What Makes Missile Command So Hard?

[Mr. Brow]

After picking apart Asteroids, I thought it would be fun to move on to another arcade classic, Missile Command.  This game always struck me as brutally difficult, so I was curious to study its mechanics in detail to see exactly what made it so.  My detailed breakdown is here:  Missile Command Deep Dive

 

 

Are there any masters of the game here?  What the furthest you've been able to get?

[Turbo-Torch]

First game I bought (which was almost 22 years ago!) and it took me forever to break 100K.  It's been my favorite since it came out and if I ever decide to get out of the game scene, it'll still be a keeper.  

Never been able to master the rhythm that allows some to play it forever.

[Keatah]

Not sure I ever noted that the left tower is faster than the right tower. Not by 25%.

[NE146]

I've seen masters of the game back in the day who could play a long time.. As a kid I could never get far in it though, and the smart bombs were especially infuriating. So that's why I welcomed the 2600 version not just because it simplified it a bit more to my level then, but especially because you could make the smart bombs DUMB.

 

These days I have it on an Arcade1up 12-1 cab (please don't laugh) but hey it plays kind of ok with the cheap trackball to be honest. I've been playing it on and off and have definitely gotten better than I ever have at it. I wonder how I'd fare on a real cab with the big trackball though..

 

 

[Mr. Brow]

32 minutes ago, Keatah said:

Not sure I ever noted that the left tower is faster than the right tower. Not by 25%.

I just did another measurement and I think you're right, that's a mistake.  I'll amend the article.  Thanks!

[Keatah]

Missile Command was one of the few arcade games I could play for any length of time. I don't know of any one single strategy other than paying attention to each incoming object and dealing with it on a one-one basis. That's in the early levels.

 

In the later levels stuff happens very quickly and requires different approaches. I tend to use the Left/Right towers for everything, laying down a barrier. I reserve the center tower's ammo for mistakes and smart bombs. When the heat is on I will work to protect one side (3 cities) and that's usually the left side. And I begin those "levels" by using up the right tower first. Then I can ignore half the playfield. And like many trak-ball games I do better with a gamer's mouse.

 

MC is one of the few games that fits my style of gaming. Others being Tac/Scan, Blasteroids, Assault, Gyruss, Tempest, Liberator, and maybe Road Blasters and I'Robot. Anything else like Donkey Kong or Pac-Man I truly suck at, can't get past level 5 or so in those.

[mr_me]

I haven't mastered any arcade games but Missile Command is one of the ones where I do better (50k to 80k).  I use to have a tough time with smart bombs, now I can often hit them with a single shot.  Should say that I'm using a mouse to play, and haven't played the original machine since the 1980s.  I use to think it was important to use the base that's closest but I see top players just use one base and when it runs out, use the next base.

 

Sometimes with these old games increasing the speed becomes limited by the processors ability.

Edited November 15, 2019 by mr_me

[Mr. Brow]

8 hours ago, Keatah said:

And like many trak-ball games I do better with a gamer's mouse.

Yeah, it looks like the controls are crucial here.  I started playing with a joystick and that did not go well.  I eventually moved onto mouse controls, but it's just a touchpad and I suspect I would do much better with a trackball or standalone mouse.  I bet we have one in storage somewhere, I'll have to do some digging...

[Zoyous]

I played a lot of the 2600 version, but only a few times in the arcade. While many arcade games of that era were impossible to "win", and your goal would be to put off your inevitable defeat for as long as possible, this dynamic might be in the most stark relief with Missile Command. It's a game that gives me a physical feeling of tension just from the thought of playing it. Even as a young kid with a very simple notion of war, a game over in Missile Command would weigh a lot more heavily on me than any other game. The 80s: it wasn't all synthesizers and neon. It was also somewhat terrifying. Having said all that, Missile Command is also a great showcase for the satisfying precision of a trackball as a control interface.

