Missile Command: Recharged

If you follow my reviews in any sort of capacity, then you’ve probably seen me cover Atari’s Recharged games. Over the last two years, I’ve looked at updated versions of everything from Centipede to Breakout to Black Widow, and have been largely impressed. However, there is one installment that I missed when it was first released, and that’s Missile Command: Recharged. When it first came out, Missile Command was a low-priced, no-frills kick-off to the Recharged franchise that lacked a lot of the extras that have become standard with the series. That original version has now been delisted, making way for a bigger and better version of the game with all the bells and whistles you expect. This means that I finally have a chance to complete the collection and review Missile Command: Recharged. Was it worth the wait? That’s what I’m about to find out.

Originally released in 1980, Missile Command wasn’t like other Atari arcade games. Instead of shooting down enemies or dodging asteroids, the goal of this game was to defend a small city from a barrage of incoming missiles. You did this by shooting your own missiles into the air, blowing up the incoming fire before it reaches the buildings on ground level. Equipped with a trackball, this was a fast-paced and incredibly intense action game that immediately won over fans.

This new Recharged version of Missile Command retains everything that people liked about that original arcade game, all while adding a bunch of explosive power-ups, new backgrounds and different modes to stave off the inevitable repetition. It’s a fun and exciting homage to the 40-year-old classic that doesn’t try to bite off more than it can chew and never gets trapped into being more than it is. There’s no greater story or crammed-in character development here, it’s just a straight-forward arcade game with redrawn HD graphics and a few extra items.

Like all of the Recharged entries, Missile Command is split up between an arcade mode and a mission/challenge mode. The arcade side is pretty straight-forward, where the goal is to shoot down all the missiles, keep your buildings standing and go for a high score, which will appear on the online leaderboard. What I like is that this arcade mode takes inspiration from the more recent releases, giving us customizable options and allowing the player to turn on modifiers that will make will not only make the score add-up faster, but will also make the mode a bit harder.

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On top of the modifiers, there are also four different elements of the arcade mode that you can upgrade by spending points. This means that you can power-up your attacks, improve the rebuilding, reload faster and even increase the speed of your missiles. This is a fun addition that gives you a lot of incentive to keep playing the arcade mode, something that was missing from past games. I can’t help but feel like the arcade mode is improving with every new Recharged entry.

Of course, the real party is happening over in the mission mode, where we play through a bunch of small, bite-sized challenges. These allow for a bunch of different scenarios, where the main goal is to survive the onslaught with at least one building intact. Sometimes you’ll be bombarded with speedy missiles, while other times you’ll need to use specific power-ups to survive the attack. Even though you’re always completing the same task, the levels do a good job of mixing up the dangers and feeling somewhat individual.

That said, I miss the way the Recharged series handled the mission mode in earlier games. It used to be that each level had a specific goal, such as reaching a certain score, getting a big chain combo or only using a single weapon to complete the level. Even with the different scenarios and types of attack, these missions come across as real repetitive. A little more variety would have been appreciated. Also, it’s odd how you only open up one challenge level at a time, whereas past games would open up three at once. It’s a small thing, but having three missions open at any given time allowed you to try your hand at another stage if you get stuck on an especially challenging level.

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Unfortunately, the real problem here has little to do with arcade mode nitpicking. You see, Missile Command: Recharged has a control problem. Specifically, it needs a trackball. The analog stick is a poor alternative, as it’s not fast or precise enough for high level play. There’s a lot happening at once, and zipping around the screen and getting ahead of the inbound missiles is a lot tougher than you might expect. Even with a lot of practice, I never got into the groove with this game. Other Recharged titles lend themselves better to this style of remake, but Missile Command is different. It feels like it needs touchscreen support, but that wasn’t an option on the PlayStation version I played. And no, the DualShock’s overly sensitive touchpad was not a good alternative.

On the other hand, I would say that from a visual perspective, Missile Command benefits the most from its Recharged makeover. I like the neon colors and minimalist look, and I’m a big fan of the changing backgrounds. We get mountains and the silhouettes of the far-off cities. This is a big improvement over the original 2020 version of the game, which had a more simplistic background that consisted of a grid and space. Even the foreground structures (like the buildings and missile launchers) have been completely redrawn. This is a sharp looking game.

Unfortunately, Missile Command: Recharged ends up being a bit of a mixed bag. While it’s certainly better than the 2020 version and has a lot of fun bells and whistles, it’s ultimately one of the weaker games in this series. And it’s not from a lack of trying. No matter how many cool ideas you come up with, Missile Command continues the long-tradition of being an incredibly hard game to get right on home consoles.