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Quiz about Arcade Nostalgia Centipede
Quiz about Arcade Nostalgia Centipede

Arcade Nostalgia: "Centipede" Trivia Quiz


"Centipede" came out in 1981, and proved to be one of the most commercially successful games of the Golden Age of Arcade Games. What do you remember of it?
This is a renovated/adopted version of an old quiz by author uofmrules1

A multiple-choice quiz by reedy. Estimated time: 3 mins.
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Author
reedy
Time
3 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
136,015
Updated
Feb 23 23
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
83
Last 3 plays: Guest 76 (3/10), Nicobutch (6/10), andymuenz (4/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. "Centipede" was created by Dona Bailey and Ed Logg in 1981 with the express purpose of trying to appeal to a broader base of players (not just males) with a non-traditional game. Which American company, which also made "Asteroids", produced it? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. There were different creepy-crawlies in "Centipede," apart from the eponymous villain, including fleas, spiders and scorpions. What other obstacles were in the game? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Centipedes entered the playing field at the top of the screen and made their way downward, one 'line' at a time, descending and turning around whenever it reached the edge or an obstacle.

You fired at it with a 'Bug Blaster,' which was controlled by what means?
Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. In each level, the first centipede began with a length of 10 or 12 segments, and shooting any segment other than the head or tail segment caused the centipede to split into two centipedes.


Question 5 of 10
5. When a centipede turned to go back upwards after hitting the bottom of the screen, all of the body segments left on it changed into centipede heads.


Question 6 of 10
6. Which of the other creatures came straight down the screen from the top to the bottom?


Question 7 of 10
7. When the scorpion entered the field, what did it do? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. The spider leaped about, and was worth a different point value, depending on how close it was when you hit it. Which of these was NOT a point value for the spider? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. Which of the insects/arachnids couldn't kill you by touching you? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. You'd think there might have been more than a dozen different possibilities, but how many points were needed to gain an extra life? Hint



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Most Recent Scores
Mar 24 2024 : Guest 76: 3/10
Feb 21 2024 : Nicobutch: 6/10
Feb 12 2024 : andymuenz: 4/10

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. "Centipede" was created by Dona Bailey and Ed Logg in 1981 with the express purpose of trying to appeal to a broader base of players (not just males) with a non-traditional game. Which American company, which also made "Asteroids", produced it?

Answer: Atari

Dona Bailey was one of the only female video game designers in the industry in the early 1980s, becoming interested after hearing the song "Space Invader" by The Pretenders. She left her programming position with General Motors and moved to California, taking a job with Atari, Inc.

Bailey was the software developer and software engineer on "Centipede," while Ed Logg worked on the game design. Between them, they designed a game that was a change from the usual space battle or fighting game. Sure, it was still a first-person shooter, but it wasn't quite the same. One of the other features that made it appealing to the 'other' gender was the colour scheme, which used the softer pastels.

"Centipede" ended up becoming Atari's second best selling coin-op arcade game, and it reached its goal of appealing to a wider audience, with about a 50-50 split of male to female players.
2. There were different creepy-crawlies in "Centipede," apart from the eponymous villain, including fleas, spiders and scorpions. What other obstacles were in the game?

Answer: Mushrooms

The game's screen (field) had a collection of randomly placed mushrooms, and whenever the centipede ran into one, or met the end of the field (left or right side), it descended one row and turned in the opposite direction.

New mushrooms were created when you shot a segment of the centipede, and by one of the other critters, as well (to be named later).

Any newly-created mushrooms stayed in play, even when you shot every segment of the centipede, so with more and more mushroom obstacles, the centipede would descend more quickly.

The mushrooms could be cleared away, but each mushroom took four hits to be eradicated. I was usually a good idea to try to clear the mushrooms away near the bottom of the screen. They were worth one point each.
3. Centipedes entered the playing field at the top of the screen and made their way downward, one 'line' at a time, descending and turning around whenever it reached the edge or an obstacle. You fired at it with a 'Bug Blaster,' which was controlled by what means?

