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Good Tuesday evening! Xanfan here with another edition of ?Pure Imagination?! While the last edition of this article focused on one of the more obscure cartridges in the Atari 2600 library, I thought that this time, I would review one that is pretty plentiful. This is one of the titles that you either played in an arcade, or at home on your Atari console (television and computer), Playstation, or as of current, the Xbox Live Arcade or your favorite mobile device. It?s probably one of the simplest games for the system, probably just as simple as Pong was, which makes it a lot of fun to play all these years later. So this week, let?s take a look at the Atari classic, ?Missile Command?, and how the cover art has changed over the years.

For this game, the box art for the Atari 2600 version and the Sears Telegames version are nearly the same, with just some cropping done on the Sears production. What some people may not be aware of, is that the box art that was used for the home versions as released in 1980, was originally used for the flyer given to arcades to promote the coin-operated machine. As some of the Atari paintings were during that time, they had a too futuristic look for the game, that was dated by late seventies fashions. First off, the helmet that the man is wearing. I understand that technology at the time used a lot of large headpieces. (Just look at any picture of the era of someone listening to a hi-fi with a pair of headphones on.) But if this is supposed to be the future in the eyes of Atari, wouldn?t you think they?d want a more compact look? Or, was everyone still in belief that ?bigger is better?? (Look at the inside of an Atari 5200 cartridge and you?ll know what I mean.) Then, we have the woman in yellow that?s right behind him. While women are still wearing ponytails like that, even it looks dated. Maybe it?s the collar of her shirt that I cannot get past here. I know a lot of people that wore their collars out like that, all you have to do is watch a seventies television program for confirmation on that one. Maybe it?s because the collar is out AND the blouse is sleeveless. Or maybe it?s all of that, plus that thick belt she?s wearing.

Getting back to the rest of the box art, the two individuals are at what looks like a spaceship cockpit. Which makes me wonder already. Because you would think that if you were going to be commanding missiles, that you would be on the ground. Yes, the missiles are certainly in the air (at least at one point), but you don?t often go into the air to hang out with them in mid flight. As a trademark for most Atari games (even Miniature Golf), there is the obligatory moon in the background. However for some reason, on this game, it looks more like Jupiter with the red eye. Just how strong ARE these missiles? You see on the cockpit, two different sets of computer terminals. In the background, you will notice a typical space style radar. Which is fine and all, but seriously. If Russia was going to attack us, I think I would want to cover more space than what that Doppler radar could show. The other computer station is nothing more than a bunch of buttons, not to mention the infamous ?red button? that would be use to launch the missiles, with the guys finger on it, ready to fire. Round everything out with a city on fire in the distance, 3 missiles, and an explosion, and that just about covers it all.

At around the same time that the original Atari 2600 version was made available for the home console, it was also made available as a cartridge for the Atari 8-bit line of computers. As far as I am concerned, this is one of the best cover arts used for the game at any era, because it is the most realistic to me. Allow me to explain. First things first. Do you see that large circle in the background with the ?CD? in the triangle? That was a logo that was very well known from the 50s to the 70s, even as late as the 80s. That my friends, is the ?Civil Defense? symbol. In comparison to today?s ?Homeland Security?, they are the part of government that you were to trust in the event of a terrorist attack way back when. They were also the people that produced the infamous ?Duck & Cover? film. Already, it?s taking you back to a time where nuclear missiles were a new invention, and an unknown and scary device. (Just like today!) Multiple people at multiple workstations and screens, possibly controlling various missiles. That is what I like to see! Not only that, they have both feet on the ground! You can tell from the boom mics they are all wearing. (Yet still dated. Dig that mustache!) We then see three missiles heading towards the city, which has already had an impact. For those that have ever seen the 1983 TV movie ?The Day After?, the cloud looks eerily similar. Finally in the lower right corner, we see a map of the entire world, complete with the jet stream patterns, perfect for determining where a missile may land. This version my friends, is perfection.

