Missile Command, 1981 Atari/Rob Fulop (20 From Atari 2600 #4)
9The great arcade classic gets a very good port on the Atari 2600 the following year. The flying targets, the 3 missile silos, and the crosshairs target are all missing in this port (you only have one missile cluster in the middle of your cities), but it's not really a big deal. Protect your 6 cities from descending enemy missiles with your own missiles, fired at a target you move around the screen. The joystick controller doesn't pose any problems (the original arcade game had a trakball), and 34 different game variations provide interesting perks or challenges like faster or slower target, easier gameplay (17 and 34 are the easiest), starting at later waves, having easier or tougher cruise missiles (that slowly home in on a city or missile cluster), etc. If an enemy missile hits a city, you at least don't have to worry about it anymore and missiles can plunge into its debris, leaving you to worry about the remaining cities. If you lose all your cities, however, it's game over-- unless you earned enough points to reach 10,000 (which grants you another city-- only if you NEED it). You have 3 clusters of missiles, with 10 each, and when the mound of missiles between your cities gets hit by an enemy missile, they are eliminated and you must relay on a reserve, indicated by dashes at the far left. The further you get in this game the more your score will rise; this is because the point value of enemies will double after 2 waves, triple after 4 waves, quadruple after 6 waves.. et cetera, on up to a maximum of 6 times the original value! Note again, that you only get a city restored when you NEED one, after reaching 10,000 or a multiple of that total, after a wave ends. If you have built up multiple cities via multiples of 10,000 points, and you end up needing multiple cities upon the completion of a stage, you will restore those cities you earned. Even if all cities have been lost, don't fret-- if you build up any extra cities via scoring or if the points added up from missiles remaining puts you over a 10,000 point multiple, your game gets to continue! Also, that extra city sound effect is pretty damn cool! Fun Easter Egg: Pick game variation 13 (which starts you on wave 15) and waste all your missiles without hitting one enemy target, and let all your cities bite the dust. At the end of the wave (game over), the programmer Rob Fulop's initials will be in place of the far-right city's rubble! Difficulty A switch will make your missiles fire much slower.