Recently, astronomers tracked a previously unknown asteroid as it entered near-Earth space. On closer inspection, it turned out to be an alien war base filled with giant motherships. The ships have been spreading out, and and their intentions are painfully clear. They plan to wipe humanity off of the face of the earth.

Our space forces have been all but destroyed. In a desperate last ditch effort, the experimental Missile Command teams have been called into active duty. As one of the Missile Commanders, you must lead your highly trained team of crack Pod Pilots -- Firewall, Tactix, and Case -- into battle. You have only one goal -- save the cities of Earth, and ultimately, the entire planet.

Missile Command, another Atari classic coin-op arcade game, has been given a major facelift. The game appeared on store shelves in November, 1999. This program has been developed by Meyer/Glass Interactive LLC, and was released by the Atari division of Hasbro Interactive.

I reviewed an "alpha" build of this game in August, 1999. At that time, I commented that the game seemed remarkably polished and bug free for an "alpha" version. The final release version of the game has seen some tweaks here and there, but the gameplay has not changed a lot from my original preview.

There is some outstanding full-motion video when the game is launched. It depicts a large asteroid moving towards the Earth. A scout ship is dispatched to check it out. Suddenly, a hole opens in the asteroid, and a small ship emerges that destroys the Earth scout ship. Then, all hell breaks loose as the small ship unleashes a massive missile attack on our planet.

There are two components to the game: Classic Missile Command, and Ultimate Missile Command.

Classic Missile Command is an updated version of the classic coin-op game that we all know and love. There are two modes for playing the Classic mode of Missile Command: Single Player, and Head-to-Head. The Head-to-Head mode is for two players who alternate defending the Earth. You can also use different difficulty settings for each game. You can set the difficulty settings for each player, which is a nice touch. That allows an beginner player to keep up with an advanced player.

Gameplay is exactly the same as the original coin-op classic. You have six cities that must be defended from a missile attack. You have three missile "bases" as your defense. Each base has 10 missiles. You have to shoot your missiles into the sky to destroy the incoming enemy missiles. When your missiles explode, everything in the blast radius is destroyed, so it is possible to wipe out multiple enemy missiles with one shot. The enemy missiles come in waves, and you get bonus points at the end of each wave for remaining cities and any of your extra unused missiles. As the battle goes on, and you repel each wave, the enemy weapons will move faster and faster.

Incoming missiles drop from the top of the screen towards the cities at the bottom of the screen. Some missiles can be dropped from enemy spacecraft that occasionally fly across the sky. Some missiles have multiple warheads and will split in several directions.

The game is controlled with a mouse or trackball, and a few keys on the keyboard. If you use a trackball instead of a mouse (like I do) then you are in for a real treat. Although the graphics have been changed quite a bit from the original coin-op game, Missile Command will recreate the same intensity that you feel when you play the old coin-op.

One big addition to the game is music. The original coin-op game didn't have any music, but this new game does. A lot of gaming companies have been adding music to games just for the sake of doing it, and I am not a believer in that. However, the music in the Classic mode does add to the game. The music is of the hard-hitting techno style, and it does add to the game. This may sound like a strange observation, but I found that it makes you feel a sense of urgency in wiping out the enemy attack.

The game is full of little "details" that are just fantastic. The missile launchers at the bottom of the screen actually "track" the location of your cursor. If you aim your cursor in the upper left corner, for example, all three missile launchers will adjust themselves so they point in the proper direction for launch. Another nice touch are the explosions. When an enemy missile hits one of your cities, a small mushroom cloud appears, and all that remains of your city is a big crater.

So, what if you want to play the original arcade game? Well, it isn't included in this version. If you want to play the original game, check out the Atari Arcade Hits #1, also by Hasbro Interactive. Atari Arcade Hits #1 is an arcade emulator with six classic Atari coin-op games, including Missile Command.

Meyer/Glass Interactive seem to have found the right mix of gameplay, as they have successfully updated the game without altering the feel or intensity of the original.

The second portion of the game, Ultimate Missile Command, is a new 3D version of the game. If you have ever played Missile Command 3D on the Atari Jaguar console, you should feel right at home.

