Centipede (computer game)

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Centipede
Centipede Logo.svg
Studio Atari
Publisher Atari
Senior Developer Dona Bailey and Ed Logg
Erstveröffent-
lichung		 1981
genre Shoot 'em up
Game mode Up to 2 players take turns
control Trackball ; 1 button
casing default
Arcade system 6502 (@ 1.512 MHz)
Sound-CPU:
Sound-Chips: Atari POKEY
monitor Grid , resolution 240 × 256 pixels (3: 4 vertical) Color palette: 8
Age rating
PEGI recommended from 3 years
information First arcade game designed by a woman
Centipede arcade machine
Part of a Centipede arcade machine with artwork (right)

Centipede ( English for " centipede ") is an arcade game from 1981, published by Atari . It was the first arcade game designed by a woman. Dona Bailey was responsible for the development.

Overview

The player controls a small insect-like figure, it is controlled with the trackball at the bottom and shoots laser beams at centipedes that move down from the top of the screen over a field of mushrooms . Every hit on a centipede creates another fungus; If you hit one of the middle segments of the centipede, it divides into two independent parts that continue their way separately.

The enemies appear at the top of the screen and move from left to right. If a centipede hits a mushroom or the edge of the screen, it will move down one line and change direction. Because of this, having a lot of mushrooms on the field means that opponents move down faster. The player can destroy the mushrooms, but this will take some time as each of them takes four hits.

When an opponent reaches the end of the field, he moves back and forth within the player's area and new segments are periodically added. This is repeated until the player has switched off all segments. If an opponent is destroyed, a new one appears at the beginning of the playing field, one segment shorter than the previous one. However, this is then accompanied by an additional, fast-moving opponent who is only one segment in size. The player loses a life if he collides with a centipede or another opponent such as a spider or a flea . There are also scorpions that can poison existing mushrooms, but do not attack the player directly. If a centipede encounters a poisoned mushroom, it moves directly towards the lower end of the playing field - and thus towards the player.

successor

Centipede received a successor called Millipede in 1982 , but it was less successful.

Source code

The source code of Centipede in the Atari 7800 version was available in physical form together with Ms. Pac-Man , Dig Dug , Robotron: 2084 and eight games when the Atari Corporation was closed in 1996, reconstructed by the Atari Museum and later published.

Implementations

Like many other Atari games, Centipede was implemented on the Atari 2600 and almost all other home computer systems. There are, for example, implementations for Apple II , Commodore 64 , ColecoVision and VC 20 . There is also a privately created port for the KC87 from the former GDR .

At the end of the 90s, a new version for PCs and the PlayStation was also released, in which the original version could be unlocked as a bonus.

Trivia

Buckner & Garcia recorded a song called Ode to a Centipede .

In the 2015 film Pixels , aliens attack the earth in the form of computer games. Centipede is one of them.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kevin Parrish: Atari 7800 Source Code Rescued - Atari released the source code for the 7800 console and games . tomsguide.com. July 7, 2009. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
  2. ↑ 7800 Games & Development . atari-museum.com. 2009. Retrieved January 9, 2012: “ These games were rescued from Atari ST format diskettes that were thrown out behind 1196 Borregas when Atari closed up in 1996. The Atari Museum rescued these important treasures and recovered them from the diskettes. "
  3. ↑ http://kcemu.sourceforge.net/kcemu/screenshots/kc87.html