Many videogames have had plots involving a character having dreams of apocalyptic terrors, but few have been directly inspired by them. Yet that’s exactly what drove Atari’s Dave Theurer to create Missile Command, as the Cold War meant that the threat of nuclear destruction was an ever-present source of paranoia in Eighties America. Thankfully, Russian aggression is a thing of the past today (Are you sure? – Ed.) and rogue states haven’t been able to create their own nuclear weapons (Nick, please – Ed.), so we don’t have to worry about the prospect of a mushroom cloud on the horizon any time soon.

Thankfully the game itself was significantly more fun than radiation sickness, as you used a trackball to try to intercept missiles targeting six Californian cities. And if you enjoyed playing Missile Command in the arcade, or indeed an a home system, you might fancy discussing it in the Retro Gamer forum, where the game is our current Retro Spotlight. Click here to head straight for that topic.

Of course, if Missile Command isn’t your thing, there’s plenty more to do on the Retro Gamer forum – discuss other games, post high scores or even give feedback on the latest issue of the magazine. And if you haven’t picked up issue 195 yet, you can do that now – just click here to head to My Favourite Magazines and order your copy.