Answer: Trackball

The trackball (which is like a billiards ball embedded into the console) allowed for easy maneuvering in any direction. There was an upper limit to the range of the shooter... about 1/3 up the field, but it enabled you to avoid the centipede segments when they reached the bottom and began going back up.

You fired darts upwards from the 'Bug Blaster,' with a separate button, but it was limited to one shot at a time until it hit something, or exited the top of the screen.
4. In each level, the first centipede began with a length of 10 or 12 segments, and shooting any segment other than the head or tail segment caused the centipede to split into two centipedes.

Answer: True

The goal of each level was to shoot each segment of the centipede. At first, only one, long centipede appears, and hitting any segment other than the head would split the centipede into two separate parts (of varying length, depending on where you hit it), and the section without a head would suddenly have its own head.

Hitting the head directly didn't destroy the whole centipede - it just created a new mushroom (as every segment hit did), generated a NEW head, descended a level and changed direction. BUT, the head shot was worth 100 points, while the other segments (including the tail) were only 10 points each.

Once you destroyed all of the centipede's segments, a new centipede appeared at the top of the screen... one segment shorter. At the same time, a single centipede head would also appear, giving you two targets (one small, one large). The next time you would get two individual heads with the longer centipede... then the next time three... and this pattern continued until the only thing you got was a collection of individual heads. If you managed to clear that field, then it started all over again with one long centipede.
5. When a centipede turned to go back upwards after hitting the bottom of the screen, all of the body segments left on it changed into centipede heads.

Answer: False

When the centipede managed to reach the bottom of the screen, it would begin to go back up, but it only went so far (about six 'lines' worth) before descending again, staying within the player's area.

Another complication was that more individual centipede heads would appear periodically, as long as the centipede remained in the player's area.
6. Which of the other creatures came straight down the screen from the top to the bottom?

Answer: The flea

Fleas would spawn and descend directly from the top of the screen to the bottom, leaving a trail of mushrooms behind it. You got 200 points for killing it, as it was not very difficult to hit, but it still took two hits to kill. And once you hit it the first time, it doubled its speed of descent. You really wanted to get it sooner rather than later, to prevent too many new mushrooms (which, in turn, meant the centipede would descend more quickly).
7. When the scorpion entered the field, what did it do?

Answer: Poisoned every mushroom in its path

Every mushroom that the scorpion touched became a 'poison' mushroom.

This had two effects: firstly, it would increase the value of the mushroom to five points; and secondly, it caused the centipede(s) to go mad when it touched one, causing it to do a nosedive straight down. This made it easier to take out a whole centipede with just a few shots, but it also brought the centipede(s) down to your level, which invariably meant having to do some nifty maneuvers to avoid losing a life.
8. The spider leaped about, and was worth a different point value, depending on how close it was when you hit it. Which of these was NOT a point value for the spider?

Answer: 1200

You got 900 points when the spider was closest to you, 600 for medium distance, and 300 for further away. You still had to be careful not to be touched, which meant instant death, but the spider also had a side benefit - it would make mushrooms that it touched disappear!
9. Which of the insects/arachnids couldn't kill you by touching you?

Answer: Scorpion

When the scorpion appeared, it traveled from one side to the other, but it never actually came within range of your Bug Blaster, so wasn't a direct threat. The scorpion had the highest point value, worth 1,000 if you could tag it with your dart before it disappeared.

All of the other bugs could encroach upon the bottom third of the field, which was within range of your Bug Blaster, and if any of them (the centipede, the spider, or the flea) touched you, you lost a life.
10. You'd think there might have been more than a dozen different possibilities, but how many points were needed to gain an extra life?

Answer: 12 thousand

"Centipede" was a game that, if you were good enough, could conceivably go on indefinitely, just waiting for you to make one too many mistakes. You started the game with three lives, and earned a new one every 12,000 points. The world record, set by American Jim Schneider on August 1st, 1984, was a whopping 16,389,547 points.
Source: Author reedy

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor kyleisalive before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.
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