PlayStation

Centipede

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.

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.

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.