Missile Command
We command you to buy this!
Posted July 19, 2007
Ah, the 1980s. Molly Ringwald, bright shiny clothes, synthesizer music on every radio station, and oh yeah... certain doom.
You little emo kids don't know what we all went through back in the 80s. We were at the constant brink of nuclear annihilation every minute of every day. At any moment the evil communist threat could have wiped out the planet with a single push of a button. And so how did we work out our fears of destruction? We turned the scenario into flashing colors on a video screen in our local arcade, of course!
Atari's 1980 coin-op Missile Command (and subsequent home versions) tried to disguise the horrible impending truth by changing the details around somewhat. To detach things from our situation here on Earth, the game told us that we were defending our planet Zardon from interplanetary ballistic missiles sent by the evil planet Krytol. Whatever. We knew better. These were Russian ICBMs and they were heading for our six major cities. We were Earth's only hope!
Missile Command has been relaunched as an Xbox Live Arcade title developed by Stainless Games, containing both the original arcade game and a newly enhanced High-Def version. The original is well... the original. Simple graphics and sounds, but with the addictive gameplay still intact.
Switch to the enhanced version though and you're in for a real treat. The core setup is the same -- three bases protecting six cities -- but the visuals are fantastic for an XBLA title. Clouds or starfields drift through the background, your guns fire bolts of lightning which then ignite at the point where you set your target, incoming missiles leave smoke trails... it's a very nice upgrade to the classic game. Then there are the little touches, like the sound of people screaming when one of your cities is hit. Creepy yes, but effective. Also, some of the incoming missiles will now change directions after you fire on them, adding a whole new challenge.
Like the XBLA release of Centipede/Millipede before it, Missile Command features the "Throttle Monkey" mode for both the Classic and Enhanced versions. What this basically does is increase the game speed to ridiculous levels, making it a true challenge to see how long you can survive. It's fun for when your friends come over and wind up having too much to drink, or if you just want to torture yourself.
The arcade version of Missile Command used a trackball to control your target. The Xbox controller's analog stick doesn't give you the precision that the trackball gave, but it's not a broken control scheme either. Overall I felt as though I was doing just fine making the crosshairs go where I wanted them to. The "A" button fires your center gun, while the left and right trigger fire their respective cannons. It doesn't take long at all to feel perfectly comfortable with the controls.
Like other recent Atari to Xbox Live conversions, this one will cost you the minimum for a Live Arcade game: 400 points (or $5.00). There are some bad 400 point games on XBLA, but Missile Command definitely isn't one of them. Buy it! Save Molly Ringwald!
You little emo kids don't know what we all went through back in the 80s. We were at the constant brink of nuclear annihilation every minute of every day. At any moment the evil communist threat could have wiped out the planet with a single push of a button. And so how did we work out our fears of destruction? We turned the scenario into flashing colors on a video screen in our local arcade, of course!
Atari's 1980 coin-op Missile Command (and subsequent home versions) tried to disguise the horrible impending truth by changing the details around somewhat. To detach things from our situation here on Earth, the game told us that we were defending our planet Zardon from interplanetary ballistic missiles sent by the evil planet Krytol. Whatever. We knew better. These were Russian ICBMs and they were heading for our six major cities. We were Earth's only hope!
Missile Command has been relaunched as an Xbox Live Arcade title developed by Stainless Games, containing both the original arcade game and a newly enhanced High-Def version. The original is well... the original. Simple graphics and sounds, but with the addictive gameplay still intact.
Switch to the enhanced version though and you're in for a real treat. The core setup is the same -- three bases protecting six cities -- but the visuals are fantastic for an XBLA title. Clouds or starfields drift through the background, your guns fire bolts of lightning which then ignite at the point where you set your target, incoming missiles leave smoke trails... it's a very nice upgrade to the classic game. Then there are the little touches, like the sound of people screaming when one of your cities is hit. Creepy yes, but effective. Also, some of the incoming missiles will now change directions after you fire on them, adding a whole new challenge.
Like the XBLA release of Centipede/Millipede before it, Missile Command features the "Throttle Monkey" mode for both the Classic and Enhanced versions. What this basically does is increase the game speed to ridiculous levels, making it a true challenge to see how long you can survive. It's fun for when your friends come over and wind up having too much to drink, or if you just want to torture yourself.
The arcade version of Missile Command used a trackball to control your target. The Xbox controller's analog stick doesn't give you the precision that the trackball gave, but it's not a broken control scheme either. Overall I felt as though I was doing just fine making the crosshairs go where I wanted them to. The "A" button fires your center gun, while the left and right trigger fire their respective cannons. It doesn't take long at all to feel perfectly comfortable with the controls.
Like other recent Atari to Xbox Live conversions, this one will cost you the minimum for a Live Arcade game: 400 points (or $5.00). There are some bad 400 point games on XBLA, but Missile Command definitely isn't one of them. Buy it! Save Molly Ringwald!