Centipede

The Good
As a game with actual graphics, Centipede was a big surprise on the IBM. The gameplay is smooth and challenging, with the same rising difficulty level as the arcade version. Centipede puts your pulse rate through a series of hills and valleys as the creature gets lower on each level.

The Bad
Clearly it's unfair to compare Centipede with, say, Unreal Tournament. But try these, all pc conversions from 1983: Galaxian, Frogger, Moon Patrol, Lode Runner, Donkey Kong and PacMan. They're all better. As one of the first arcade games many people played, along with PacMan and Pong, centipede tends to inspire a certain virginal nostalgia among games fans. But even among pc games of the time centipede is limited and boring, the kind of game that you'll play a few times in between PacMan sessions.

The Bottom Line
If you're a student of computer gaming history, you should definitely play centipede, both in pc and arcade (MAME) form. You may even find you like it. But unlike other games of this vintage, from Galaxian to Zork to the utterly formidable PacMan, Centipede just doesn't hold up.

The Good
I thought Centipede was a particularly fun arcade game; using the trackball to blast the various bugs on screen somehow manages to provide endless entertainment! The 5200 version of the game is just as fun and amazingly close to the arcade version (probably more so than any other version of the game, even the later Atari 7800). Sound effects are top notch and sound nearly identical to the arcade version (probably since both machines are powered by the POKEY sound chip). The spider sound effect is particularly good and is still the sound I associate with spiders; I'm not certain what type of sound a rampaging spider would actually make, but I'm sure the game designers got it perfectly! The 5200 graphics are also put to good use (and are also very close to the arcade version) featuring different colors for each level and nicely detailed sprites. For some reason, the changing colors seemed to provide incentive to reach the next level; I was always curious what color combination would appear next. The game is best when played with a 5200 trackball; you move you blaster around rapidly or slower with more precision with no problems, not to mention it provides a pretty authentic arcade experience. The standard 5200 analog controllers can also be used, and they work fine but it's definitely worth finding a trackball for this.

The Bad
There isn't much to not like about this game, though a few points come to mind; one minor complaint is that the spider sprite is only in a single color. It seems like it should have been possible to get the two or three colors found in the arcade version spider on the 5200. Gameplay could also become frustrating when only one or two centipede segments are left. When they reach the bottom, an extra segment will occasionally appear from nowhere. Usually this happened moments before I blasted the last segment which could be annoying after it occurred five or six times. Also, the game can be a bit repetitive; each level is pretty much the same as the previous only faster. (The sequel, Millipede, actually improved on Centipede a great deal by having more variety, but was unfortunately never released for the 5200).

The Bottom Line
Centipede is a fast action shooter; simple but lots of fun. The 5200 version is extremely faithful to the original and worth picking up. Luckily it's pretty common, so it isn't expensive or difficult to find a copy.

The Good
The first game programmed by a woman, Centipede is a 1-2 player game where you control a laser. A centipede appears at the top of the screen and makes it way down through a mushroom patch toward you, and you must shoot it before it comes near you. Then things take a turn for the worse. For instance, more segments are added, meaning that you have to worry about shooting it as well as the original centipede. There are other creatures to worry about as well, including jumping spiders, fleas, and scorpions. When the centipede has been destroyed, another appears and you have to do the same thing again.

When you shoot a segment, it turns into a mushroom, and when one of them blocks the centipede's path, it turns around and goes back in the direction that it came from. On that note, I have to say that there is a bit of strategy involved if you want to end the centipede's life once and for all. Try to have so many mushrooms about an inch from one another, so that the centipede is trapped between them, and it has no hope of getting out. This makes it quicker for you to complete the current level.

I read the comic book that came with the game, about a young elf named Oliver who needs to defeat a wizard who has turned his fellow villagers into poisonous toadstools. The comic is in color, rather than black-and-white, which makes it stand out from the comics around that time. The comic helped me get into the game.

The only version of Centipede that I tried out was the C64 version. In this version, the gameplay is spot on, as well as the graphics and sounds. The sounds that I enjoyed most was the sound that played while the jumping spider is around. When I heard this sound, I knew that it could be from another game that I have not played yet.

Graphic-wise, everything looks slightly out of detail compared to the original, but that is because the coin-op has better hardware than the inferior hardware that the C64 had for its time.

The Bad
The centipede moves quite fast, so it is easy to miss the individual segments as both scurry around the screen in under five seconds. Other than this, nothing bad concerns this game.

The Bottom Line
Without infringing copyrights, you could get the PC Booter version of Centipede on eBay and run it on your system, but it would probably be too fast, or it won't even run at all. So your best option is to obtain one of those retro consoles to play it on.

The Good
Atari 2600's Centipede had good gameplay, nice sound effects and simple graphics. It counts the score of every right shoot, making the game more interesting and addictive. If you destroy all centipede parts, Atari 2600's color palette changes, which makes the game more attractive.

The Bad
Graphics appear to be little, making Centipede a bit harder.

The Bottom Line
Centipede was a good game. A real classic for Atari 2600! Play it if you has one!

The Good
If you have been to the arcades back in the early eighties, you would have discovered a little gem called Centipede, Atari’s shooter where the object is to shoot the titular antagonist that makes its way down toward you through a garden of mushrooms, dealing with other critters along the way. I was too young to take a trip to the arcades, so the only way I got to experience it was to purchase the Commodore 64 home port made by Atarisoft.

The VIC-20 version of the game, also by Atarisoft, is still faithful to the original coin-op. The title screen looks good, and there is an option that allows you to go two player (each player takes turns), but not much else. Due to the machine’s limited resolution, the graphics are much larger, but this makes everything easier to see. The color scheme changes every time a wave is cleared. The sound effects match those of the arcade. Even though the spider sound is missing a note, this really didn’t bother me.

The Bad
When you lose all your lives and it is game over, you have to press the [F1] key twice to restart the game.

The Bottom Line
Centipede for the VIC-20 is a great port; everything is here minus the high score table the original coin-op has. The graphics and sound are nice, and it is a great little gem to add to your game collection.