¢ADDING A MOUSE¢by Kevin Cooke¢¢Part 3¢¢ For this, the third part of my ADDING A MOUSE series, I will be taking a look at one of the oldest games to allow mouse compatability - MISSILE COMMAND.¢¢ The object of Missile Command is to protect the six buildings either side of you. Your base is at the bottom of the screen with three buildings either side of it. On your base is a number of missiles which you use to shoot down the incoming invaders. After positioning your crosshair at the point you want to shoot, you simply press the button to launch a missile. This explodes when it gets to the place you aimed for, blowing up anything that hits the explosion.¢¢ The more buildings you have either side of you, the quicker your base is supplied with more missiles to launch when you run out. This makes the game progressively harder when you allow more buildings to be blown up.¢¢ I first experienced this game when I'd just got my Atari (sniff, sniff, what lovely memories!). At that time, I loved it, but what is it like now?¢¢ Well, to be honest, I didn't play Missile command much when I had built up my software collection. It seemed to get a little lost when I had so many games with flashy graphics, and I still feel a little like this now. The incoming invaders look like bolts of lightning (i.e. simple lines that move from the top of the screen), and better graphics can be found in the public domain. Sound effects are also nothing to get excited about.¢¢ The gameplay is still pretty good. The attraction of being able to use the mouse with it has helped to get me playing it more recently.¢¢ OK, so it's not the best game ever, but if you're looking for something else to use with a mouse, it may not be a bad buy at the right price. If you don't already own Missile Command, I would recommend you buy it, providing it's priced at under five pounds. For anything more than that, your money would be better spent on one of the many other games available at that price.¢¢ Don't expect too much from Missile Command and you should be happy.¢¢MOUSE TRIVIA¢¢ Did you know that when Microsoft conducted a recent survey to design their latest mouse, they found that very few people rested their whole hand over a mouse. It was actually found that many people prefered to move the mouse with their fingers, leaving their hand and arm in the air!¢¢End of Part 3.¢¢[ED: Missile Command rules OK! Then again, I'm an old (?) trackball spinner from the arcades (grin).]¢
