Play Centipede Online

Summary

Centipede, the classic fixed‑shooter that first dazzled arcades with its trackball‑controlled Bug Blaster, even earned an unreleased port for the Atari Lynx. The original’s design—by Dona Bailey and Ed Logg—was groundbreaking not just for its split‑centipede mechanic and mushroom‑filled playfield, but also because Bailey was one of the few women programming games at the time, insisting on pastel‑bright visuals that set the title apart. While the arcade version became a cultural touchstone—ranking among the top‑grossing games of 1982 and later entering the World Video Game Hall of Fame—the Lynx version never saw the light of day, remaining a curious footnote in Atari’s handheld history. I love how the game’s simple premise—shooting a winding centipede, dodging fleas, spiders and poisonous scorpions—still feels fresh, and the fact that a handheld adaptation was planned shows just how far its appeal stretched beyond the cabinet.