Missile Command is Atari’s 1981 Atari 2600 port of Dave Theurer’s 1980 arcade original. You command three ground-based missile batteries to defend six cities from an incoming storm of ICBMs, MIRVs, bombers, and satellites. Each wave comes faster and with more warheads than the last; the game ends only when every city has been destroyed.
How to Play
Move the crosshair over an incoming threat with the joystick (arrow keys for Player 1) and press fire (Spacebar) to launch a counter-missile. Your shot explodes at the cursor’s position — anything inside the blast radius is destroyed. You have three missile bases; a depleted base goes dark for the rest of the wave but reloads at the start of the next. Cities struck by enemy missiles are gone permanently. At the end of each wave you earn bonus points for remaining missiles and cities, and enough points can restore a lost city.
Controls
| Player 1 | Player 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Move cursor | ↑ ↓ ← → | T G F H |
| Fire | Spacebar | A |
| Turbo | Del | . |
| Reset | F12 | |
| Select | F11 | |
| Pause | Alt+P | |
Tips
- Lead the target. Counter-missiles take time to travel. Aim where the warhead will be, not where it is now — fire slightly ahead of its trajectory so the explosion meets it on the way down.
- Attack MIRVs above the split point. Split missiles branch into multiple warheads partway down the screen; one explosion above that point can clear several at once. Below the branch, each warhead needs its own shot.
- Guard your missile bases first. A destroyed base cuts your firepower for the rest of the wave. Prioritise threats aimed at your launch sites over those heading for cities — losing a city costs points, losing a base costs capacity.
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