Missile Command

Missile Command is a shoot 'em up arcade video game released in 1980 by Atari, Inc. and licensed to Sega for Japanese and European distribution. Dave Theurer designed it, as did Atari's vector graphics game Tempest from the same year. Developed during the Cold War, the player controls a trackball to shoot anti-ballistic missiles from three locations to protect six cities against intercontinental ballistic missiles. Beginning with the 1981 Atari VCS port by Rob Fulop, which sold over 2.5 million copies, Atari brought the game to its home systems. There were several contemporaneous clones and current remakes that followed. Missile Command is included in the 1987 Atari XEGS, an 8-bit household computer repackaged as a gaming console.

An unending barrage of ballistic missiles attacks the player's six cities, some of which splinter into many individually targetable reentry vehicles. Later stages offer new weaponry such as smart bombs that can avoid a less-than-perfectly aimed missile and bomber planes and satellites that fly across the screen releasing their own missiles. As the regional commander of three anti-missile batteries, the player must prevent the destruction of six cities in their zone.

View Details: tinyurl.com/2p9c9fvn