Centipede [Model CX7801]

Centipede © 1987 Atari Corporation.

You start the game with three magic wands. Use these to spark the enemy and score points, if the enemy bites you, you become temporarily paralyzed and lose a wand. Plan your strategy and think fast to avoid the paralyzing insect bites.

The Centipede attacks in 12 distinct waves, in Wave 1, it has a head attached to 11 body segments. in Wave 2, it has a head attached to ten segments plus a detached head. The Centipede in Wave 3 has an attached head, nine segments, and two detached heads. The segments continue to transform into heads until in Wave 12 the Centipede has 12 independently attacking heads.

The Centipede attacks from the top of the screen and winds down towards you. When you spark any part of it with your wand, that segment becomes a powerless mushroom. The segment behind it becomes the head of a new Centipede. When you hit every segment of a Centipede, it disappears briefly, then reappears at the top of the screen in a new and fiercer attack wave.

Dotting the forest floor are Magic Mushrooms. These act like shields for you but can also speed the Centipede in its attack. The Centipede slithers along horizontally in one direction. When it gets to a mushroom or the edge of the screen, it turns down to the next row of mushrooms and slides in the opposite direction. Each time you spark a mushroom you destroy part of it. It takes four hits to eliminate a mushroom entirely. if you lose a wand, all partially destroyed mushrooms are magically restored.

Trying to distract you from sparking the Centipede, the Spider jumps all over the Enchanted Forest, eliminating every mushroom it touches. The closer the Spider comes to you, the more points you score when you zap it.

The Flea starts bugging you after you shoot away most of the mushrooms near you. It drops straight down, creating mushrooms as it falls. You must hit the Flea twice to make it disappear. But be warned: after the first shot, the Flea drops twice as fast!

Beginning with the third wave, the Scorpion scurries across the middle of the Enchanted Forest, poisoning every mushroom it touches. At first it moves slowly, but as the battle goes on it moves faster and faster and appears more often.

Poison mushrooms are a different color from the other mushrooms. When the Centipede bumps into a poison mushroom, it goes crazy and plunges straight through the field of mushrooms towards you. if you lose a wand, all whole and partially destroyed poison mushrooms are transformed back into Magic Mushrooms.

If the Centipede, Spider, or Flea bites you, you become temporarily paralyzed and your wand is snatched away. Your points are added to your running score, and the rejuvenated Centipede attacks again. You must replay the wave until the Centipede is totally destroyed.

The Enchanted Forest is a challenging but dangerous region. By learning what dangers might lurk behind every mushroom, you’ll become a skilled and victorious wand-wielder.