By: DToxR
While there is no shortage of old arcade remakes these days,
most of them are definitely sub-standard. Most recently there
was Lode Runner 2 with its awful control. Another forgettable
remake was Frogger 3D which had nice graphics but paper thin
gameplay. Both games could have been excellent but fell
short of the mark and instead ended up "tarnishing" the
memories of the original. Well I am happy to say that Hasbro
Interactive's Centipede not only measures up to its granddaddy
but in some ways surpasses it.
Hasbro has split the game into two completely different modes
of gameplay - arcade and adventure. Fans of the old
Centipede will immediately feel at home in arcade mode. It is
basically the same as the classic but viewed from 3/4 top down
angle and in 3D. I would have liked to see a 2D game mode
just like the original for nostalgic purposes but unfortunately
this option was not included. You won't have much time to cry
over the missing 2D mode once you see the adventure mode.
Laid out in a beautiful 3D world, you are free to spin, move and
jump in any direction as you battle enemies on multiple fronts.
You are briefed before each mission with your objective as
well as a few tips to keep you in the land of the living. The
goal of the game is to protect and rescue the humans and their
villages from a diverse variety of baddies including huge
bosses that don't go down without a real fight. To help even
the score, you will find various weapon and shiwld powerups
scattered throughout the levels.
Controls can be summed up in two words - silky smooth.
Whoever did the Lode Runner 2 controls take note - THIS IS
HOW ITS DONE. All of the maneuvers are easy to execute and
work perfectly. You can use either the keyboard or mouse or
better yet a trackball. One minor complaint is that the mouse
lacked fine tuning options and I could never get it as
responsive as I like it. I ended up using the keyboard and it
worked great. A word to the wise - take breaks between
levels; this game is really intense and I noticed I was
getting sore wrists a.k.a. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome after a few
hours of play. Fortunately, you are provided with a overhead
radar overlay in order to keep track of the action which is a
necessity because often you get so immersed in a firefight with
a 'pede that you don't notice a spider coming up behind you.
The visuals are a mixed bag. If you have a 3DFX card then you
are in for a treat - smooth, clean, beautiful graphics are
standard throughout the game in all of their glory.
Unfortunately D3D mode isn't nearly as good; yes everything is
in the same place, but it's much slower and as you may
expect it doesn't look nearly as good. The original Centipede
was actually designed by a woman and many have speculated
that this accounts for the bright colours used in the game(Are
you still allowed to say stuff like this in the 90's? =). Hasbro
was wise to let a good thing be and chose a colourful and vivid
palette for the remake. One minor glitch that pops up in glide
mode was the "seams" of the tiles used to make up the
landscape become partially visible from certain angles. I'm
not sure what the technical reason is for this but it's not too
much of a distraction and gameplay doesn't really suffer as a
result. On the subject of landscapes, this is another place
where Centipede shines. You will encounter a variety of
scenery throughout the game including grassy hills, cobbled
city streets, and even the snowy tundra of the ice levels.
Moving textures are used to simulate the water flowing in
rivers which crisscross the mountains, providing a clever
method of limiting the size of the battlefield without feeling
"boxed in".
Sound effects in Centipede are classic arcade gold. Even your
weakest weapon has some "uNf" and this is a welcome break
from the gutless weapons we've been seeing in games lately
like Unreal and Trespasser. One term comes to mind when I
consider the graphics and sound of Centipede as a whole:
candy-coated. It's very high gloss and it works with the theme
perfectly. Music is well suited and non-distracting which is
really all you can ask for in an arcade title. When you rescue a
little human critter they shout "Thanks Buddy!" in their cute
little voice reminiscent of Lemmings or Worms - again, this
goes well with the cartoony feel of the game. The sound
seems to be somewhat directional and even on my old-school
Soundblaster 16 I could hear the source of the trickling water
sound change as I rotated my ship next to a riverbank. This
was really cool in multiplayer where you can hear your buddy
taping down the fire button against some 'pede over to your
right while you are dodging spiders and scorpions for all you
are worth in a totally different section of the map.
Multiplayer includes a split screen mode for two players locally
or a single screen using TCP/IP. Split screen is fully functional
although it's just not my cup of tea - I don't have a big enough
monitor to be cutting my real estate in half. Internet games are
mediocre as far as speed and smoothness goes. This is really
unfortunate because it's simply a blast to play side by side with
a friend. Watch out though, you have to share the powerups
just as you share the enemies so make sure you share up the
goodies. =)
In the end, Centipede is just as much a work of art as it is a
game. It is well designed and well implemented and it stays
true to the feel of the original game. If you've got a 3DFX card,
this is a must-get. If you are stuck with D3D, it's still rock solid
gameplay wise, so you really can't go wrong. Hasbro, put this
team to work on another classic - they've got the touch of
Midas.
As a sidenote, I'd like to thank LCX-70M and FitFortDa for
helping me test multiplayer and reliving the golden days of
arcade games.
Highs: Beautiful graphics with vivid colours, this game is a
treat to play
Lows: TCP/IP code could be better, could have used more
flexibility for adjusting control sensitivity
Graphics: 17/20
Sound: 13/15
Gameplay: 28/30
Fun Factor: 18/20
Multiplayer: 4/5
Overall Impression: 9/10
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