Missile Command is a 1980 video game made by Atari, Inc. for arcade machines. In Japan, the game was released by Taito and Sega. Dave Theurer created the game. He also designed Tempest for Atari the next year. Players use a trackball to protect six cities from missiles by launching other missiles from three bases. Released in June 1980 during the Cold War, the game became very popular with critics and players. Atari later made the game available for home systems, starting with the Atari 2600 in 1981 by Rob Fulop. Many similar games and updated versions followed. The version for Atari's 8-bit computers was used again for the 5200 in 1982 and included in the XEGS in 1987. Missile Command is seen as one of the best video games ever made.

Gameplay

In the game Missile Command, six cities are under attack by a continuous stream of ballistic missiles. Some of these missiles split into smaller missiles that can each target different locations. Later levels introduce new enemy weapons, such as smart bombs that can avoid imperfectly aimed missiles, and bomber planes and satellites that move across the screen and launch their own missiles. The player controls three missile batteries to protect the cities for as long as possible.

To play, the player moves a crosshair across the sky using a trackball and presses one of three buttons to launch a counter-missile from the correct battery. When a counter-missile reaches the crosshair, it explodes, creating a fireball that lasts for several seconds and destroys any enemy missiles or craft that enter it. Each battery starts with ten missiles and becomes unusable when all its missiles are launched or if it is destroyed by enemy fire, whichever happens first. Missiles from the center battery move faster than those from the other two and are the only ones capable of destroying smart bombs from a distance.

The game consists of levels that grow increasingly difficult. Each level has a set number of enemy weapons that attack both the cities and the missile batteries. These weapons can destroy any target with one hit, but they can only destroy up to three cities in a single level. A level ends when all enemy weapons are destroyed or reach their targets. If the player runs out of missiles, they can no longer control the remaining part of the level. At the end of each level, the player earns bonus points for any remaining missiles and cities. At specific score intervals, the player gains a bonus city that can replace a destroyed city at the end of the current level. These bonus cities are stored and used automatically when needed. The scoring multiplier starts at 1x and increases by 1x after every second level, up to a maximum of 6x. This multiplier affects the points earned for destroying targets and bonus cities.

The game ends when all six cities are destroyed and the player has no bonus cities remaining or earns none during the final level. Unlike many early arcade games, there is no way to "win." Enemy weapons become faster and more numerous as levels progress. The goal is to survive as long as possible. When the game ends, the screen displays "The End" instead of "Game Over," indicating that "in the end, all is lost. There is no winner." This message is skipped if the player achieves a high score, and the game prompts the player to enter their initials.

Development

Gene Lipkin, who was the president of Atari's coin-op division, saw a picture of a radar screen in a magazine. He asked Steve Calfee, a department head, to create a game similar to the image. At that time, most games were made by one programmer with a six-month deadline. If the project was important, a junior programmer might be added as extra help. Dave Theurer, who had just finished working on Atari Soccer as a junior programmer, was given the task. The project was described as "a radar screen showing missiles from the USSR heading toward the US, which the player defends." Because the project was requested by a boss, it was considered important, and Rich Adam, a junior programmer, was assigned to help Theurer.

Calfee, Theurer, and Adam worked together to improve the game's idea. Early versions of the game featured six cities in California: Eureka, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and San Diego. Theurer understood the goal of making a patriotic game, but he was unsure about including violence. He agreed to work on the project with two conditions: the attacking and defending states would not be named, and the game would only allow the player to defend, never to attack. Because of these choices, city names were removed completely. Players could not retaliate, as that would represent mutual destruction, which Theurer did not consider noble. He explained, "I did not want to put the player in a position of being a genocidal maniac. Only a crazy person would use nuclear weapons without context, right?" Removing country and city names allowed players to imagine the story themselves. The only possible outcome of total destruction was a message about the futility of war.

To make the game fast-paced, Theurer chose a trackball as the control method, which was faster than a joystick. The game would also be the first color game made by Atari. These features helped the game stand out compared to other games at the time. The cabinet design was also new, including an extra panel of lights connected to events in the game.

