Millipede
About the Game
Millipede is a fixed-screen shooter and the sequel to Centipede . You control an archer within the lower portion of a mushroom-filled garden, moving freely in all directions while firing upward. The objective is to survive for as long as possible and earn points by destroying millipedes and the other insects that invade the playfield. A millipede enters at the top of the screen and moves horizontally until it encounters a mushroom, obstacle, or edge of the garden, causing it to descend and reverse direction.
Gameplay & Core Systems
Shooting a body segment turns it into a mushroom and may divide the creature into independently moving sections. Spiders bounce through the lower garden and remove mushrooms, while beetles may transform them into indestructible flowers. Bees and dragonflies descend while leaving new mushrooms behind, and mosquitoes fly directly through the field. Shooting one releases a cloud that destroys nearby insects and awards triple their usual point values. Certain rounds replace the normal millipede attack with swarms of bees, dragonflies, or mosquitoes.
Standout Features
- Play continues through increasingly fast and crowded waves without a conventional ending, although players may begin at a higher difficulty after reaching sufficient scores.
- Compared with Centipede , it adds more enemy types, swarm rounds, poisonous mushrooms, DDT bombs, a larger maneuvering area, and a system for beginning at previously reached score levels.
- The Atari 8-bit version more closely reproduces the arcade presentation, supports one or two alternating players, and includes options for selecting the control method and starting score.
- Mushrooms obstruct both the archer and the millipedes and require several shots to remove.
- The arcade version uses a trackball and a single fire button and supports one or two players in alternating turns.
- The Atari 2600 conversion replaces the trackball with joystick control and is limited to one player, but retains most other elements.
- Atari: The completed Atari 5200 conversion was cancelled before its original release but was later issued commercially; it is closely related to the Atari 8-bit version and supports the console’s Trak-Ball Controller.
- HAL Laboratory: The NES version, ported by HAL Laboratory , offers one and two-player modes with two difficulty settings.
Modes & Ways to Play
The Atari ST conversion by Andromeda Software uses redrawn 16-bit graphics and supports alternating two-player play, although preservation sources disagree over whether it received a normal commercial release.
Player support includes Hot Seat and 1-2 Players.
Presentation & Atmosphere
The higher setting introduces greater numbers of spiders and flying insects from the beginning.
