On the Atari 2600 at level 13, if the player uses all the missiles without scoring any points, at the end of the game the city on the right will turn into 'RF' the initials of the programmer Rob Fulop. You can hover at the to to blast incoming missiles as they appear, but you may need to swoop down below to blast a missile that got past your notice.Īnd San Diego. Missile Command demands you cover the entire screen. Centipede had a trackball in the arcade, but you only had to cover the bottom portion of the screen which was much easier to translate to the 2600 joystick. This makes covering the entire screen rather difficult. The 2600 version features a single missile base with 30 missiles and the joystick moves the cross hair around the screen at a uniform pace. A trackball provided fast accurate targeting as 80's hair-band riffs filled the arcade. Missile Command's arcade controls featured 3 buttons to fire from each of 3 missile bases (Alpha Delta and Omega), each with 10 missiles. Here is another example of getting a complicated set of arcade controls honed down to a joystick and 1 button for the Atari console. Missile Command Arcade -vs- the Atari 2600 Conversion Your ABMs can destroy multiple incoming missiles if placed skillfully. As Base Commander, you job is to protect the 6 cities using your missile base containing 30 ABMs. These aliens descended on Zardon using both interplanetary balistic missiles and cruise missiles in an attempt to destroy all the cities. However this wasn't a deterrent for the Krytolian warriors.

Having missile bases laden with anti balistic missiles (ABMs) was likely a great crime deterrent - kind of the way everyone in Texas & Florida has a gun. Cities on Zardon are developed, rich in resources and void of crime.

Having it 'come home' on the Atari 2600 made my day! Missile Command Story ArcĪliens from the planet f Krytol have begun an attack on the peaceful planet Zardon. Even kids cramming quarters into arcade cabinets were aware of the concerns - total annihilation! Having 3 missile bases and a precision trackball made this a great game for all experience levels. Turns out Missile Command had the most and they were seemingly in better hands than the political elite of the day.ĭefending a peaceful planet from hostile overtakers was a perfect fit for the political climate. The public at large was concerned about who had more ICBMs.

The nightly news spoke of second-strike capability and the arms race was fueled in the media with movies like War Games in 1983. Who didn't love Missile Command in the arcades? Saving cities from incoming interplanetary balistic missiles was a catchy concept in the early 80's with all the existing nuclear concerns. Rating: Atari Missile Command Screenshot:

Missile commander atari