[mr_me]

The emulators trackball sensitivity can allow for a faster cursor movement making the game easier.  I imagine trying to play missile command with a joystick would be hard.  Haven't really compared a touchpad to mouse control but a touchpad isn't bad.

 

Even the original hardware had a trackball speed dipswitch.  It was meant to compensate for the smaller trackballs used in smaller cabinets.  It's considered cheating if used in a standard cabinet.

 

----------

Missile Command was one of my favourites in the arcades; never felt any cold war tension.  Defender gave me the most tension because I knew I could lose my quarter in seconds.

Edited November 15, 2019 by mr_me

[Cynicaster]

I grew up playing the Atari 2600 version of Missile Command, and only got into the arcade version as an adult, mostly thanks to MAME.  After experiencing Missile Command with a trackball and 3 bases, the 2600 version seems like kind of a joke in comparison. 

 

I have an Ultimarc U-Trak trackball on my MAME cabinet so the game plays quite well.  I've also played a fair bit on real Missile Command cabinets in the meantime and the added inertia of that big 4" trackball definitely makes for a different feel.  But if there is supposed to be a clear "advantage" to using one type of trackball over the other, I'm not seeing it in my scores; on average I don't seem to score noticeably better on either type.  My personal best is not great - it's about 65k when set to free city every 10k (I think this is the so-called "marathon settings.")  I think I have a 100k game in me, but it's hard to find the time/motivation to focus heavily enough on the game to get there when there are so many other games I want to play.

 

I mostly resort to the "spray-and-pray" style of gameplay after passing ~10,000 points.  It does work quite well but breaks down in certain situations.  For example, it doesn't work very well when you get those waves that start with an onslaught of smart bombs.  Where I really suck is in trying to defend specific cities.  You'd think it would be easy to pick one city and protect it, but with all the chaos and different angles, etc. it's really not easy at all. 

 

 

 

[Turbo-Torch]

Not sure if this glove is considered cheating, but it gives good traction on the trakball.

 

 

 

 

[Ramses]

1 hour ago, Turbo-Torch said:

Not sure if this glove is considered cheating, but it gives good traction on the trakball.

 

 

 

 

Ahhh, the Alpiger strat. Don't wanna get marble hand. Gotta cut out the fingers though 

Edited November 16, 2019 by Ramses

[Turbo-Torch]

I thought about cutting the fingers off for that full 80s effect, but you sorta need full contact with the maxi trakball.    I do need a new glove though, a lot of the nubbies are worn completely away and the rest rock hard.

[Keatah]

7 hours ago, Cynicaster said:

I grew up playing the Atari 2600 version of Missile Command, and only got into the arcade version as an adult, mostly thanks to MAME.  After experiencing Missile Command with a trackball and 3 bases, the 2600 version seems like kind of a joke in comparison. 

 

I did too. At first the arcade was too hard, but I practiced and practiced at the VCS version ev0rentually graduating to the Atari 400/800. I then "moved up" to a real cab. But like most older cabs the controls were typically ratbaggy and the screen needed adjustment and the buttons were intermittent. Not forgetting the noisy trak-ball. A less than ideal experience. But my score kept getting slightly better each weekend.

 

Got really really good when did I MAME with a gamer's mouse and a separate 3-button minipanel I made just for this game. I simply wired some arcade buttons in parallel to a PS/2 keyboard. This was before I knew about iPAC and other interfaces. The early days.

 

But yeh with comfortable ergonomics and nice display my score is consistently higher than an upright cab.

[negative1]

On 11/14/2019 at 7:08 PM, Mr. Brow said:

After picking apart Asteroids, I thought it would be fun to move on to another arcade classic, Missile Command.  This game always struck me as brutally difficult, so I was curious to study its mechanics in detail to see exactly what made it so.  My detailed breakdown is here:  Missile Command Deep Dive

 

 

Are there any masters of the game here?  What the furthest you've been able to get?

i get this error from your link:

Sorry, the page you were looking for in this blog does not exist.

