Centipede

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"Atarisoft made a few arcade ports of popular arcade titles for numerous systems. Centipede makes a decent conversion to the Intellivision. While some fans of the original arcade game and Atari 2600 version dislike this port due to the obvious lack of a trackball (or any peripheral controllers with the exception of alternatives for the original controllers), I personally don't mind using a disc instead. I never liked trackballs because I could never move and aim with precision. The arcade game Crystal Castles, for example, wins my vote for the worst use for a trackball. Joysticks worked fine for Pac-Man, why make it unplayable with a trackball here? But I digress.
"All the elements of the original arcade game are here; it plays and even feels somewhat the same as the arcade game, even though it certainly doesn't look and sound the same. The centipede is drawn using background cards and therefore doesn't have fluid movement and animation. Collision detection between the centipede and mushrooms is also imperfect, as the centipede occasionally passes through mushrooms. The colors change only after every other level rather than after every level, and the smallest centipedes always start with a head and at least one body section rather than just a head.
"With all that aside, the game still plays like the original and retains the same element of fast action that made the arcade game so much fun. The auto-fire feature is also a nice touch, not to mention a thumb saver. I wish the appearance of the mushrooms at the beginning of the game was a little more randomized though." Rating: 4/5 -- Mike Hayes

• Centipede manual