This document is only allowed to appear on the GameFAQs website and no other
website whatsoever, nor may any part of this document appear on any website
for any reason whatsoever.
Centipede, Atari 2600, and any accessories mentioned within are registered
trademarks of Atari Games.
GameFAQs is a registered trademark and copyrighted 1995-2005 by Jeff 'CJayC'
Veasey.
Any other names mentioned within not mentioned within this section are
registered trademarks and/or copyrighted materials of their respective owners.
Larcen Tyler is in no way affiliated with any of the companies listed above,
or their affiliates in any way. No affiliation should be assumed for any
reason whatsoever.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. REVISION HISTORY
2. HOW TO PLAY THE GAME
3. SCORING INFORMATION
4. TIPS
5. CONTACT INFORMATION
6. CREDITS
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1. REVISION HISTORY
Version 1.0
12/15/05: How can a classic game like this not have a guide? Good question,
which is why I choose to fix this situation.
01/12/06: After taking a vacation from writing due to the holidays and other
issues, I've decided to finish what I started.
03/02/06: Modified copyright information slightly, and fixed a typo in previous
revision date.
10/31/06: Slight modification to contact information.
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2. HOW TO PLAY THE GAME
You're trapped in a dark forest of giant mushrooms, and danger lurks
everywhere. Suddenly, you hear the sound of skittering feet. A lot of feet to
be exact. It's the centipede, slowly beginning its march toward your position,
and it's coming for you! It can regenerate itself if damaged, and body segments
can instantly become heads, meaning that you could easily split the centipede
into two smaller ones if you're not careful.
Before you can think any further, you see a giant spider also coming at you,
just as eager to get you as the centipede is. Then come fleas, flying from out
of seemingly nowhere and adding new mushrooms like magic. And then scorpions
rush across the area, infecting mushrooms with a poison that will cause the
centipede to go berzerk and rush directly toward your location.
Quick, get to your mobile gun and get ready to shoot, as the bugs are coming
for you, and it's either you or them!
SETTING UP:
Set up your Atari 2600 or Atari 7800 and plug a joystick into the left
controller jack. Centipede is for one player only.
Use the Game Select switch to choose either standard play or easy play (Easy
play is indicated by a teddy bear at the bottom of the screen. When playing in
easy mode, the only thing that can hurt you is the centipede, but you can't
earn as high of a score as you could in standard play.) When you are happy,
press the Game Reset switch or the joystick button to begin gameplay.
(Note: The TV Type switch and Difficulty Switches aren't used in this game.)
GAMEPLAY:
When the game begins, you will be the large square at the bottom of the screen,
which can move around a small section of the bottom area by moving the joystick
in the direction you wish to move. Use the button to fire shots. You have
unlimited shots and can hold the button for automatic fire.
The rectangles on the screen are mushrooms. They act as blocks for the
centipede, and will cause it to go down a level and turn in the other
direction. Shooting a segment of the centipede will turn it into a mushroom.
A mushroom can be destroyed with three direct shots to it.
YOUR ENEMIES:
THE CENTIPEDE:
Your primary enemy is the centipede, which starts at the top of the screen and
marches from one side of the screen to the other, at which point it drops to
the next row and goes in the opposite direction, unless it collides with a
mushroom first, at which point it will drop and turn.
If you shoot at the head of a centipede, it will disappear and turn into a
mushroom, at which point the body segment behind it will become the new head.
If, however, you shoot at a body segment, the segment behind it will become a
head, and you will have more than one centipede to deal with.
At the beginning, you will deal with a normal centipede, but after that, each
centipede will start with one fewer body segments that will be replaced with an
independent head segment that will move separately from the centipede itself.
When you reach the eighth wave, you will have to deal with nine individual
centipede heads!
The normal centipedes only need to be dealt with once. Each subsequent
centipede, however, must be defeated twice in order to move on to the next one,
untill your score passes 40,000 points. After that, each centipede only
requires one defeat to move on to the next one.
SPIDERS:
Another enemy that you must deal with is the spider, which appears at one side
of the screen and moves across it to the other side in a zig-zag pattern,
occasionally pausing to bob up and down. It will remove any mushrooms in your
movement field (which is the only area it will generally move in) and touching
it is lethal.
