I can't review this title without pointing out how overwhelmingly superior the AtariSoft version of Centipede for the Colecovision was. There was often a feeling that video game companies would always do the best job on games for their native platforms, but AtariSoft was an exception, releasing games on other platforms that could come close to bringing shame to those on its native platform. Galaxian was another title that was just amazing on the CV compared with its Atari 8-bit counterpart. And its version of Defender brough smooth scrolling to the Colecovision, a console that was known for no hardware scrolling. Anyway, with comparisons aside, this version of Centipede is pretty good nonetheless, and plays pretty authentically; but the graphics always seemed too boxy and the non-fluid motion of the centipede always bugged me (pun intended). Since the centipede's segments move an entire segment width at once, it can seem like each segment is just a big pixel, especially when dropping straight down. Otherwise sound is pretty good and gameplay fun. It's just not the definitive version for its day. That would go to AtariSoft's CV version. |