Atari 2600 Game
Produced by: Atari and Sears
Model Number: CX2638
Rarity:1 Common
Year of Release: 1981

Missile Command is perhaps one of the greatest video games ever made. This node deals with the Atari 2600 version of the game. But all comments can be considered valid for the Arcade version, (and for most of the clones as well).

The premise of Missile Command is simple. Defend your cities from enemy missiles. You start out with 6 cities and 3 missile silos. Enemy missiles fall from the top of the screen leaving a trail behind them. You control a crosshair that shows where your defense missiles will explode. Only the front of a missile trail is vulnerable to your fire, (position your crosshair just below that and fire). Your defense missiles explode with a burst effect making it possible to take out more than one enemy missile at a time. More dangerous are the enemy cruise missiles which do not leave a trail and will actually dodge your fire. At higher levels missiles will often split in two making things even more difficult.

The most important things to defend are your missile silos. Whenever one of these is hit you will lose the missiles that were inside, (often making you run out of missiles before the level is over). It is not as big a deal if you lose a city, (you get an extra city every 10,000 points). A good player will be able to build up a ton of reserve cities before he loses a single one.

The Atari 2600 version of this game uses the joystick with a single button, while the arcade version uses a trackball, with a separate fire button for each missile silo. The two versions have a very different feel to them because of the different controls used.

From the instruction manual:

Aliens from the planet of Krytol have begun an attack on the planet Zardon. The Krytolians are warriors out to destroy and seize the planet of Zardon. Zardon is the last of the peaceful planets. The Zardonians are skillful and hardworking people. Their cities are built-up and rich in resources. It is truly a planet void of crime and violence.

Zardon has built a powerful defense system. Several antiballistic missile bases have been established within the cities of Zardon. The Zardonians are ready for this attack, and are prepared to fight to save their cities.

As base commander it is your responsibility to protect and defend six cities on the planet of Zardon. The Krytolians have begun firing interplanetary ballistic missiles. They are aiming at your cities and missile bases. Your only defense is to fire back with antiballistic missiles. But watch out, the Krytolians are sly, they also have cruise missiles. Cruise missiles look like satellites, but they are just as deadly as the interplanetary ballistic missiles.

Use your antiballistic missiles (ABMs) to stop the enemy before your happy and harmonious planet is destroyed.

This game is valued at around $1 USD. Games with boxes and manuals are worth more.


A good modern day clone of Missile Command is called Penguin Command, it is a free game available for Windows, BeOS, and Linux.