Millipede

The Good
The sequel to Centipede, Millipede has the same gameplay elements as the predecessor. As usual, a millipede makes its way toward the player, and the player must shoot at the millipede before it reaches them. There are a few differences such as more enemies like the ladybugs, dragonflies, and mosquitos; and the inclusion of DDT bombs which destroy all enemies within its radius. When the player destroys the millipede, as well as its segments, they proceed to the next level.

One neat feature is the inclusion of the bonus levels, where a group of bees fall down toward the player and you have to shoot them, and there are no millipedes to worry about. These levels give you the opportunity to rack up big points, possibly in the thousands.

The NES version is a faithful port of the coin-op version, although the score and the number of lives are located in an area to the right side of the screen, not the top/bottom of the screen, but that doesn't matter. The graphics are the same, though they are really nothing special, as they got the same detail as the last game. The enemies look what they should look like, and the animations of each enemy is nice. While I was playing this game, I knew what enemies just appeared judging by the sound that plays when they do appear.

The re-playability is high. Your score for destroying enemies vary depending on what you hit and what position it is in. For instance, the lower the jumping spider is when you hit it, the more points that you are awarded, and the game tells you at the bottom of the screen how many points you need to get before you are awarded an extra life. It is this system that made me keep playing.

The Bad
There is nothing I can think of.

The Bottom Line
Millipede has similar gameplay to Centipede, but has a few differences, the notable ones being the inclusion of more enemies and DDT bombs. The NES version is faithful to the coin-op version. The graphics and sound is all there, although the status is in a different part of the screen. Unlike Centipede, this game isn't available for the PC, so if you have the money, use eBay to purchase the retro consoles from the Atari or Nintendo line, plus a copy of Millipede.

The Good
Millipede has the charm of many of the great arcade classics. It requires coordination, timing, and some amount of luck to successfully fend off all of the creatures while destroying the millipede level by level. As the levels go up the amount of bugs on the screen increase, making it closer and closer to impossible to pass each level.

The Bad
The spiders make this game near impossible especially as levels get in the 20's to 30's. Three of them appear at a time and their movements are extremely difficult to predict at this state. Also about every five minutes of game play there seems to be a glich where the upper area of the screen hazes over and seems to reset itself.

The Bottom Line
A fun way to get some video gaming out of your system if you only want or have a few minutes to spare, but it lacks the charm and quality of the Pac-Man's and Galaga's.