Editing Missile Command (section)

==World records==
Two types of world records are monitored for the arcade version of ''Missile Command'': Marathon and Tournament settings. Both settings allow the player to start with six cities. Marathon settings award bonus cities, while in tournament mode bonus cities are not awarded at any point in the game.

===Marathon settings===
In 1981, Floridian Jody Bowles played a ''Missile Command'' arcade game for 30 hours at The Filling Station Eatery in Pensacola. Bowles scored 41,399,845 points with one quarter using Marathon settings, besting the previous known record, according to Atari spokesman Mike Fournell.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ydUTAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KwYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4104,1725781&dq=missile-command+game&hl=en Man Plays Video Game 30 Hours To Win Record With One Quarter.] ''Ocala Star-Banner''. 4 May 1981.</ref> The record was broken when Victor Ali of the United States scored 80,364,995 points in 1982.

Beginning on March 15, 2013, Victor Sandberg of Sweden scored 81,796,035 points live on [[Twitch (service)|Twitch]] after 56 hours of play.<ref name="DiskborsteMC's Twitch channel">[http://sv.twitch.tv/diskborstemc DiskborsteMC's Twitch.tv channel]</ref> On December 27 of the same year, Sandberg started a 71-hour and 41 minute game with a score of 103,809,990—10 points short of getting an additional 176 cities.<ref name="DiskborsteMC's Twitch channel"/>

===Tournament settings===
On July 3, 1985, Roy Shildt of [[Los Angeles]] set a [[world record]] in tournament-set Missile Command, with a score of 1,695,265, as verified by [[Twin Galaxies]]. This score, as well it earning his induction into the Video Game Hall of Fame, were published in the 1986 [[Guinness Book of World Records]].<ref>{{cite book|title=1986 Guinness Book of World Records|date=1986|publisher=Bantam Books|page=559}}</ref>

After more than 20 years, on March 9, 2006, [[United Kingdom|UK]]-based gamer Tony Temple set a new world record of 1,967,830 points, also with Tournament settings as confirmed by Twin Galaxies. Temple's score was published in the 2008 [[Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition|Guinness Book of World Records Gamer's Edition]], although Guinness noted that the score was controversial due to Temple playing on game settings that increased cursor speed and was therefore easier than those of Roy Shildt, the previous record holder.<ref>{{cite book|title=2008 Guinness Book of World Records|date=2008|publisher=Little Brown Books|page=234|quote="On March 9, 2006, Tony Temple (UK) scores 1,967,830 on Missile Command under Twin Galaxies tournament settings. This has caused much controversy; previous record holder Roy Shildt (USA) scores 1,695,265 in 1985 using a harder setting that decreases cursor speed"}}</ref> Tony Temple increased his world record on two occasions, culminating in a score of 4,472,570{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}} in 2 hours and 57 minutes–verified on September 9, 2010. This is the first verified time that a player passed wave 256 under tournament settings; the game difficulty starts over at wave 1 again.
In 1981 Steve Rakes played a 6.5 hour game without losing a single city, and at which time the machine malfunctioned expelling a small puff of smoke.  Rakes is said to have only played Missile Command 15 times previously with the 6.5 hour game being his sixteenth.