Centipede
a game by | Hasbro Interactive |
Genre: | Action |
Platforms: | Dreamcast, PC (1980), GameBoy Color, Playstation, GameBoy |
Editor Rating: | 5.6/10, based on 4 reviews, 5 reviews are shown |
User Rating: | 7.4/10 - 10 votes |
Rate this game: | |
See also: | Arcade Games |
People say:
4The Dreamcast version improves upon the PlayStation version so much that it's like comparing a final game to an alpha. Centipede looks a hundred times better on the DC. Everything's better looking-transparent water, textures that look good, power-ups that can be distinguished easily from enemies...and what a difference that makes! While the PS translation of the classic Centipede that's included with the game was slow, clunky and hardly arcade-perfect, this one is exact (and a lot of fun to play). That said, the updated Centipede (called "Adventure") leaves a lot to be desired. There's so much going on in any one level it's changed the blast-anything-that-moves gameplay of the original. Between saving Wee People, saving their settlements and worrying about what enemies other than the Centipedes are around you--it's easy to get lost. While in the original Centipede you only faced forward and were limited in how far up the screen you can move, in this you can go just about anywhere and have 360 degrees of movement. That alone changes the game from Centipede to Doom. Don't get me wrong, I like it when companies update retro games. But what I don't like is when they update it and lose the tone and feel of what made the original so much fun. Hasbro, take note.
4Maybe it wasn't such a good thing Hasbro packed the original arcade Centipede on this disc, because it just goes to show what's wrong with the supposedly "new-and-improved" version. The go-anywhere gameplay saps much of the pulse-pounding tension of the original. And although Centipede looks better than the PlayStation incarnation, is still gets choppy at times. Even though enemies get mighty quick, Centipede couldn't hold my interest.
6In my Centipede for PS review, I asked if it really needed to be in 30, and three months later, I pose the same question. I don't mind if developers want to improve upon a given formula, but it wasn't like all the good gaming ideas were exhausted by 1986! The updated Centipede lacks the genius of the original and is diluted with generic gaming cliches of 1999. Like its sibling on the PS, the only redeeming feature here is the original Centipede game.
4Mere's a thought, perhaps Centipede doesn't lend itself to an update? Yeah, it was fun as a simple arcade game 10 years ago. but this weak-premise, 3D adventure/shooter just doesn't go anywhere. Granted it looks better than the PS version-for whatever that's worth. Sorry to say, but in this day and age of hardcore first-person shooters, Centipede is just too cute for most. The Classic option is cool though, but not enough to buy the game.
Download Centipede
System requirements:
- PC compatible
- Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
System requirements:
- PC compatible
- Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
System requirements:
- PC compatible
- Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
System requirements:
- PC compatible
- Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
System requirements:
- PC compatible
- Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
Game Reviews
Hoping to duplicate the success enjoyed by its critically panned yet freakishly popular Frogger update, Hasbro Interactive is preparing to drag another '80s arcade classic kicking and screaming into the '90s. In Hasbro's Centipede, players assume the role of Wally Gudmunzsun, an unlikely half-wit selected to save the world from a horde of giant armored beasts. After jumping behind the controls of a one-of-a-kind hovercraft known as The Shooter, you and Wally must blast your way through 23 levels and four unique worlds to end the insectoid menace. In addition to its updated 3D graphics, Hasbro's Centipede has a number of brand-new play mechanics, such as jumping, strafing and rescuing diminutive townsfolk, who reward your efforts with a comically high-pitched "Thanks, Wally!"
Your primary enemies, as the game's title implies, are enormous centipedes, which descend on your lone craft in wave after deadly wave, tirelessly winding their way through a forest of giant mushrooms. Destroy one of your foe's body segments and a mushroom will appear in its place, causing the creature to make an abrupt 180. Additional classic enemies--including mushroomplanting fleas, poisonous scorpions and elusive spiders--also return.
If Centipede's Adventure Mode isn't your cup of tea, you can give your trigger finger a workout in the game's Arcade Mode, certain to look more familiar to twenty-something gamers. If that weren't enough, Hasbro's Centipede is rumored to contain a pixel-perfect port of Atari's 2D classic.
Overview
Riding the waves of the recent flood of '80s nostalgia, here is another re-issue of a classic arcade game. Like Hasbro’s recent re-issue of Frogger, however, the game has been completely overhauled and updated. There are two different types of gameplay (which can be played single or multiplayer): a 3D-ish remake of the the arcade game, and a whole new 3D adventure game with a bit of a storyline to it (evil bugs invade a peaceful town) which mostly makes for a good excuse for some groovy pre-game cinematics. Either way you play it, it’s a brand-new game -- these ain’t your parents’ bugs.
Gameplay, Controls, Interface
The Arcade game is similar to the original, with the exception of the angle of the playing field and different colored, more 3D-ish graphics. In the Adventure game, you control a small ship via mouse/keyboard or gamepad and roam around various environments, blasting the bugs and saving the little Wee People. There are three camera angles, each of which has its uses: first-person, close-up and overhead view. There are several levels to the game -- which, if you run through them fast, do run out quickly -- but it’s enough to keep you busy for a while.
