Missile Command: Difference between revisions

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
Content added Content deleted
VisualWikitext
m (cleanup categories)
(markup, update, copyedits)
 
(5 intermediate revisions by 5 users not shown)
Line 2: Line 2:
[[File:mcommand.png|frame|This can [[Endless Game|only]] [[It's a Wonderful Failure|end]] [[Earthshattering Kaboom|one way]]...<ref>unless you make the high score list.</ref>]]
[[File:mcommand.png|frame|This can [[Endless Game|only]] [[It's a Wonderful Failure|end]] [[Earthshattering Kaboom|one way]]...<ref>unless you make the high score list.</ref>]]


⚫
{{quote|''"What's the bluntest point made by this game? That you can't win. No matter how many stages you survive, or how much time you spend playing, you can't beat Missile Command. Nuclear war has no winners. Your job is futile, but you do it anyway because you can buy people a few more minutes of hope."''
|'''Daniel Floyd''', ''[[Extra Credits]]'', "[http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/narrative-mechanics Narrative Mechanics]"}}


⚫
'''''Missile Command''''' (1980) was the most violent video game ever released, at least until ''[[DEFCON]]'' came along. ''Missile Command'' portrayed a stark view of nuclear war at the height of [[Cold War]] paranoia. The player was given command of three anti-ballistic missile bases, with which six otherwise defenseless cities had to be defended against wave after wave of ICBMs, nuclear bombers, and orbital battle stations. The game featured simple yet realistic animations of mushroom clouds wiping out entire cities whenever the player failed to intercept an incoming warhead, and a nightmarish explosion effect when the player [[Endless Game|(inevitably)]] finally lost the game.
⚫
{{quote|''"What's the bluntest point made by this game? That you can't win. No matter how many stages you survive, or how much time you spend playing, you can't beat Missile Command. Nuclear war has no winners. Your job is futile, but you do it anyway because you can buy people a few more minutes of hope."''|'''Daniel Floyd''', ''[[Extra Credits]]'', "[http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/narrative-mechanics Narrative Mechanics]"}}

⚫
Missile Command (1980) was the most violent video game ever released, at least until ''[[DEFCON]]'' came along. [[Missile Command]] portrayed a stark view of nuclear war at the height of [[Cold War]] paranoia. The player was given command of three anti-ballistic missile bases, with which six otherwise defenseless cities had to be defended against wave after wave of ICBMs, nuclear bombers, and orbital battle stations. The game featured simple yet realistic animations of mushroom clouds wiping out entire cities whenever the player failed to intercept an incoming warhead, and a nightmarish explosion effect when the player [[Endless Game|(inevitably)]] finally lost the game.


GCC created an enhancement kit called ''Super Missile Attack'' for ''Missile Command'' machines. Atari was not amused and sued GCC. They settled on GCC producing three games for Atari (Food Fight, Quantum, and a never-finished game).
GCC created an enhancement kit called ''Super Missile Attack'' for ''Missile Command'' machines. Atari was not amused and sued GCC. They settled on GCC producing three games for Atari (Food Fight, Quantum, and a never-finished game).


Just a year later (1982), a sequel for two players competing to destroy each other was prototyped and tested, but ultimately never released. [http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2011/07/missile_command_2_to_debut_at_.php It has recently resurfaced] and will shown to the public in 2012, the first time in 30 years.
Just a year later (1982), a sequel for two players competing to destroy each other was prototyped and tested, but ultimately never released. [https://web.archive.org/web/20190111210245/http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2011/07/missile_command_2_to_debut_at_.php In 2011 it resurfaced] and was shown to the public at the California Extreme 2012 video game show for the first time in thirty years.
----
----
{{tropelist}}
=== ''Missile Command'' has examples of: ===
* [[Atari 2600]]
* [[Atari 2600]]
* [[Atomic Hate]]
* [[Atomic Hate]]
Line 28: Line 28:
* [[Recursive Ammo]]: MIRV missiles
* [[Recursive Ammo]]: MIRV missiles
* [[Urban Legend of Zelda]]: Rumors in arcades in the early 80s convinced several teens that NORAD kept track of high scorers, just in case.
* [[Urban Legend of Zelda]]: Rumors in arcades in the early 80s convinced several teens that NORAD kept track of high scorers, just in case.
* [[What Could Have Been]]: The cities in [[Missile Command]] were originally based on California cities and the idea of reloading the missile bases by train was considered. An additional set of levels involving firing back at the never-seen enemy was also dropped.


{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
Line 41: Line 40:
[[Category:Video Game]]
[[Category:Video Game]]
[[Category:Shoot'Em Up]]
[[Category:Shoot'Em Up]]
[[Category:Pages with working Wikipedia tabs]]
[[Category:Video Games of the 1980s]]

Latest revision as of 15:14, 23 January 2023

This can only end one way...[1]

"What's the bluntest point made by this game? That you can't win. No matter how many stages you survive, or how much time you spend playing, you can't beat Missile Command. Nuclear war has no winners. Your job is futile, but you do it anyway because you can buy people a few more minutes of hope."

—Daniel Floyd, Extra Credits, "Narrative Mechanics"

Missile Command (1980) was the most violent video game ever released, at least until DEFCON came along. Missile Command portrayed a stark view of nuclear war at the height of Cold War paranoia. The player was given command of three anti-ballistic missile bases, with which six otherwise defenseless cities had to be defended against wave after wave of ICBMs, nuclear bombers, and orbital battle stations. The game featured simple yet realistic animations of mushroom clouds wiping out entire cities whenever the player failed to intercept an incoming warhead, and a nightmarish explosion effect when the player (inevitably) finally lost the game.

GCC created an enhancement kit called Super Missile Attack for Missile Command machines. Atari was not amused and sued GCC. They settled on GCC producing three games for Atari (Food Fight, Quantum, and a never-finished game).

Just a year later (1982), a sequel for two players competing to destroy each other was prototyped and tested, but ultimately never released. In 2011 it resurfaced and was shown to the public at the California Extreme 2012 video game show for the first time in thirty years.

Tropes used in Missile Command include:
  1. ↑ unless you make the high score list.
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Missile_Command?oldid=1999296"