Centipede: Recharged

While the leaderboards are wonky the rest of Centipede: Recharged feels just about exactly like you'd want the original game to be when dragged into the current year.

Overall, there isn't particularly much to say about Centipede: Recharged. For the most part, it succeeds in what it sets out to do, remastering an old Atari classic with a few neat bells and whistles attached. Items, co-op, challenges, and widescreen are all appreciated additions, but they aren't exactly thrilling, either. There's no big 'sexy' hook for this rerelease-it's Centipede, but better. Nothing more, nothing less. That isn't inherently a bad thing, though. It may not be reviving the IP on a huge scale or drawing in new audiences, but hey, Centipede is fun. A recharged version of it with a few minor upgrades is fun, too.

Centipede: Recharged is a fantastic love letter to the legacy of the games. By keeping the gameplay formula simple with the added power up tweaks this feels like an arcade game worthy of being in its own cabinet. It’s just kind of a shame arcades are dead now, in the UK at least. This is a simple but addictive high score chasing fun. Add to that a brilliant soundtrack and neon retro visuals and you have a winning formula. The cherry on top is you can also enjoy the game in co-op with a friend, loved one or that neighbour you never say hello to. This brings back all the great memories of the high score chasing arcade games and I certainly look forward to more classic games in the Atari range receiving this treatment.

Recharged brings back a neon-fueled classic from arcades, but the fun won't last very long.

The arcade action of Centipede: Recharged is inoffensive, but there simply isn’t enough content here to justify its price tag. Even the most devout score chaser will likely get bored with this title’s lack of variety, and its bland aesthetics seal its fate.

Centipede Recharged takes a beloved classic and reinvents it for the modern era with exceptional graphics and inspired gameplay upgrades. This is the perfect game to unwind to when you've got an hour to spare or a great bite-size game to play between those all-consuming AAA titles. I'm hooked on this game and it's making me excited for the next Recharged titles Atari is cooking up, like Black Widow Recharged and Breakout Recharged. It would have been nice for the game to ship with more modes, but with it's incredibly satisfying gameplay loop and $9.99 price point, retro fans shouldn't hesitate to pick this game up.

Centipede: Recharged does a wonderful job of bringing Atari's classic static shooter to the modern age. With super-fun co-op play and oodles of challenges to master, you'll gladly pick it up whenever you want a quick fix of arcade action.

Taking classic arcade titles and trying to give them new life in the modern era tends to be a challenge, and I’ve definitely seen both great successes and utter failures to date on the Switch...

Centipede: Recharged is a welcome modernization of a timeless arcade shooter. The classic ’80s gameplay is fully intact, and the new power-ups and challenges spice up what was already a fine-tuned experience. Some of the best games in the world are ones that instantly wire into your reflexes, and Centipede: Recharged is definitely one you’ll want to keep around for pure shooting bliss.

When all's said and done, though, Centipede is so classic that it's almost always enjoyable on any system, and the same is true here. I hope Atari tries harder with future Recharged installments, but I can't deny that this mixed version is still fun. If you have someone to play co-op with, grab the game and hope for Millipede: Recharged to follow.