Missile Command - Arcade
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 | Missile Command TV Commercial (Atari 5200 Version)
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Missile Command is a 1- or 2-player game with a color monitor. The game depicts an Armageddon style war in which players defend their bases and cities with antiballistic missiles (ABMs). The enemy - the game computer ? launches incoming waves of attack missiles. These weapons may be either individual or branching attack missiles. In addition, the enemy occasionally launches missiles from a fast-moving 'killer' satellite or from bombers. The enemy also launches 'smart' missiles that usually avoid explosions.
Players receive varying numbers of points for intercepting attack missiles, for having unused missiles still in their bases' arsenals, and for having their cities undamaged after a missile wave.
The play mode begins when either start pushbutton is pressed. The mode ends when the player's last city is destroyed.
The 3 bases - Alpha, Delta and Omega - each have 10 ABMs ready to be fired. Players must be careful to fire the missiles more or less evenly from among those bases, because no more missiles are granted until the screen resets in preparation for a new wave of attack missiles. If the enemy missiles strike a city or base, the colorful buildings or base will change to the solid color of the landscape.
The game continues until all cities are destroyed. Missile Command has no operator-selectable fixed time length. Thus a highly skilled player can play longer than the novice.
During the second wave, a 'killer' satellite and/or bomber will appear on the screen, moving quickly and launching attack missiles at the bases and cities. Players get bonus points for shooting down the satellites or bombers.
The general approach for getting high point scores is fairly quickly discovered : try to launch your ABMs when the enemy missiles have just appeared at the top of the screen. Then they are clustered together, where one ABM can usually destroy several enemy missiles. In the later more advanced waves, players can lay out a blanket of explosions.
Game description from www.arcade-history.com
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