"Classic bug blasting action."

Centipede is a game that comes with some difficulty while remaining in a classic gaming shell. With plenty of things to shoot at and points to score while avoiding incoming insects and increasing difficulty, this is a game that most older gamers grew up with. Now, there are two different variations on this game, one of which you control a space ship of sorts {centipede} and one in which you control an archer {millipede}. If you’re into the classic games that offer up non-stop action with some strategy thrown in for good measure, then you’re looking in the right place.

The Game Play

Centipede features a constant top to bottom game play feature in which you must shoot both mushrooms that are in your way and a roving centipede creature that constantly comes down at you. Through your battle, you’ll encounter different insects that move in different patterns to try and throw you off the main path. Once you’ve gotten used to the patterns and you can move your little ship around, then you’ll find that the speed merely increases at such a rate that destruction is inevitable. Scoring is based on how many insects you can destroy and what stage that you’re on based on the different colors of the mushroom caps that look to obstruct your way.

Control is nothing too difficult, in which you use a little track ball to move your space ship from one side of the screen to the other. A firing button can be depressed in order to fire a constant volley of lasers up the screen at the incoming insects to help you with your score. However, for every creature that you destroy on the centipede line, it turns into a mushroom which changes the flow and direction of the centipede on it’s travel down the screen. Once you’ve gotten used to the patterns of the insects, you’ll find that the control and the game play increases in difficulty and you’ll just have to use blind luck to get through the later stages!

The Visuals

There really isn’t all that much to Centipede that you have to worry about in terms of visuals and special effects. The creatures all move fairly quickly across the screen and the colors that you find are pretty basic depending on what stage that you’re on. Really, the only way to tell that you’ve advanced through the stages is to watch and see what color the mushroom caps are from stage to stage and to see just how many sectional centipedes are coming down the screen at you. Other details in the game are minimal with only the simplistic view of the spiders and ticks bouncing across the screen to let you know that you’re up against something different than the standard centipede creatures!

The Audio

As far as I can tell, there really is no music to accompany you through the game and you’ll find that most of your audio input is given to you through beeps and bloops as well as the occasional crash of your ship being hit. The sweet, high-pitched sound of your laser being fired and the constant drone of the creature as it makes its way down the screen is pretty much all that you’ll have to listen to, so be prepared for a rather minimal way to play and listen to the game. However, the less that you hear is actually better in most respects, because there is nothing here that allows you to have your attention drawn away from the action at any given point.

The Verdict

With the minimal features in the audio and visual departments, Centipede falls into the classic gaming section but fills a small place in classic gamers hearts. Having grown up on games like this one, Centipede offers up some pretty impressive game play that increases with each passing stage and although it is literally the same thing everytime that you play, it still allows for some heavy duty action. If you see this game in the arcade someplace with the rest of the older machines, then you’re looking at a pretty good bet on what to spend your money on if you’re into the older games. Hell, you might even find the variation, Millipede, which is just as fun, if not just as challenging!

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/15/02, Updated 06/15/02