How to play Centipede online
- Move your wand: arrow keys
- Fire: Z or X. Hold it down for rapid fire.
- Choose the game variation: F2 (Select), or up and down on the title screen
- Choose the difficulty: left and right on the title screen
- Start: F3 (Reset) or a fire button
- Pause: F4
- Full screen: F9
Both the USA (NTSC) and European (PAL) releases are on this page; use the switch to choose.
Gameplay
You are trapped in an Enchanted Forest with a magic wand that shoots sparks. You move along the bottom of the screen while a centipede crawls down from the top, turning and dropping a row each time it hits a mushroom or the screen edge. Every segment you hit becomes a mushroom, and the segment behind it becomes a new head.
Clear a centipede and a tougher wave arrives. Over 12 waves, more and more of the body is replaced by separate heads, until the last wave is 12 heads moving on their own. Mushrooms take four hits to destroy. Three other creatures join in:
- Spider: jumps all over the forest, eating mushrooms. The closer it is when you hit it, the more it is worth.
- Flea: drops straight down, planting mushrooms, once the area near you is nearly clear. It takes two hits, and the first one doubles its speed.
- Scorpion: from wave 3, it crosses the middle of the field and poisons mushrooms. A centipede that touches one dives straight at you.
You start with three wands and lose one when the centipede, spider or flea gets you. Losing a wand repairs damaged mushrooms and cures poisoned ones. Every 12,000 points adds a wand, up to six. The game ends when the last one is gone.
| Target | Points |
|---|---|
| Body segment | 10 |
| Head | 100 |
| Flea | 200 |
| Spider (far / medium / close) | 300 / 600 / 900 |
| Scorpion | 1000 |
Game variations
There are four difficulty levels (Novice, Standard, Advanced, Expert) and four variations: One Player, Two Player Alternating, Dual Player Competition and Team Play. In the last two both players are on screen together. In Competition the scores are separate and your rival’s shots can paralyse you; in Team Play the scores are combined and you cannot hit each other. Both need a second player on the second controller.
Tips
- Aim for heads. A head is worth ten times a body segment.
- Cut a channel. Shoot a straight vertical gap through the mushrooms. The centipede falls straight down it and is easy to pick off.
- Keep a few mushrooms near you. The flea only comes when the area around you is almost empty.
- Let the spider come to you. Its top score only comes at close range, so don’t chase it across the field.
- Listen. Each creature has its own sound.
The story behind Centipede on the 7800
Dona Bailey and Ed Logg designed the arcade Centipede, released in 1981. It was one of the first arcade games with a large female audience, and Atari later brought it to the 2600, the 5200 and its 8-bit computers.
The 7800 version was made by General Computer Corporation, which also designed the 7800 itself. It was one of 13 games announced with the console in May 1984, but the launch was delayed after Atari’s home business changed hands, and it finally came out in May 1986. Its main addition to the arcade game is the two simultaneous two-player modes. It has since been re-released on the Evercade and in the 2022 collection Atari 50.
