Centipede (video game)

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Centipede
Image:Centipede_arcade.png
Developer(s) Atari
Designer(s) Ed Logg and Dona Bailey
Release date(s) 1980
Genre(s) Fixed shooter
Mode(s) Up to 2 players, alternating turns
Platform(s) Arcade
Input Trackball; 1 button
Arcade cabinet Upright
Arcade CPU(s) 1x MOS Technology 6502 @ 1.512 MHz
Arcade sound system(s) 1x Atari POKEY @ 1.512 MHz
Arcade display RGB raster, vertical orientation (19-inch diagonal)

Centipede is a vertically-oriented shoot 'em up arcade game produced by Atari in 1980. It is regarded as the first arcade game created by a woman, Dona Bailey, who programmed the game along with Ed Logg. It was also the first arcade coin-operated game to have a significant female player base. The player takes the role of a garden gnome, defending against swarms of insects. In order to complete rounds, the player must eliminate the centipede that winds down the playing field.

Contents

[edit] Gameplay

The player is represented by a small, insect-like character, actually meant to be a gnome, at the bottom of the screen. The player moves the character about the bottom area of the screen with a trackball and fires laser shots at a centipede advancing from the top of the screen down through a field of mushrooms. Shooting any section of the centipede creates a mushroom; shooting one of the middle segments splits the centipede into two pieces at that point. Each continues independently on its way down the board.

The centipede starts at the top of the screen, traveling either left or right. When it hits a mushroom or the edge of the screen, it drops one level and switches direction. Thus, more mushrooms on the screen cause the centipede to descend more rapidly. The player can destroy mushrooms by shooting, but each mushroom takes four hits to destroy.

If the centipede reaches the bottom of the screen, it moves back and forth within the player area and one-segment "head" centipedes are periodically added. This continues until the player has eliminated both the original centipede and all heads. When all the centipede's segments are destroyed, a new centipede forms at the top of the screen. Every time a centipede is eliminated, however, the next one is one segment shorter and is accompanied by one additional, fast-moving, one-segment "head" centipede. A player loses a life when hit by a centipede or another enemy, such as a spider, or a flea. A flea leaves mushrooms behind when fewer than five are in the player area, though the required number within the player area increases with levels of difficulty. There are also scorpions, which poison mushrooms they touch, but these never appear in the player's movement region. A centipede touching a poisoned mushroom is sent hurtling straight toward the player's area.

Several strategies were subsequently developed to circumvent the normal play of the game, leading to scores in excess of one million points and games lasting several hours.

One popular strategy, "The Blob", involves deliberately filling the rows immediately above the shooter with a field of mushrooms, thereby neutralizing the disruptive effect of the fleas. Clearing the screen of mushrooms above the blob greatly slows the descent of the centipede, allowing the player to amass points by hunting spiders.

A second successful strategy is "The Trap", whereby the player creates a mushroom trap one column from the edge of the screen and strategically deposits mushrooms at the 2nd, 4th and 6th rows, creating a centipede trap. The player can then rack up points indefinitely by defending the trap from spiders.

[edit] Legacy

Centipede was followed by Millipede in 1982, a somewhat less successful, though respectable, game.

In 1992, Atari Games developed a prototype of an arcade game called Arcade Classics for their 20th anniversary. The game included Missile Command 2 and Super Centipede. Super Centipede screen shot

[edit] World record scores

Eric Ginner of Mountain View, CA, was the first Centipede champion, winning the 1981 Atari National Championships, held in Chicago, October 18, 1981. The contest featured play on Centipede. By the end of 1982, both Darren Olsen of Calgary, Alberta, Canada and Billy Mitchell, of Hollywood, FL, had attained over 25 million points on Centipede, primarily using the "trap" technique of play.

To verify differences in gameplay, the Twin Galaxies Intergalactic Scoreboard divided Centipede gameplay into two categories: Marathon (using the trap, the blob and other tricks) and Tournament (using no tricks, just constantly firing -- commonly called the "shoot-em-up" method.)

Today, Twin Galaxies only accepts submissions on Tournament play. The world record for Tournament play now stands at 7,111,111 points, achieved by Donald Hayes of Salem, NH, on November 5, 2000 at the Funspot Family Fun Ctr. in Weirs Beach, NH. The feat took approximately 9 hours of non-stop play on one quarter. On February 5, 2001, Hayes was honored by his local City Hall for his accomplishment.

[edit] Ports

Atari 7800 version of Centipede
Atari 7800 version of Centipede

[edit] Other Consoles of the Time of Game Release

This game, like many other Atari arcade games, was ported to Atari's own systems such as the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, and Atari 7800 (a prototype was created for the Atari Lynx but never released). Atari's Atarisoft also created versions for other consoles as well as many home computer systems of the era (for example, Apple II, Commodore 64, etc.)

[edit] Today

Today, it is also often included in the TV Games-style series that have become popular in recent years.

[edit] Consoles of the Late '90s

[edit] Playstation and Dreamcast

A new version for PlayStation and Dreamcast was released in the late '90s. The game itself was more or less a completely new game (allowing free movement around a map). Also, the original version of Centipede was available in this version, albeit with slightly updated 3D graphics.

[edit] PC

In 1998, Hasbro owned Atari Interactive released a new version of the game for the PC. This version, apart from including free movement around the map, included different types of views, 3D graphics and a campaign which could be played in single player or multiplayer mode.

Main article: Centipede (1998 PC Version)

[edit] Xbox and Playstation 2

Centipede has also been made available for Xbox and PlayStation 2 (in both arcade and Atari 2600 versions) as part of Atari Anthology in 2005. The Xbox Live Arcade version was bundled with the sequel Millipede, which included an "evolution mode", featuring high-definition graphics and special effects like motion blur, trails and particle-based explosions.[1] Centipede is scheduled for release via Xbox Live Arcade for the Xbox 360 in 2007

[edit] Mobile

glu mobile released a licensed cellular phone version that includes the original game as well as updated game play, skins, and modes.

[edit] Centipede Shockwave Version

An official shockwave version was also released.

[edit] Clones

Like most other popular arcade games of the era, Centipede was widely imitated by third-party software vendors for home computers. These clones included the following:

Here are a list of clones released in Arcades:

  • Caterpillar, released as an Arcade machine by Olympia in 1980 [12][13]
  • Mill Pac, released as an Arcade machine by Valadon Automation in 1980 in France [14] [15]
  • Magic Worm, released as an Arcade machine by Sidam in 1981 in Italy [16]
  • Magic Maggot, released as an Arcade machine by Digimatic Italia in 1980 [17]
  • Jackler, released as an Arcade machine by Konami in 1982 [18]
  • War of Bugs or Monsterous Manouvers in a Mushroom Maze, released as an Arcade machine by Food and Fun Corp./Armenia Ltd in 1981 [19] [20]

[edit] Song

In 1982, Buckner and Garcia recorded a song called "Ode to a Centipede", using sound effects from the game, and released it on the album Pac-Man Fever.

[edit] Board game

In 1983, Milton Bradley released a board game based on the video game. The board game pitted two players against each other in a race to be the first person to the opponent's home base with a centipede. Each player could also utilize a blaster as well as a scorpion and spider to slow the opposing centipede's advance.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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