Editing Missile Command (section)

==Reception==

The game was an instant hit, hailed for its uniqueness, color graphics and challenging score-based gameplay, which were massive draws for arcade games at the time.<ref name="8-bit-apocalypse"/>

{{Video game reviews
| Allgame = {{Rating|5|5}} (Arcade)<ref name="allgamereview">{{cite web |url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=4148&tab=review |title=Missile Command - Review |last=Weiss |first=Brett Alan |publisher=[[AllGame]] |access-date=August 18, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141114095235/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=4148&tab=review |archive-date=November 14, 2014}}</ref><br>{{rating|4|5}} (Atari 5200)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Irwin |first=Jeff |title=Missile Command (Atari 5200) Review |url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=15641&tab=review |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141114124728/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=15641&tab=review |archive-date=November 14, 2014 |access-date=August 9, 2022 |website=Allgame}}</ref><br>{{rating|3.5|5}} (GBC)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cook |first=Brad |title=Missile Command (Game Boy Color) Review |url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=18985&tab=review |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141114124722/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=18985&tab=review |archive-date=November 14, 2014 |access-date=August 9, 2022 |website=Allgame}}</ref>
}}

''Missile Command'' is considered one of the great classic video games from the [[Golden Age of Arcade Games]]. The game is also interesting in its manifestation of the [[Cold War]]'s effects on popular culture,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://openlettersreview.com/posts/8-bit-apocalypse-by-alex-rubens | title=8 Bit Apocalypse by Alex Rubens | date=13 November 2018}}</ref> in that the game features an implementation of [[National Missile Defense]] and parallels real-life nuclear war.

The game sold nearly 20,000 [[arcade cabinet]]s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fulton |first1=Jeff |last2=Fulton |first2=Steve |year=2010 |chapter=A short history of Missile Command |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VCR7XYUncEsC&pg=PA138 |title=The essential guide to Flash games: building interactive entertainment with ActionScript 3.0 |access-date=February 7, 2012 |edition=New |location=[[Berkeley, California]] |publisher=Friends of ED |page=138 |isbn=978-1-4302-2614-7 |quote=While certainly not the size of ''Asteroids'', the game was still a huge hit with almost 20,000 units sold.}}</ref> ''Missile Command'' was a commercial success for Sega in Japan, where it was among the top-ten highest-grossing [[1980 in video games|arcade video games of 1980]].<ref name="GM159">{{cite magazine |date=15 February 1981 |title=ベストスリー 本紙調査 (調査対象1980年) 〜 アーケードゲーム機 |trans-title=Best Three Book Survey (Survey Target 1980) ~ Arcade Game Machines |url=https://onitama.tv/gamemachine/pdf/19810215p.pdf#page=2 |magazine=[[:ja:ゲームマシン|Game Machine]] |lang=ja |publisher=[[:ja:アミューズメント通信社|Amusement Press, Inc.]] |issue=159 |page=2}}</ref>

In 1983, ''[[Softline (magazine)|Softline]]'' readers named ''Missile Command'' for the Atari 8-bit computers eighth on the magazine's Top Thirty list of Atari programs by popularity.<ref name="softline198303">{{cite news |date=March 1983 |title=The Most Popular Atari Program Ever |url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1983&pub=6&id=10 |work=Softline |pages=44 |access-date=July 28, 2014}}</ref> In a retrospective review, Brett Weiss of Allgame gave the arcade version a perfect score of 5 out of 5, in terms of controls, frenetic gameplay, sound effects, theme, and strategic aiming and firing.<ref name="allgamereview"/>

In 1995, ''[[Flux (magazine)|Flux]]'' magazine ranked the arcade version 24th on their "Top 100 Video Games".<ref>{{Cite journal |date=April 1995 |title=Top 100 Video Games |url=https://archive.org/details/flux-issue-4/page/n25/mode/2up |journal=Flux |publisher=Harris Publications |issue=4 |pages=27}}</ref>