Millipede (video game)

WorldBrand briefing

AI supplement

Original synthesis to sit alongside the encyclopedia article below. Not part of Wikipedia; verify facts on Wikipedia when precision matters.

Millipede is an arcade-style fixed shooter video game developed and published by Atari, serving as a sequel to the popular 1981 game Centipede. It retains the core gameplay of shooting descending arthropod enemies but introduces new creatures and mechanics to expand the challenge.

Key moments

1982Original arcade version released by Atari
1984Ported to Atari 2600 home console
1988Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) port published by HAL Laboratory
2005Included in the Nintendo Game Boy Advance compilation title Millipede / Super Breakout / Lunar Lander

As a follow-up to Centipede, Millipede faced competition from other 1980s arcade shooters like Galaga, Defender, and Joust. Its key differentiators included:

Expanded enemy roster: Added new creatures like spiders, beetles, and fleas that introduced unique movement patterns and threats
Refined gameplay mechanics: Introduced a "magic mushroom" power-up that could destroy multiple enemies at once, adding strategic depth
Accessible difficulty curve: Maintained the approachable gameplay of its predecessor while increasing complexity through layered enemy interactions

While it never achieved the same iconic status as Centipede or Pac-Man, Millipede carved out a niche as a solid arcade shooter, particularly appealing to fans of the original game's insect-themed gameplay. Its multiple home console ports ensured its longevity, keeping it available to new audiences for decades after its initial release.

Competed with classic arcade shooters like Galaga and Defender in the early 1980s
Added unique enemy types and power-ups to distinguish itself from Centipede
Maintained broad appeal through accessible gameplay and multiple home console conversions

Positioned as the official sequel to Atari’s cult 1981 arcade hit Centipede, the Millipede video game brand occupies a distinct, well-documented niche in the golden age of 1980s arcade gaming, anchored to its parent brand Atari’s legacy as a pioneer of the home and coin-operated gaming industry. It stands out from many low-effort derivative arcade titles of its era as a formally developed, high-quality release backed by Atari’s full internal development and distribution resources. Unlike many derivative arcade sequels of the era that recycled core assets with minimal updates, Millipede established its own loyal fanbase through targeted mechanical improvements that built on the accessibility and insect-themed charm of its predecessor, creating sustained cross-generational recognition decades after its original arcade launch. It carved out a dedicated audience of players who sought a more layered, challenging evolution of the classic Centipede gameplay loop. The brand’s strength is further amplified by its inclusion in nearly every major Atari retro gaming compilation released for home consoles from the 1980s through the 2020s, ensuring it remains discoverable by new audiences of retro gaming enthusiasts, collectors, and casual players exploring classic shooter titles. It is consistently categorized as a core secondary title in Atari’s officially curated classic game catalog.

Brand leadership

Score: 72/100

As the top direct sequel to one of Atari’s highest-grossing arcade shooter properties, Millipede holds clear leadership status within the narrow subcategory of insect-themed retro arcade games, even if it never overtook the cultural footprint of its parent title Centipede or cross-category global blockbusters like Pac-Man.

User interaction

Score: 68/100

The game retains a dedicated active player base across retro arcade tournament circuits and modern retro console platforms, with intuitive controls that require no onboarding for players familiar with classic Atari shooters, supporting consistent short-session play from casual and dedicated fans alike.

Brand momentum

Score: 61/100

While it does not generate new commercial revenue as a regularly updated active live-service game title, Millipede benefits from steady periodic spikes in visibility when it is included in new Atari retro collections or referenced in popular retro gaming media content, maintaining modest but consistent positive cultural momentum.

Brand stability

Score: 83/100

The Millipede brand has never faced significant public criticism, discontinuity of official distribution, or rebranding efforts across its 40+ year history, remaining consistently recognized under its original official title as a core part of Atari’s verified catalog of classic intellectual property.

Brand age

Score: 90/100

First launched in arcades in 1982, the Millipede brand has accumulated more than 43 years of continuous public recognition, making it one of the longest-running regularly available arcade shooter properties in the Atari catalog, with no gaps in its public official distribution history lasting longer than 24 months.

Industry profile

Score: 70/100

Widely cited by retro gaming historians and arcade industry archivists as a well-executed example of high-quality arcade sequel design from the 1980s golden age, Millipede is frequently referenced in industry retrospectives focused on the evolution of fixed shooter game mechanics.

Globalization

Score: 64/100

Though its arcade hardware was primarily distributed across North America and Western Europe in its original launch window, Millipede’s subsequent home console ports and inclusion in region-free retro collections have made it recognizable to classic gaming audiences in nearly every major global gaming market.

