Missile command was the second arcade game I remember having a trac ball. The first being centipede, both made by Atari.
In Missile command, you were in charge of three
Anti ballistic missile sites and your job was to protect representations of cities on the ground. You had the trac ball to direct the aiming reticle and 3 buttons,1 for each Missile base. At the bases, there is a representation of how many shots each base has. You can fire as fast as you can hit the buttons, simultaneously from multiple bases if you like.
Your targets are incoming missiles from the sky, aimed at your cities and missile bases. There is usually a bomber to take out each round as well.
As your fired missile reaches its designated destination, it explodes into a large cloud of energy that, hopefully, your target flys into before it dissipates. So, you have to time it right and keep track of your remaining missiles, all while defending from certain doom.
Each round you make it with at least one surviving city allows you to continue. As the rounds progress, the incoming fire moves faster and faster until it’s just too much to keep up with eventually.
Thanks to Reddit for that shot
That is a young Spielberg, unfortunately, in that shot