As the deadline approached, Theurer and his team worked very hard. Theurer had nightmares about being destroyed by a nuclear blast. At Atari, it was common for programmers to struggle with releasing their first game, a challenge seen as part of learning. This situation later became known as "Theurer's law" because Theurer was a famous exception who succeeded.

Before the game was released, Atari tested it in arcades. Arcade owners were paid to place the prototype for a few days so developers could watch players, find problems, and ensure the game was fun. The game became popular quickly, but the extra light panel distracted players and was removed.

Reception

Missile Command is one of the classic video games from the golden age of arcade games. It is also known for showcasing how the Cold War influenced popular culture, as it included a system similar to National Missile Defense and mirrored real-life nuclear war situations.

The game became very popular quickly because of its unique design, colorful graphics, and challenging, score-based gameplay, which attracted many players at the time. It sold nearly 20,000 arcade cabinets. Missile Command was a commercial success for Sega in Japan, where it was among the top ten most profitable arcade games of 1980.

In 1983, readers of Softline magazine ranked the Atari 8-bit version of Missile Command as eighth on their list of top thirty Atari programs by popularity. In a later review, Brett Weiss of Allgame gave the arcade version a perfect score of 5 out of 5 for its controls, fast-paced gameplay, sound effects, theme, and strategic aiming and firing.

In 1995, Flux magazine ranked the arcade version 24th on their "Top 100 Video Games" list.

Ports

Missile Command was released for the Atari 2600 in 1981. The game’s instruction manual describes a conflict between two planets: Zardon (the defending player) and Krytol. The original arcade version does not mention these planets. On level thirteen, if the player runs out of missiles without earning any points, the city on the right will display "RF" at the end of the game. "RF" stands for the programmer Rob Fulop. This hidden feature, known as an Easter egg, was first recorded in Atari Age (Volume 1, issue #2) in a letter by Joseph Nickischer. It is the second publicly recognized Easter egg from Atari. In an interview with Paleotronic Magazine, Fulop shared that Atari paid him with a Safeway coupon for a free turkey, which inspired him to leave the company and help create a competing game developer called Imagic.

Missile Command was also released for Atari 8-bit computers in 1981, and an identical version was made for the Atari 5200 in 1982. The same 8-bit version was later included as a built-in game on the 1987 Atari XEGS, which starts automatically if no cartridge is inserted.

In 1992, Accolade released a version of Missile Command for the Game Boy. It was later re-released by Nintendo in 1995 as part of a double pack with the Game Boy version of Asteroids, included in Accolade’s Arcade Classic series. A similar version was published by Hasbro Interactive for the Game Boy Color in 1999.

Legacy

Missile Command has been released many times in different versions and collections over the years:

• The game is part of Arcade Classics for the Sega Genesis and Game Gear, and a similar collection called Arcade Smash Hits for the Sega Master System.
• It was included in the Microsoft Arcade package for Microsoft Windows in 1993.
• The game appears in Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 1, published by Midway Games, for the Sega Saturn, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and PlayStation.
• It is also found in Atari Arcade Hits 1, Atari Greatest Hits, Atari Anniversary Edition, and Atari: 80 Classic Games in One!.
• The game is a bonus unlockable minigame in the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. It can be unlocked after playing it on a hidden computer in one of the game’s levels.
• It was included in Atari Anthology for the Xbox and PlayStation 2 (in both arcade and Atari 2600 versions) in 2004.
• The game is part of Retro Atari Classics and Atari Greatest Hits Volume 1 for the Nintendo DS. The Retro Atari Classics version includes a remixed art version.
• Both the arcade and Atari 2600 versions are included in Atari Vault (2016).
• The Atari 2600 and 7800 versions were released on the Evercade as part of Arcade Collection 1 and Arcade Collection 2 in 2020.
• The arcade, Atari 2600, and Atari 5200 versions were included in Atari 50 (2022) for the Atari VCS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

In late 1980, a two-player sequel called Missile Command 2 was tested but never officially released. One prototype was shown in an arcade in Santa Clara, California. This version was similar to the original, but each player had their own cities and missile batteries. Players could work together to protect each other’s cities.

In 1992, Atari created a prototype for an arcade game called Arcade Classics to celebrate its 20th anniversary. This version included Missile Command 2 and Super Centipede. However, this was not the unreleased sequel but a remade version of the original game.