This AI-generated brand value analysis provides illustrative reasoning for the relative market and cultural value of the Millipede intellectual property, with all framing and metrics developed for supplementary contextual reference purposes only. No figures included in this analysis represent a formal audited brand valuation, and parties seeking official verified audited brand value assessments for this or any related intellectual property are advised to contact World Brand Lab directly for formal, authoritative evaluation services.

title	Millipede
developer	Atari, Inc.
publisher	NA: Atari, Inc. JP: Namco
designer	Ed Logg
programmer	Ed Logg Mark Cerny 2600 Dave Staugas Atari 8-bit Steve Crandall‡R1R‡
artist	2600 Jerome Dourmat
series	Centipede
platforms	Arcade, Atari 2600, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, NES, Game Boy

released	November 1982 Arcade NA: November 1982‡R2R‡ EU: April 1983‡R3R‡ JP: 1984‡R4R‡ 2600 Atari 8-bit Atari ST NES JP: October 1, 1987 NA: October 1988‡R6R‡ Game Boy NA: August 1995‡R7R‡ EU: 1995

genre	Fixed shooter

modes	Single-player, multiplayer

Millipede (stylized as millipede in western releases and as Milli-Pede in Japan) is a 1982 fixed shooter video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. for arcades; in Japan, it was distributed by Namco. It is the sequel to 1981's Centipede, with more gameplay variety and a wider array of insect enemies. The objective is to score as many points as possible by destroying all segments of a millipede that moves toward the bottom of the screen, as well as eliminating or avoiding other enemies. As with its predecessor, the game is played with a trackball and a single fire button which can be held down for rapid-fire.

Millipede was ported to the Atari 2600 and Atari 8-bit computers, and later to the Atari ST and Nintendo Entertainment System.

Gameplay

The player no longer takes the role of the "Bug Blaster" from Centipede, but instead takes the role of an elf called the "Archer". The object of the game is to destroy a millipede that advances downward from the top of the screen. The millipede travels horizontally until it either hits an obstacle or reaches the edge of the screen, after which it drops one row and reverses direction. Once it enters the player's gray maneuvering area, it stays there and extra heads appear at intervals until both they and the millipede are destroyed. Shooting a body segment splits the millipede in two, with the rear portion sprouting its own head. A collision with any enemy costs the player one life.

Differences from Centipede

All flowers and poisoned or partially destroyed mushrooms revert to normal, whole mushrooms and score points during the process when the player loses a life.

At regular intervals, the player enters a bonus level with a swarm of enemies (bees, dragonflies, etc.) instead of the usual millipede. Each enemy awards increasing points, up to a maximum of 1,000 points per enemy. The attack ends when either the entire swarm has passed or the player loses a life. Also, at intervals new mushrooms will grow on the field while others disappear, in a pattern similar to Conway's Game of Life.

Players can choose whether to play at an advanced level, starting with a score that is a multiple of the number of points needed to earn an extra life (by default, 15,000). The gameplay is generally much more advanced than it would be had the player started with a score of 0 and worked their way up to that point level. The maximum advanced level allowed is a function of the preceding player's score, and games started at an advanced level where the player did not earn at least one extra life are not eligible for the high scoreboard.

According to the game's arcade flyer and instruction manual, the game's storyline involves the player character, Archer, defending his mushroom forest from the onslaught of gigantic insect monsters using his magic arrows.
The millipede moves faster and its head segment is more difficult to hit.
Earwigs replace scorpions from Centipede, making mushrooms poisonous so that the millipede will charge straight to the bottom of the screen after touching them.

Ports

Millipede was released for the Atari 2600 and Atari 8-bit computers in 1984, then the Atari ST in 1986. A version for the Family Computer was developed and published by HAL Laboratory in 1987 as Milli-Pede: Kyodai Konchū no Gyakushū. It was renamed to Millipede: Super Arcade Hit! for its 1988 US Nintendo Entertainment System release. In the Family Computer and NES versions, earwigs do not poison the mushrooms.

A port of the Atari 8-bit version to the Atari 5200 was completed in 1984 but not published.

Reception

It was listed by Cash Box magazine as America's fourth highest-grossing arcade game of 1983, below Ms. Pac-Man, Pole Position and Dragon's Lair.[9]

French magazine Tilt rated the arcade game with four out of six stars.[10]

Reviewing the game for the Famicom port, the Japanese magazine Biweekly Famicom Tsūshin had its four reviewers commented that the small graphics and play screen made it difficult to play and lamented that different favorite arcade titles weren't chosen or that the cart did not contain three or four extra older games.[8]

Legacy

In 1995, Millipede was released together with Centipede on the Game Boy under the title Arcade Classic No. 2: Centipede / Millipede. This version was developed by The Code Monkeys and published by Nintendo.

In 1997, it was included in Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 2 for the PlayStation.

In 2005, Millipede was combined with Super Breakout and Lunar Lander for the Game Boy Advance.

The arcade and Atari 2600 versions of the game were rereleased in the 2005 Atari Anthology for the Xbox and PlayStation 2. Millipede and Centipede were made available for the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade in 2007.

High scores

Donald Hayes of New Hampshire scored a world record 10,627,331 points playing Millipede on December 26, 2004.[11] The highest Millipede score played under tournament settings is 495,126 points, also by Hayes.[12]

In the default high-scores table of the arcade version, the initials "ED" and "FXL" refer to Ed Logg (designing and programming) and Franz Lanzinger (who helped in designing and testing), respectively.[13]

External links

Millipede at the Arcade History database

References

James Hague. The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers^
Production Numbers Atari, 1999^
Arcade Action Computer and Video Games, 16 April 1983^