Centipede Atari 7800 FAQ/Strategy Guide
Version: 1.0
Author: Rob 'Larcen Tyler' Adair
Last Revision Date: 02/13/06
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This document is electronically published work Copyrighted ¸2006 by Rob 'Larcen
Tyler' Adair. Permission is granted to make a copy _ONLY_ as a personal
reference copy, in which case the document _MUST_ remain in its original,
unedited form. Any other reproduction is strictly prohibited. This document
may not be used as a promotional item or for profitable means of any kind
(even if no profit is intended to be gained.)
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.
Atari 7800, Centipede, and any accessories mentioned within are registered
trademarks and/or copyrighted materials owned by Atari Games.
GameFAQs is a registered trademark and copyrighted 1995-2006 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
02/13/06: Just finished my Millipede guide, so I decided to write a guide for
the Atari 7800 version of Centipede.
(Notice: There are some parts of this guide that are directly copied from my
Atari 2600 guide, because those principles apply to both versions. This is NOT
plagiarism, nor am I attempting to take my original guide, replace all the 2600
stuff with Atari 7800 and call it a separate guide. It's a completely separate
guide from the 2600 version, mkay?)
08/11/06: Changed my e-mail address in the guide so it reflects my actual one.
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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!
(Yeah I copied that from my Atari 2600 guide. So what? :) )
SETTING UP:
Set up your Atari 7800 and plug a joystick into the left controller jack. If
playing with another person, plug a second joystick into the right controller
jack. You can either use a Pro-Line Joystick or a standard Atari 2600 joystick
with this game.
Plug in the Centipede cartridge firmly and power up the game. After a brief
loading period, the Centipede title screen will appear. You can either use the
Select switch on the Atari 7800 system or push the joystick up and down to
select one of four gameplay variations:
One Player: One player playing solo to earn the highest possible score untill
all lives are lost.
Two Player Alternating: Two players take turns playing. The left player
starts, and when a life is lost, play switches to the right player. Play
continues untill both players have used up all of their lives.
Dual Play Competition: Two players play simultaneously, competing with one
another to earn the highest possible score. Shooting the other player's mobile
gun will result in them being stunned for a few seconds.
Team Play: Two players play simultaneously, working together to earn the
highest possible score based on both players' scores combined. Players can't
hurt each other with their shots.
(In all games, the left player's mobile gun is orange, while the right player's
mobile gun is blue.)
Move the joystick left or right to choose your difficulty setting. The
available settings are (from easiest to hardest,) Novice, Standard, Advanced,
and Expert. When you are happy with your settings, either press the button or
the Reset switch on the Atari 7800.
GAMEPLAY:
When the game begins, you will find your mobile gun at the bottom of the
screen, and you can move around a small section of it by moving the joystick in
the direction you wish to move. Press the joystick button (either button on a
Pro-Line will work fine) to fire a shot. You have unlimited shots, and if you
hold down the button, you will get automatic fire.
Mushrooms appear randomly on the playing field, and act as blocks for both you
and the centipede. If a centipede touches a mushroom, it will go down a level
and turn in the opposite direction it was going. Shooting a segment of the
centipede will turn it into a mushroom. Mushrooms can be shot, and shooting a
mushroom four times will destroy 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 twelvth wave, you will have to deal with twelve 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.
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:
If you destroy too many mushrooms within your movement area, the flea will drop
from the top of the screen towards the bottom, leaving mushrooms in its path.
Getting hit by one of these is also lethal, and while it can be destroyed, it
takes two shots to do so. Be careful, though, as after the first shot, the
flea will become angry and move at you even faster!
SCORPIONS:
When you reach the third wave, the scorpions will start to appear. They will
appear on one side of the screen and scurry across to the other side, and any
mushrooms it touches will become poisoned.
Poisoned mushrooms have a different color to them, and if a centipede touches
one, it will go crazy and charge directly towards the bottom of the screen,
stopping for nothing!
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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 (REGULAR OR POISON): 1 Point
When you lose a life, you receive 5 points for each partially destroyed
mushroom on the playing field, as well as any poison mushrooms (whether or not
they were shot.)
You begin the game with three lives, and can earn a bonus for every 12,000
points earned, with a maximum of six lives in reserve allowed. Every time you
are touched by a flea, scorpion, or centipede, you will lose one life. The
game is over when all lives are used up.
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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 the centipede hits a poison mushroom, don't panic. Try to get into
position so you can shoot at it as it comes down towards the bottom. You'll be
able to earn a lot of points and take out quite a bit (if not all) of the
centipede.
-In Competition Mode, while it is fun to stun your opponent, remember that your
shots can't kill them (this isn't a deathmatch!) You're competing for the
highest possible score, so don't get carried away, or you may end up getting
yourself killed while trying to slow down your opponent.
-In Team Play Mode, remember that your shots can't hurt the other player, so
don't worry about accidentally shooting them. One strategy to try is having
each player cover their own 'half' of the screen.
-And don't forget to 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
And finally, ladies and gentlemen, the credits:
-My mother, for buying the Atari 2600 when it first came out, which made me
learn to love video games and buy an Atari 7800 when my 2600 was on the
fringe a few years back.
-Some unknown programmer at Atari, for doing such a great job with this port
from the arcade to the Atari 7800.
-Jeff 'CJayC' Veasey, for providing us writers with a place to share our work.
-Atari, for putting out the Atari 7800 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, get this, the most important person of all is YOU, for reading my guide!
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¸2006 Rob 'Larcen Tyler' Adair All rights reserved.
