• Tag Archives Millipede

  • Millipede (Atari, 1983)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    https://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/655781340243984384/spicyhorror-atari-millipede-ad-1983


    Millipede is one of many classic arcade games by Atari. As the sequel to Centipede, game play is very much the same. In fact, Millipede could arguably be considered a Centipede enhancement as easily as you could call it a sequel. Millipede was never quite as popular probably for just that reason. It didn’t really add that much to the game. The original Centipede was released in 1980 and Millipede came along in 1982.

    For those not familiar with these games, the concept is fairly simple. There are pests i your garden that you are trying to kill. First and foremost among these are centipedes that weave their way from the top of the screen to the bottom, switching direction whenever it collides with a mushroom. The centipede (or millipede) is composed of many segments. Whichever segment you happen to shoot (with your pesticide…arrow?) turns into a mushroom and causes the centipede/millipede to break into two parts. To make it to the next level, you just have to shoot all the parts of the centipede. As the levels progress, the centipede gets faster and other creatures come to ruin your days. You control your archer with a trackball and can move back and forth across the screen but up the screen only a short distance. A single fire button is the only other control.

    While Millipede was not hugely different, it is arguable the better and more challenging game. It added addition creatures as well as other strategic items such as the DDT bomb that you could shoot to take out all nearby enemies. Game play was also faster and more challenging. However, for the casual player who was used to Centipede, perhaps that didn’t offer a huge appeal.

    Millipede, not being quite as popular as Centipede, received fewer ports to home systems but there were still several. It was released for the Atari 2600 and Atari 8-bit computers in 1984, the Atari ST in 1986 and the NES in 1988. There was also an Atari 5200 port but it went unreleased. There were some later re-releases as well including a Game Boy version in 1995, A PlayStation version as part of Arcade’s Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 2 in 1997, a Game Boy Advance version in 2005 and the Atari 2600 and arcade versions were both released in 2005 as part of the Atari Anthology for Xbox and PlayStation 2. Both Millipede and Centipede were also available for the Xbox 360 through Xbox Live Arcade starting in 2007.

    Screen shots above are from the arcade version of the game.


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  • Millipede Advertisement

    Posted on by Azrael Comment
    Video Games
    January 1983
    Advertisement
    Millipede by Atari (Arcade)

    via https://www.pinterest.com/pin/106186503685554070/

    Advertisement for the Millipede arcade game by Atari from the January 1983 issue of Video Games

    Millipede, while a sequel, is still an arcade classic. It was released in 1982, two years after its predecessor Centipede. Both games are very similar. I centipede/millipede makes its way down from the top of the screen zigzagging back and forth between mushrooms. The player shoots at it from the bottom of the screen attempting to destroy it before it gets to you. As you shoot it, it breaks up into multiple segments that independently move across the screen. Meanwhile, other insects come along tying to kill you in various other patterns. Millipede is much the same as centipede just with more variety.

    Millipede didn’t really make it to that many contemporary platforms. It was released for the Atari 2600 as well as Atari 8-bit computers. It also later made it to the Atari ST and Nintendo Entertainment System. But that was it. Other contemporary computers like the Commodore 64 and Apple II as well as other game systems all missed out on this one when it was first released. An Atari 5200 port was completed (identical to the Atari 8-bit version) but it was never released. Eventually, a few later systems did get re-releases of this game. A Game Boy version was released along with Centipede as part of Arcade Classics #2 in 1995. A couple of years later in 1997 it was released as part of Arcade’s Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 2 for the PlayStation. Nearly a decade later in 2005 both the Atari 2600 version and arcade versions were released as part of the Atari Anthology for the Xbox and PlayStation 2. It also became available via Xbox Live Arcade for the Xbox 360 in 2007.

    As far as the original ports, the Atari 8-bit version is definitely the best. Any of the ports after the Game Boy port are either arcade perfect or close to it. Of course, the best way to play for the purist is to find an original arcade machine or emulate it using MAME. You need a trackball controller if you want to play it right in any case.

    The ad at the top is for the original arcade version and is from the January 1983 issue of Video Games magazine.


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