In this review, we fire up the Atari 2600 game Millipede. We find out if this action game is worth playing.
This game was released in 1984. It is the sequel to the game Centipede. We reviewed that game and found it to be pretty decent all around. For good measure, we also reviewed the Atari 7800 port of Centipede and found it to be decent all around. So, we thought we’d give the sequel a try.
The game plays a lot like Centipede. It features so many similarities to Centipede that it made more sense to simply talk about the differences about the game.
One difference is the fact that the playable area is highlighted in light grey. Beyond that, I don’t think there really is much in the way of differences between the prequel and sequel.
The graphics have one really obvious flaw: the color difference between the play area and the player itself. The level of contrast between the grey, and the pink color is so poor, you can lose your player in the mix. The fact that a number of enemies share the same color makes this game that much more unmanageable. You have to focus on your player and rely on peripheral vision to take out the millipede unless the millipede starts getting close. While the graphics aren’t otherwise terrible for the system, it is pretty bad for the year it was released.
The only real jingle I heard was when getting a free life after getting over 10,000 points. After that, all you get is a handful of sound effects. Nothing impressive to hear in this game for the time.
Overall, this game didn’t turn out as well as other similar games. It still has the fast paced action as the other prequels. Unfortunately, the graphics really kill the gameplay. The color contrasts between the player and the ground is frequently so bad, that you have to focus on the player just to keep track of where you even are. The audio doesn’t exactly impress either. So, you are probably better off sticking with the different ports of Centipede. This one doesn’t really measure up as well.
Overall
Furthest point in game: High score: 35,452
General gameplay: 16/25
Replay value: 7/10
Graphics: 2/10
Audio: 1/5
Overall rating: 52%
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Google+.
