Atari’s Centipede debuted as an arcade cabinet back in 1981. The epitome of a retro game classic, the game’s been ported, remade, and re-released several times over the last forty years and is now getting a new life as Centipede: Recharged.
Atari announced the rebooted game with a trailer on Tuesday. The publisher did not announce a release date, but the trailer shows how Centipede: Recharged hopes to reinvigorate the franchise.
Centipede: Recharged sports a reinvented, retro-futuristic look, bathing the classic wireframes in bright neon colors. The aesthetic is similar to last year’s Missile Command: Recharged, and both have the same lead developer, Adam Nickerson. In addition to classic bug-shooting gameplay, Centipede: Recharged supports a variety of new features. These include a range of new challenge modes and power-ups, plus the addition of couch co-op.
Some of these new modes showed up in the game’s announcement trailer. There’s one called Indirect Approach, which requires the player to fire around a wall of indestructible rocks. Another, called Bomberman, presents the player with many bombs for blasting enemies. The trailer also lists modes titled Wilderness, Flea Extermination, Spider Invasion Arrows, A Clear Path, Super Centipede, Don’t Kill a Centipede, and Four Chances. This is not a complete list, and it’s not clear what each mode entails. Still, it looks like an impressive array of variations to the Atari classic.
The trailer also shows off a few of the new power-ups. One fires a solid purple laser that destroys everything in its path. Another gives the player explosive bullets for extra splash damage. The trailer also offers a glimpse of a multi-shot power-up.
Speaking briefly to Axios, Nickerson revealed how he nearly missed his chance to refresh the arcade classic. According to him, his partnership with Atari began when he discovered an email from Atari ins his spam folder. After reaching out, Atari presented Nickerson with a list of games and asked which ones he wanted to remake. Missile Command was his favorite when he was younger, making it the natural first choice.
Nickerson also briefly explained his hopes for Centipede: Recharged. The indie game developer wants to recreate the classic games he loves while updating them with new features and mechanics. He also hopes Centipede: Recharged will reintroduce the legendary arcade title to a new generation of gamers. If the upcoming game earns the same reception as Missile Command: Recharged, there are decent odds of achieving that goal.
Centipede: Recharged is in development for Atari VCS, PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.