You control three ships with missile launching abilities. You will be sent around the world defending Earth from wave after wave of incoming missiles. The first mission will take you to Australia, where the aliens have launched their first attack. The Australian cities are below you, and you can see the missiles coming down directly at you.

This part of the game plays like Classic Missile Command, but it has an entirely different perspective, as you see the missiles coming down directly at you. You must look up in the sky and shoot them down before the missiles hit your cities. Successfully defend your cities from several waves of missiles, and you are carried away to another place somewhere on Earth to stop the next attack.

There are a number of differences in the rules for Ultimate Missile Command. For example, once a city is destroyed, it is gone for good. You are unable to replace destroyed cities as you were able to in the classic version of Missile Command.

You will also notice that there is a bank account balance in the upper right hand corner of the screen that shows how much cash you have. Not only do you points, but you earn money in this game. The money can be used for various items. For example, if one of your anti-missile pods is destroyed, you may replace it for $15,000 at the end of a wave....assuming that you have that much money.

Successfully defend your cities from several waves of missiles, and defeat the "boss" for that particular assault, and you are carried away to another place somewhere on Earth to stop the next attack.

The photo above shows the "boss" that is attacking Australia. Each "boss" is different, so you will need a new technique for each "boss" that you encounter. There are certain parts that fall off of the "boss" ships when you hit the, with missiles. If you can catch those parts, you can earn power-ups such as cash, missiles, or special weapons. Remember, you just can't hammer away at a "boss" ship because you have a limited amount of missiles. Each "boss" has a weakness, and you must find it.

Once the "boss" is destroyed, you have another way to use your cash. There is a supply base where you can buy weapon upgrades. For example, you can buy faster missiles, stronger missiles, or increase the maximum missile capacity for each one of your pods. There are also some "smart" weapons that you can buy, such as multiple warhead missiles that split into several missiles on mid-air.

When the game starts, you are defending an arc of 75 degrees, which isn't much area to cover. As the game progresses, you will be expected to defend additional space. By the time you make your way through all of the levels in the game, you will be defending an arc of 360 degrees!!! This part of the game is nearly impossible, as missiles will be coming at you from all directions.

There is some very nice full-motion video for this part of the game. The opening sequence makes you feel like you are watching some kind of sci-fi movie, as you see this hue asteroid floating though space towards the Earth. The cut-scenes in the Ultimate mode are fantastic as well. They add a sense of depth that enhances the story.

Missile Command also supports multi-player features via LAN, Internet, and modem connections. In Classic mode, the players alternate turns just like the original coin-op game. In Ultimate mode, both players work together to destroy the incoming missiles.

I think that Meyer/Glass Interactive and the Atari division of Hasbro Interactive did a great job giving this game a modern facelift. Missile Command has always been a favorite of mine, and I'll have to admit that I thought my expectations for this title would be too high. Just about everything I expected to find in this game is here.

I liked how the Ultimate mode is much like Missile Command 3D on the Atari Jaguar. I'm not sure if that title was used as a model for the Ultimate mode, but it sure looks like it was.

I also like the cash management portion of the Ultimate mode. Now, you not only have to worry about getting bonus points, you also have to manage your upgrades, and which upgrade you should purchase next.

On the downside, I was disappointed in the manual. All of the appropriate information was there, but the manual is nothing more than a jewel case insert. I can't stand manuals like that.

Another disappointment is the lack of historical information on the original game. I would have liked to have seen some of the same historical information on the game that was presented in Atari Arcade Hits #1.

All in all, I felt that this is an outstanding game classic gamers, or anyone else looking for some challenging arcade action. It is definitely worth a look, and you can't beat the price.

Operating System:
Windows� 95/98

Processor:
Pentium� 166 or higher

CD-ROM Drive:
4x Speed

Video:
SVGA 2MB video RAM minimum

Memory:
32 MB RAM

Hard Disk Space:
70 MB Free

Sound:
Sound card & speakers

DirectX:
DirectX version 6.1 (included) or higher

For more information, visit the Atari Interactive
homepage at Hasbro Interactive