Centipede

Centipede is a fixed-screen shooter in which the player controls a Bug Blaster defending the lower portion of a mushroom-filled playfield from waves of giant insects. In the arcade version, a trackball moves the Bug Blaster freely within its restricted area, while the fire button launches darts and can be held for rapid fire. The objective is to survive for as long as possible and earn points by destroying the centipede and the other creatures that enter the screen.

The centipede begins at the top and travels horizontally until it reaches a mushroom or the edge of the playfield, causing it to descend one row and reverse direction. Shooting one of its segments converts that segment into a mushroom. If a middle segment is destroyed, the centipede separates into two independently moving sections, with the rear section developing a new head. Destroying every segment completes the wave; later waves shorten the main centipede and add more detached heads until the attackers consist entirely of individual heads.

Mushrooms influence the centipede’s route and can gradually crowd the playfield, causing it to descend more quickly. Each mushroom requires several shots to destroy. If the centipede reaches the player’s area, it remains there until eliminated, while additional heads periodically enter from the sides and increase the danger.

Several other insects complicate the defense. Spiders move unpredictably through the player’s area and consume mushrooms, awarding more points when shot at close range. Fleas descend vertically and create new mushrooms when too few remain near the bottom of the screen. Scorpions cross the upper playfield and poison every mushroom they touch; a centipede that encounters a poisoned mushroom plunges directly toward the bottom before resuming its normal movement.

Contact with any enemy costs the player a life. Afterward, damaged and poisoned mushrooms are restored to their normal condition, awarding a small number of points in the process. Additional lives are granted at designated score intervals, and play continues with increasingly dangerous combinations of centipedes, heads, spiders, fleas, and scorpions until all lives are lost. The arcade game supports one or two players, with two players alternating turns.

The numerous computer and console conversions preserve the central shooting, mushroom, and insect mechanics while adapting the graphics, sound, speed, controls, and playfield proportions to their respective hardware. The Atari 7800 edition adds four selectable difficulty levels and simultaneous two-player modes: a competitive mode with separate scores in which players can stun one another, and a cooperative team mode with a combined score. These options are specific to that version and are not features of the original arcade game.

The Game Boy and Game Boy Color releases are separate handheld adaptations with redesigned displays and controls. The 2021 Lynx edition is a later commercial release of a port that had remained unpublished during the system’s original lifetime. The Windows and Xbox 360 versions distributed through Microsoft’s Game Room offered both the arcade and Atari 2600 editions, while the browser, Plex Arcade, and Antstream releases present or closely reproduce the arcade version.