Graphics
The 3D environments in the Adventure game are pretty good -- having the different camera angles to choose from helps give you a good feel for where you are and what’s around you. The pre-game cinematics aren’t bad, either. The 3D-ish version of the Arcade-style game is a little weird, though. Don’t expect it to feel like the original game, especially if you’re using a mouse as your controller. The response is significantly more sluggish than the trackball/button combination on the arcade machines of old, probably due to the complexity of the 3D.
Audio
They’ve added zippy techno music for your background (it helps keep you going!) and some deliciously cheeseball sound effects, including several taken directly from or built on the sounds from the original game.
System Requirements
Pentium 133 or higher running WIN 9x, 4X CD-ROM drive, 16 MB RAM, 60 MB HD space, 1 MB SVGA card and Direct X 5.0. Recommended: the above plus 32 MB RAM, 120 MB HD space, 200 Mhz Pentium and a 3Dfx card. A good 3D card is really essential for the proper game experience, and you may need to tweak your video settings and the game settings to get it all to work correctly.
Documentation
Not much, but useful. The booklet in the jewel case gives you a good overview of the controls, weapons and point system, but it’s not terribly necessary. Both games are pretty easy and self-explanatory.
Bottom Line
Skip the Arcade game, unless you’re just buying it for the nostalgia, and go straight for the Adventure game. It’s very fast-paced and utterly addictive. The look and feel is very much like some of the newer console games out there (Mario 64, etc) and as a result, you may want to use a gamepad for your controller rather than a mouse. This new version has all the elements that made so many of the original arcade games so popular: simple, mindless, blast-the-bugs, save-the-cute-critters fun. Highly recommended for maturing Gen-Xers looking to recapture their youth, and younger kids raised on Nintendos and overly violent combat games who never had the original arcade experience.
People say:
2.5There's an unwritten rule a company has to follow when updating a classic game--any changes or additions that you make cannot alter or hurt the game-play of the original (an example of this done well is Tempest 2000). Centipede breaks that rule. A choppy frame-rate, blocky textures, awkward camera angles and drifty control alt make you forget that this was once an enjoyable arcade game. While boss graphics look OK, smaller enemies are too blocky. I would have preferred simpler, rounded polygons to this choppy, blocky mess. One of the important aspects of the original game is that you could only go a third of the way up the screen. In this, you can move in any direction, anywhere on the playing field (except water and pits), making the game more like a bad version of Smash TV. Saving Wee People and worrying about mission objectives slows the game's pace, and doesn't add any additional enjoyment to the game. The music is OK, but using Redbook audio that fades in and out at the start/end of each track makes the game load way too often. Speaking of load times, it's almost intolerable for a PlayStation game to load as much as this does. Its saving grace is that it does include a version of the original arcade game, which does kick-start the memories of spending countless hours in front of the machine in the '80s.
6.0There's nothing wrong with updating classic formulas with some modern-day twists (Robotron into Smash TV, for example). This 32-Bit Centipede is fun but the developers decided to implement free-roaming 3D gameplay, which kills the mounting anticipation of having to dodge a fragmented centipede if it should ever reach the bottom of the screen. Did this game realty need to be in 3D? Thankfully, included is the original game for old guys like me.
3.5Here's a textbook example of how to muck up a classic game. For one, why even have 3O when the most comfortable view is top-down anyway? The 3D angle is more of a novelty than a viable play mode. Why so many levels that basically repeat the same scenario in different forms? One more-why not modify and improve the original 2D Centipede while keeping its classic gameplay much the same way Activision did with the new Asteroids?
3.5How sad. Now that Activision's Asteroids has set the standard on how to properly update a retro game, why are half-rate updates like Centipede still appearing? Its graphics are horribly primitive, especially considering how few polygons there seem to be on screen. The gameplay and overall style is too simple. The level progression is smooth and I like the control .but that's it. The rest is pretty much crap-crap sound, crap graphics, etc. Crap.
Take a popular arcade and an Atari classic, remove the color graphics, shrink it to Game Boy size, and what have you got? A headache! Your best bet with Centipede is to take two aspirin and call an exterminator in the morning.
Long time gamers and arcade groupies will remember Centipede as a coin-op staple. You use a magic wand to fire at Centipedes and other bugs who wind their way down the screen. If you zap the bugs, they vanish and you score points. If they zap you, you vanish and lose your wand. The object of the game is simple: the higher you score, the better you feel.
With each level you complete, the pesky pests increase their speed. It takes lightning quick reflexes to react quickly enough to nail the bugs and use mushrooms to create avenues of escape and attack.
Although the coin-op game play is basically intact, the Game Boy version of Centipede doesn't have the colorful arcade graphics. Instead, tiny black and white bugs are hard on the eyes and drive you buggy.
On the plus side, Accolade's added enough different play alternatives to make two-player games a lot of fun. You can compete against a fellow pesterminator in alternating or head-to-head play, or team up for compete-tive extermination.
Overall, fanatic Centipede fans should check out this version. The uninitiated, however, should head for Centipede in the arcades and seek pest free Game Boy pastures.
ProTips:
- Destroy Mushrooms and create an avenue tor the Centipedes to slither down, Stand at the bottom and blow them away easily.
- The closer you are to a Spider when you shoot it, the more points you scone.