The Exterminator

June 18, 2010 by Jimmy J

A gallery of vintage video game tees and screen shots for the original joystick wielders.

Video Game T-Shirt #2: Centipede

Availability: Check Video Game Tees on Defunkd

Available to Play Online: Yes

Released: 1980

Platforms: Stand-up Arcade, Atari Systems, Apple II, Commodore 64

Gameplay: Place your hand on the trackball to scroll the humanoid head around the bottom of the screen. Your nemesis appears at the top of the screen and starts winding down one level every time it encounters a mushroom. The fire button was automatic which would shoot quickly if the round struck a target. The novice player (me) would destroy the body one segment at a time which caused the insect to split and each new segment had a mind of its own. The trick was to use the ‘shrooms to strategically to line up the ‘pede and make use of the quick auto-fire to annihilate every piece of its body in one fell swoop. Spiders, scorpions and fleas also join the action to really bug you.

Facts: This game was very popular with the ladies and it was developed by one of the only women in the business at the time. The “high tech” Centipede sound effects made their way in to Knight Rider when K.I.T.T. was running a scan.