Missile Command Recharged

Missile Command Recharged is a new take on an old classic, and one that lends itself amazingly well to Light Guns. So in keeping with the retro theme let’s give this game a go using the Blamcon Phazer 3D printable light gun and see just what makes this throwback so much fun.

Missile command recharged is an updated version of the original 1980 arcade classic available on Steam. The arcade version stood out because it didn’t use a joystick, it used a trackball. This let you roll the cursor around which was a pretty novel way of aiming and shooting at enemies. Missile Command Recharged is primarily designed to use a boring old mouse, but in the spirit of the original control schemes it’s fully compatible with Blamcon light guns, bringing back a novel way of aiming. And wow, it’s so much faster and viscerally with a light gun. Being able to snap aim and shoot anywhere on the screen is so much more fun that pointing and clicking, it’s like this game was made for light guns, despite this probably being something the devs didn’t even think of. 

The game’s layout is exactly the same as the original, you have 3 turrets that can shoot anywhere on the screen, but the shells have a travel time. You have to defend 6 cities from incoming threats, if all 6 cities are hit, it’s game over. If a turret is hit, it will regenerate after a while but you lose some firepower until that happens. The turrets have a set fire rate, so you can shoot 3 shells super fast, but then you have to wait a few seconds for each turret to reload, so the better strategy is to stagger your shots so you’re always ready to deal with a new threat. If you look carefully at the turret you can see it ‘refill’ between shots, and one cool thing is the game will try and shoot using the closest loaded turret, but I often find myself missing because the missile comes from the far turret and takes too long to get there, adding a bit of extra lead between shots helps with that a lot since the explosions have a pretty long hang time and the enemy will get hit no matter when in the explosion cycle they touch it.Periodically there’s powerups that float by, shoot one and you get an instant or timed bonus like a faster fire rate, larger shells, AA gun, a bomb, there’s lots of cool ones. If it’s a timed bonus the screen will fill with a translucent blue that will drain, which acts like a timer, considering how fast paced this game gets having something this obvious is much appreciated. If you do hold off on getting a powerup it will cycle to another one part way across the screen, so if you see something that’s not too useful give it a sec.

The game is much like any bullet hell shooter, it starts off slow and easy and the longer you survive the more enemies appear on screen that have my dynamic and faster attacks until it becomes too much. The tanks at the bottom get me the most, they roll in quietly while you’re looking up and shoot low arc artillery at you, so get them quick. There’s other enemies like the laser satellite that will shoot instantly if you give them enough time to charge up, so knowing which enemies to attack and when, how fast to fire, which of your turrets are loaded, it all gets pretty chaotic later in the game and adds to the strategy and fun. I honestly love these kinds of games, short, simple, satisfying. These make the best party and family times games. Even today when we have a family game time we almost always play old arcade games, so recapturing that fun in a modern setting is right up my alley. They do add some progression, after each game you get the option of upgrading your turrets stats, more power, faster rebuild time, faster reload, and speedier shells. This is a pretty cool touch and is a good way to help players get further into the game regardless of skill level. I personally am of mixed feelings about this upgrade system. For the most part this is a very faithful reskin of the arcade games, and that puts me in arcade mindset. To me the only valid powerup is practice, if you want to get further you gotta get good. So having this upgrade system kinda muddles the waters. Am I getting better or are the upgrades making it easier? But I do get it, for a lot of people the old way can be very frustrating, so this is a good balance to get today’s players sucked into an old classic. There is a second game mode, missions, where you play through different scenarios, but I’m all about arcade mode so that’s the review you’re gonna get.

So final thoughts: This is an awesome game and made even better with a light gun. It may be my #1 modern light gun game to show when I have guests over or need to entertain kids. It’s simple, fun, recaptures the magic that made Missile Command a household name, and the updates are superb.