FLEAS:
Occasionally, you will have to deal with fleas that will drop from the top of
the screen to the bottom in a straight line, adding mushrooms at random in
their path. Again, collision with one of these is lethal.
SCORPIONS:
While they can't harm you, scorpions will sometimes move across the screen from
one side of the screen to the other, turning any mushroom they touch into a
poisoned mushroom (glowing white.) If a centipede touches this, it will go
into a frenzy and immediately head straight for the bottom of the screen
without stopping for anything.
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3. SCORING INFORMATION
Points are awarded as follows:
SHOOT CENTIPEDE BODY SEGMENT: 10 Points
SHOOT CENTIPEDE HEAD: 100 Points
SHOOT SPIDER AT LONG RANGE: 300 Points
SHOOT SPIDER AT MODERATE RANGE: 600 Points
SHOOT SPIDER AT CLOSE RANGE: 900 Points
SHOOT FLEA: 200 Points
SHOOT SCORPION: 1000 Points
DESTROY MUSHROOM: 1 Point
When you lose a life, you receive five points for every remaining mushroom on
the screen, whether it's fully intact or damaged.
You begin with three lives, and can earn a bonus for every 10,000 points
earned. You cannot have more than seven lives in reserve however. Every time
you are touched by a flea, scorpion, or centipede, you lose one life. The game
is over when you have used up all of your lives. In easy play, only the
centipede can kill you, though.
The maximum score you can earn before the score rolls over in normal mode is
999,999 points, while in easy mode it's 99,999 points.
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4. TIPS
-Don't let the centipede, whether whole, partial, or just a head segment, reach
the bottom of the screen. If it does, another head segment will appear
onscreen.
-Try to wait untill the spider is close to you before shooting it to earn the
maximum amount of points possible.
-Don't aimlessly shoot at the centipede, as you don't want to have to deal with
too many head segments. Instead, try to focus on shooting at the head instead
of the body. You'll earn more points that way, and have less pests to deal
with.
-If you can shoot the scorpion before it leaves the screen, any poisoned
mushrooms will be returned to normal. On the other hand, if a centipede does
touch a poisoned mushroom, try to get into position so you can quickly take it
out as it comes down.
-And, you guessed it, HAVE FUN!
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5. CONTACT INFORMATION
READ THIS BEFORE YOU SEND ME ANY E-MAIL!
The following types of E-Mail I will _NOT_ accept under any circumstances:
-Mail that contains flaming (insults) or offensive content within. If you
don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything!
-Spam/Advertisements of any kind. This is against the law, and will not be
taken lightly.
-Asking if you can use this on your website/in your FAQ/Magazine/anything
like that will not be tolerated. In case you missed it, I specifically
stated that I won't allow it in the disclaimer section at the beginning.
-Asking where to find this game in a ROM format, or any other illegal
software requests will be ignored.
-Asking me where to find this cartridge.
(Honestly, I wish I knew where to find Atari games, but I have as much of
a hard time finding them as you probably do! Your best bet is to check
online.)
The following types of E-Mail I will accept:
-Suggestions and/or constructive criticism.
-Strategies of your own.
-Any information I may have left out in this version.
-Generally, anything that will help me improve this guide in future revisions!
(Make sure you put "Centipede Guide" as your subject line.)
You can reach me at: LarcenTyler7650 (AT) Yahoo (DOT) com
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6. CREDITS
Yes, my friends, credits, that's what comes last, and here they are:
-My mother, for buying the Atari 2600 and passing her love for it onto me.
-Some unknown programmer at Atari, for doing such a great job with this port
from the arcade to the Atari 2600.
-Jeff 'CJayC' Veasey, for providing us writers with a place to share our work.
-Atari, for putting out the Atari 2600 as well as distributing this cartridge
in large quantities, so collectors could easily find it in this day.
-AtariAge (www.AtariAge.com) for all the information I needed to confirm while
I was writing this.
-And now, if I could get a fanfare... OK, I'll get to the point, the most
important person of all: YOU, for reading my guide!
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