 

because the link is pointing to the wrong page, it doesn't have deconstructing in it.

 

this works:

https://raisingthevgbrow.blogspot.com/2019/11/deconstructing-missilie-command.html

 

you misspelled missile command.

 

 

later

-1

Edited November 16, 2019 by negative1

[Mr. Brow]

7 minutes ago, negative1 said:

Can't read the blog post

Thanks for pointing that out, should be fixed now.

[NE146]

Anyone ever try the old iPad version.. where you just tap where to shoot. Is that even still available today? I kinda dug it.

 

 

 

[Turbo-Torch]

1 hour ago, Keatah said:

Got really really good when did I MAME with a gamer's mouse and a separate 3-button minipanel I made just for this game.

Sounds awesome!  I'm sure we'd all love to see some photos of it.  Will you be posting at least one tonight?

 

1 hour ago, Keatah said:

I then "moved up" to a real cab. But like most older cabs the controls were typically ratbaggy and the screen needed adjustment and the buttons were intermittent. Not forgetting the noisy trak-ball. A less than ideal experience.

 

I'm sure you also have a photo of that cab you "moved up" to, so by all means, please show us.

Now why weren't you able to get it working correctly?  Did you not have enough experience to refurbish a simple WG monitor?

And what was with the intermittent switches?  Odd that I've never experienced that with the CHERRY SWITCHES that Atari used...was there a reason you were not able to replace them along with the very inexpensive rollers and bearings in the trakball assembly?  

[Keatah]

1 hour ago, NE146 said:

Anyone ever try the old iPad version.. where you just tap where to shoot. Is that even still available today? I kinda dug it.

I never played that version IIRC. But wouldn't that change the whole game around? I mean it'd make it easier by eliminating the delay of a trak-ball - which forces you to cover the intervening distance between two targets. It would also be more natural as people are better at spotting and pointing at things than tracking and "calculating trajectories" on the fly.

 

So the only challenge would be factoring your missile flight time. Selection time and moving crosshairs from target to target is all but eliminated.

 

Amusing in a way because the early defense computers of the 50's and 60's used a lightpen/lightgun to assign missiles to targets. Or at least select targets for further scrutiny. Think Whirlwind and SAGE.

 

[Mr. Brow]

I just posted a review of the original arcade game.  Thanks for everyone's comments so far.

 

Concerning my own history with the game, count me as another one that grew up with the Atari 2600 version.  I wouldn't say it was a favorite, but I did enjoy it -- the concept was especially memorable.  Now that I've spent a lot of time with the arcade version, I do think it's considerably better, but still leaves me wanting a bit.  I'm thinking I might try Super Missile Attack, anyone played much of that version?

[Keatah]

God only knows what arcade and where would have SMA.

 

Anyhow. As kids of the MAD age (or whatever they called it), it was great fun to imagine and use arcade games as training material for whatever situation could arise. Figured if we got good enough at it the military would hire us to shoot off their missiles for real.

[schuwalker]

Missile Command and DKjr. are the two classic games I completely sucked at. The latter has improved through the years unlike the former.

 

If you think Missile Command is brutal; you definitely need to give Atari Liberator a go.

[racerx]

On 11/15/2019 at 7:23 PM, Keatah said:

But yeh with comfortable ergonomics and nice display my score is consistently higher than an upright cab.

 

The biggest reason I'm not a fan of emulation. Playing with an instantly responsive point and click mouse makes for an entirely different game than dealing with the inertia of the 4" trak ball.

 

[Keatah]

1 hour ago, racerx said:

The biggest reason I'm not a fan of emulation. Playing with an instantly responsive point and click mouse makes for an entirely different game than dealing with the inertia of the 4" trak ball.

Mm hmm. I can see that. I wonder if any of the game's timing or other elements are specifically built around the inherent inertia?