In 1981, General Computer Corp. released an enhancement kit to convert Missile Command into Super Missile Attack. This made the game harder and added a UFO as an enemy.

In 1982, Atari released a game called Liberator. Some people thought this was a sequel to Missile Command, but the roles were reversed: the player attacks planetary bases from space.

In 1995, an updated version called Missile Command 3D was released for the Atari Jaguar. It included three versions: Classic (a direct copy of the original arcade game), 3D (with improved graphics and a rotating view), and Virtual (which works with the Virtuality virtual reality helmet).

In 1999, Hasbro Interactive released a 3D version of Missile Command for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation.

In 2007, a high-definition version of Missile Command was released on Xbox Live Arcade for the Xbox 360.

In 2008, Missile Command was released for the iPhone and iPod Touch for $5. It included two gameplay modes: Ultra and Classic.

In March 2020, Atari released a new version called Missile Command: Recharged for mobile devices. This was the first game in the Atari Recharged series. The version was also released for Nintendo Switch and home computers via Steam in May 2020, and later became a launch title for the Atari VCS.

In 2018, an updated version of Missile Command was planned for the Intellivision Amico. However, neither the Amico console nor the game has been released yet. A mobile version was announced in late 2023 as part of the Intellivision Amico Home initiative. This version was released for Android in 2023, with an iOS version planned for a later date.

Other games inspired by Missile Command include:
– Missile Defense (1981) for the Apple II
– Stratos (1982) for the TRS-80
– Missile Control (1983) for the BBC Micro
– Repulsar (1983) for the ZX Spectrum
– Barrage (1983) for the TI-99/4A

Silas Warner created a clone called ABM for the Apple II in 1980, several years before making Castle Wolfenstein. John Field developed a game called ICBM (1981), which was similar to Missile Command, and later created Axis Assassin, one of the first games published by Electronic Arts.

Missile Command has appeared in various media:
– In the 1980 episode "Call Girl" of the TV show Barney Miller, a detective is shown playing the game.
– In the 1991 film Terminator 2: Judgment Day, John Connor plays the game in an arcade, reflecting the movie’s theme of a nuclear war.
– The 2006 documentary High Score follows a gamer’s attempt to break the Missile Command high score record.
– In the 2010 game Deadly Premonition, the protagonist mentions Missile Command while driving.
– In the 2008 episode "Chuck Versus Tom Sawyer" of the show Chuck, a weapons satellite code is hidden in the fictional "kill screen" of Missile Command.
– In the 1982 film Fast Times at Ridgemont High, the game’s "The End" screen is used in the film’s ending.
– The game is shown in the opening credits of the 2013 TV series The Americans.
– In the 2015 game Fallout 4, a clone called Atomic Command is playable on the Pip-Boy device.

The gameplay of Missile Command, including the trails left by missiles and the destruction of cities, resembles the nuclear war scenes in the 1977 film Damnation Alley.

In 2010, Atari discussed making a film based on Missile Command. In 2011, 20th Century Fox acquired the rights to develop the film. In 2016, Emmett/Furla Oasis Films partnered with Atari to create films based on Centipede and *Miss

Competitive play

Missile Command has been widely played in high-level competitions, including long play sessions and tournaments. In 1981, Jody Bowles from Florida played Missile Command for 30 hours at The Filling Station Eatery in Pensacola. Using Marathon settings, Bowles earned 41,399,845 points in one quarter, beating the previous record.

On July 3, 1985, Roy Shildt from Los Angeles set a world record in tournament mode with a score of 1,695,265. Twin Galaxies confirmed this score. His achievement was included in the 1986 edition of Guinness World Records and earned him a place in the Video Game Hall of Fame.

Over 20 years later, on March 9, 2006, Tony Temple from the United Kingdom set a new world record with 1,967,830 points in tournament mode, as verified by Twin Galaxies. This score was published in the 2008 Guinness Book of World Records Gamer's Edition. However, Guinness noted that the score was controversial because Temple used game settings that made the game easier by increasing cursor speed, unlike Roy Shildt’s previous record.