Atari Centipede - Page 23

Centipede
When
a
centipede is
shot,
it
breaks into two
small-
er ones, each
with
a
head.
Also, the part
of the centi-
pede that
was shot leaves a
mushroom in
its
place
on the screen.
When any centipedes reach the
bot-
tom of the screen,
they start back up,
but
remain
within
the
area
of
the player’s
shooter
(the bottom
fifth of the screen).
Mushrooms count
1
point when
shot, and
a player
must fire four shots
into a mushroom
before
it is de-
stroyed and disappears.
Centipede body
parts
count
10
points each, and the
elusive
heads
(represented
with
small
eyes on
them)
are worth
100
points
each.
Spiders are
worth
300,
600
or
900
points,
depending
on how close
they are to
the player when
shot.
When
a
large centipede (that hasn’t been shot
yet)
reaches the bottom, it
releases its
tail, and this part
changes
into
a
new
head. Also
to
provide player
challenge, if
a
centipede is still alive when it reaches
the bottom,
new heads will enter the screen
almost
at
the bottom of the sides.
More of these
heads will
appear as
time progresses.
The randomly moving spiders also appear in the
first
wave. The spiders can
destroy a
player,
as well
as
any mushrooms they move over. This eliminates
many
mushroom
targets
for
a player.
The
player’s shooter is
moved
by
rotating the Mi-
ni-Trak Ball™ control.
The shooter can be
moved
in
all
directions, but only
within the bottom fifth of the
screen.
Pressing the fire button causes
the shooter
to
fire shots
upwards, either singly
or in rapid-fire
mode,
if held down constantly.
A
bombardment
of
fleas starts
in the
second
wave;
as the fleas
descend,
they leave
a
trail
of new
mushrooms
behind
them.
In the
second
wave, the fleas
appear
when
a cer-
tain number
of
mushrooms remains
at
the
bottom
of
the screen. This
number
increases
as the
game pro-
gresses,
meaning fleas
appear
more often
later
on in
the
game.
Fleas
have
a value
of
200
points when
shot,
and
players
must hit
them
twice
to destroy
them (the
first
shot
just speeds
them
up).
The
scorpion
enters
from
either side
starting in
the fourth
wave; it
moves
at a relatively
slow
speed.
Later it
increases
its
speed.
When
shot,
a scorpion
counts
1000
points—
the
highest-value
target of
all.
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