When the Atari 5200 SuperSystem got released, Atari tended to rehash a lot of the original games that defined the company, all of them with updated graphics to show what the new console was capable of. One of the titles reprogrammed was Missile Command, and that means new box art! Here, we see a combination of past meets present. We see two men this time. One of them seems to be the somewhat stuck-up commanding officer (in what looks like a Navy Captain?s cap?) Holding a telephone receiver in his hand, he is more than likely about to give the official orders to launch. Sadly, that part is dated simply because of the telephone technology he?s holding. Back then, you didn?t go to the store and buy a phone, you rented it from the phone company. And with the occasional exception, they all looked the same. The other gentleman here is at the mainframe terminal doing some adjustments on a dial, in which he is either very tense, or becoming increasingly frustrated. Chances are, he was adjusting the vertical hold on that ancient radar screen. What I find funny is that the picture on the radar for some reason reminds me of an Atari 2600 game! Weird. Like the original 2600 versions, this game is taking place at night, with lots of minor booms in the air, and of course, the one major explosion complete with mushroom cloud. As far as the actual mushroom clouds go, this one looks the best to me. Very well drawn, but still not as good as the 8-bit computer covers.

We then had a period where there were no new Missile Command ports for a while. The next time we would see that would be in 1995, when Atari would release a new version of the game for it?s ill-fated Jaguar console. This time called ?Missile Command 3D?, it offered an updated look (including a down to ground level view), as well as classic views. There was also a virtual view made for the unreleased ?VR Headset?, which would have been quite a sight to see! But seriously. What happened with the cover art?? The last time I checked, this was a game about missiles and nuclear attacks. Not about fighting big mechanical flying monsters in a futuristic world! (And if you look at the screenshot that is right on the box, you know that it?s serious!) Lasers firing? How about missiles, since, after all, this is MISSILE Command? Here?s an obscure one. You know the singer Tori Amos? She did a song in 1988 called Floating City when she was with her band Y Kant Tori Read. What?s with the floating cities here? Is that what she was talking about? The only part of this box art that even remotely looks accurate are the military planes dropping missiles. (And even then, there?s only two bombs dropped.) And that is in the background. I guess there was too much space being taken up by that damn robotic monster. Terrible box art, but still a good game.

For the final box art of this series (at least as far as the ?retro? part is concerned), comes to us in the form of a remake in 1999 for the original Playstation and Windows based computers. This was released shortly after Hasbro obtained the Atari licenses. Hasbro wanted to cash in quickly on the Atari name, and released a lot of updated classics. None of them sold spectacularly if memory serves me. This one is pretty simple. We see a view of the city from a common point of view, and five missiles about to detonate on the various skyscrapers of the town. But again, this time it looks a lot like a bunch of lasers as opposed to missiles. Not to mention, the spaceship in the upper right corner. Is this supposed to be Missile Command or Defender? Sadly, this cover art came at a time when people simply didn?t take nearly as much pride in the box graphics like they used to. Elaborate painting, this is not. It looks like this may have been done on a computer in a single day, and that very little thought was given to it. Like I said, Hasbro wanted to cash in on the Atari name rather fast, so that may have been what the case was here.

So, enough with the art! What was the game like? Well, if you are reading this, chances are very high that you have already played this game at one point or another. It really needs no introduction or instruction. It?s a classic! You intercept missiles that are in mid air, all the time trying to avoid hitting the six cities below, and doing so before running out of your own missiles. If too many cities turn into a crumbling mess, it?s game over for you. Simple, addictive, lots of replay value. When I first started collecting for the Atari 2600, my first set of games came from my brother, and in that set of games were 2 copies of Missile Command. (I can still remember the case they came in. It was originally supposed to be for 8-track tapes. Great modern use of it!) That was my very first game for my personal collection, and it?s still a game that I am proud to own. And the best part? Copies are plentiful! In the odd chance that you have never played this game before, you can get a copy of the 2600 version for usually under a buck. But it will be some of the best spare change you ever spent. (And do try to get some of the old time groovy box art with your copy if you can. After all, box art of that era was a time when you truly needed pure imagination!)

Random fact: Did you know that during the original production of the original arcade game, that the six seemingly random and nameless cities were supposed to represent actual cities in California? It?s true! The cities that you were trying to save were Eureka, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara.

Source: http://www.retrogamenetwork.com/2012/07/24/pure-imagination-missile-command/

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