right about the original and communicate that old classic flavor to the new audiences of the '90s. But then, it really is only an extension of an incredibly simple premise, so many gamers will find it tedious and dull. For the rest of us who don't mind thin manuals, load up this puppy dog and prepare to experience your childhood/teen years all over again, with extra lip-gloss and none of the bushy hairstyles.

Although most aspects of Centipede are pretty plain, it is still the same addictive game that it has always been. You can't help but get caught up trying to better your last score and avoid or kill those damned spiders. For any old Atari players out there, the Arcade version is a great porthole to the good ole days, while the Adventure mode is a welcome segway from a classic history to a new and exciting present and future. At $39.95 SRP it isn't that bad of a buy either. You're sure to get loads of enjoyment from the Arcade mode and plenty of challenge and excitement from the new Adventure mode. Overall I really enjoyed playing Centipede.

Die Kombination »Kein einstellbarer Schwierigkeitsgrad, keine Speicher-Möglichkeit mittendrin« geht mir in Verbindung mit der hibbeligen Hektik dezent an die Nerven. Ab fünf Gegnern zugleich hört der Spaß auf. Leidensbereite Centipede-Kenner, bei denen die Reflexe auch im hohen Alter noch frisch sind, werden diese Neuauflage trotzdem zu schätzen wissen. Sie mischt geschickt Spieldesign-Grundlagen des alten Automaten mit 3D-Freiheiten und liebevollen Erweiterungen.

As usual, this isn't the game to make the game.com a must-have item, but it fits nicely into the veritable library of classic arcade titles available for the ultra price efficeint portable system. While sitting in your living room with a disc full of classic video games is nice, the old titles tend to be the most impressive on little systems like the game.com, and become even more appealing when away from home. A pocketfull of game.com arcade classics can make those commuter blues much easier to deal with.

Centipede gehört zu den Titeln, bei denen sich schon nach wenigen Sekunden das Spielprinzip herauskristallisiert - ballern, was das Zeug hält. Nicht mehr und nicht weniger. Oder doch? Genau, das Ausweichen vor den Gegnerhorden wurde beinahe vergessen. Ein Lichtblick ist der Kooperativ-Modus bei geteilter Bildschirmfläche oder der Netzwerkmodus, bei dem man mit willigen Freunden in den Kampf gegen das Böse zieht. Vergessen wir einmal gängige Schlagworte wie "wochenlange Motivation, hochintelligente Gegner und noch nie gesehene Spezialeffekte", so entsteht ein kurzweiliger aber dennoch eher kurzlebiger Spielspaß. Unter dem Strich eignet sich Centipede damit am ehesten noch für Nostalgiker mit einem Faible für niedliche 3D-Ansichten.

Unfortunately, as with virtually all the classic games reborn on a current-day console, playing the new version of Centipede is really nothing like playing the original. What's really disappointing is that instead of shooting centipedes over and over, you could have instead been exploring a great 3D world and blasting away tons of cool enemies. But instead, Centipede tries too hard to latch on to the classic gaming experience, and it pulls what could have been a great 3D shooter into the hollows of the average.

I'm all for Hasbro remaking classic arcade games. It's not sacrilege to take an idea done in videogaming's golden age and up it to today's expectations, in fact, it makes fans of the originals appreciate what we had way back when. But, you have to do it right. Centipede is no "Frogger," thank god, but it's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. And it's not a design problem, either ¿ the PC version run off a 3D accelerator is quite a fun game to watch and play. I'm glad Hasbro delayed this game to make it better, but it really doesn't look like the company salvaged much from the project.

What developers don't realize is that nostalgic gamers who still play classic arcade games play them because they enjoy the experience of playing with vector graphics with a simple control scheme and substandard sound. It's truly difficult to compare games of yesterday with games of today, as almost everything has changed technologically.

Whoever thought of taking the premise behind the classic Centipede arcade blaster and thrusting it into the 3D world should be shot. Well, I suppose if the game was any good, I wouldn't be complaining. But the game isn't good. It's boring and repetitive, and aside from a cool little background story and some funny cut scenes, lacks any real merit.

Many game companies like Hasbro seem to believe that if you take an old game and add fancy 3D graphics and digitized sound, it will be even better. Well, as we've seen time and time again, that is not the case, and Centipede is a prime example. This new 3D version looks good but the gameplay is much slower and far less exciting.

what made the original Centipede so great? There was a sense of impending crisis that came from only a few pixels that was supposedly a centipede. With every shot from your little triangle-head, the centipede moved faster. It was clear, simple, fast and pulse-pounding. While the Centipede of old is great for my memories, this new Centipede isn't worth the price of admission.

Well, it feels nothing like the old Centipede. You can now rotate your ship and move anywhere on the screen, but the pace is much slower and less exciting that the original. The analog control is reasonable, but the frame rate is poor and the chunky graphics look sloppy. The original 2D arcade version of Centipede is also included, and it's so superior that you wonder why Hasbro even attempted the upgrade. As with Frogger, Hasbro has fallen into the trap of trying to improve a game that was perfect to begin with.

Really, no one should buy this game. If you like the original and you see this for 5 bucks, get it because it contains the game. (Could they have legally left it out? Namco certainly doesn't think so. Stupid Pac-Man.) Or you could buy an Atari collection that has it and get other good games. It may cost like 10 bucks more but it sure lasts longer.