Millipede (Arcade)
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Millipede, while a sequel, is still an arcade classic. It was released in 1982, two years after its predecessor Centipede. Both games are very similar. The centipede/millipede makes its way down from the top of the screen zigzagging back and forth between mushrooms. The player shoots at it from the bottom of the screen attempting to destroy it before it gets to you. As you shoot it, it breaks up into multiple segments that independently move across the screen. Meanwhile, other insects come along tying to kill you in various other patterns. Millipede is much the same as centipede just with more variety.
Millipede didn't really make it to that many contemporary platforms. It was released for the Atari 2600 as well as Atari 8-bit computers. It also later made it to the Atari ST and Nintendo Entertainment System. Other contemporary computers like the Commodore 64 and Apple II as well as other game systems all missed out on this one when it was first released. An Atari 5200 port was completed but it was never released. Eventually, a few later systems did get re-releases of this game. A Game Boy version was released along with Centipede as part of Arcade Classics #2 in 1995. A couple of years later in 1997 it was released as part of Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 2 for the PlayStation. Nearly a decade later in 2005 both the Atari 2600 version and arcade versions were released as part of the Atari Anthology for the Xbox and PlayStation 2. It also became available via Xbox Live Arcade for the Xbox 360 in 2007.
As far as the original ports, the Atari 8-bit version is definitely the best. Any of the ports after the Game Boy port are either arcade perfect or close to it. Of course, the best way to play for the purist is to find an original arcade machine or emulate it using MAME. You need a trackball controller if you want to play it right in any case.
The ad at the top is for the original arcade version and is from the January 1983 issue of Video Games magazine.
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This was one of my favorites in the arcade and also one of the most difficult. There was a real strategy there about forcing the centipede down a "tube" of sorts, but I could never work out how to make that happen. I was young and had loads of patience but not a great deal of strategy in my playstyle.
I think that most of the ports were pretty bad because of the graphical differences, sound, and of course the absence of a track-ball. I agree with you that this is absolutely essential to getting the real experience of this game.
I miss arcades. I have been told there is a classic arcade somewhere in this town I live in, but i am yet to find it.
In the mid 1980s the local roller skating place I sometimes went to had a bunch of arcade machines and this was one of them. Part of the problem with ever developing a strategy was that you were always limited by the number of quarters you had. Plus I split my quarters among a few other machines there like Gauntlet, Crossbow and a couple others.
The Atari 2600 port of Centipede wasn't too bad considering the graphical limitations. However, Millipede had more variety and the 2600 wasn't very good at showing it. The Atari 8-bit computer port was probably pretty good for the time. Trackballs were available but not really that common. I don't think Millipede was ever released on the Commodore 64 which is the computer I had at the time (or a few years later anyway).
Admittedly i haven't looked too hard but I'm not aware of any classic arcades around me. About the closest thing would be a Chuck E Cheese but they don't have any classic games unless you count Skee-ball.
Chuck E Cheese used to be filled with classic games but then again, my memory of it is actually a part of their chain called "Showbiz" which is the same thing. They had a ton of "classic arcade games" but then again, it was the 80's and the only games that existed were "classic ones"
I was disappointed to find out that Dave and Busters in NYC had no classic games at all. I suppose we are wishing for things that likely aren't going to happen.