Scramble (video game)
A 1981 arcade shooter that defined side-scrolling gameplay.
Scramble is a 1981 horizontally scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Konami for arcades. It was the first side-scrolling shooter with forced scrolling and multiple distinct levels, establishing the foundation for a new genre. The game was Konami's first major worldwide hit and became Stern's second best-selling game in the United States.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Konami
- Platforms
- Arcade
- Vectrex
- Tomy Tutor
- Tomytronic
- Genre
- Scrolling shooter
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
- Arcade system
- Konami Scramble
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
The player controls a futuristic aircraft called a jet, guiding it across scrolling terrain while avoiding obstacles. The jet has a forward-firing weapon and bombs, each with its own button. The player must avoid collisions with terrain and enemies while managing a limited fuel supply that depletes over time; fuel can be replenished by destroying fuel tanks. The game has six sections with different terrain styles, seamlessly transitioning between them. Points are awarded for survival time and destroying enemies and fuel tanks: 10 points per second, 50 for ground rockets, 80 for air rockets, 100 for UFO ships, 150 for fuel tanks, 100–300 for mystery targets, and 800 for the base at the end of levels. In the final section, the player must destroy a base, after which a flag appears and the game repeats with faster fuel depletion. An extra jet is awarded at 10,000 points, with no further extras. Running out of fuel or colliding with anything destroys the jet; losing the last jet ends the game.
Development and release
A Tomytronic version of Scramble was released in 1982, and a second electronic tabletop version was released the same year in the UK by Grandstand under licence from Epoch Co., who sold it in Japan as Astro Command. This version lacks scenery and refueling. A handheld LCD version called Pocket Scramble appeared the following year. Scramble was included on the 2002 Game Boy Advance cartridge Konami Collector Series Arcade Advanced, a close port of the arcade original.
Reception
Scramble was commercially successful and critically acclaimed. Computer and Video Games magazine in February 1982 called it the first arcade game to send the player on a mission, noting it quickly earned a big following. In the United States, it sold 10,000 arcade cabinets within two months of release in 1981 and topped the RePlay arcade charts in June 1981. Within five months, it sold 15,136 cabinets, becoming Stern's second best-selling game after Berzerk. Its sequel Super Cobra sold 12,337 cabinets in four months that same year, for a combined 27,473 U.S. sales by October 1981. In Japan, it tied as the 14th highest-grossing arcade video game of 1981. The Vectrex version was praised for its fidelity to the arcade original, with reviewers noting the overlays made it easy to forget the program was black-and-white. David H. Ahl reported in 1983 that no test player could get past the fourth level of the Vectrex version. Arcade Express gave the Tomytronic version a 9 out of 10 in 1982. Scramble appeared in the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition list of Top 100 arcade games, and GamesMaster ranked it 60th in their Top 100 Games of All Time in 1996.
Legacy
Scramble is considered the first in the Gradius series according to the Game Boy Advance Gradius Advance intro and the Gradius Breakdown DVD, though the Gradius Collection guidebook lists Scramble separately in Konami's shooting history. An updated version in Konami Collector's Series: Arcade Advanced, accessible via the Konami Code, offers three ships: Renegade (original shots), Shori (rapid-fire), and Gunslinger (piercing shots). Konami founder Kagemasa Kōzuki stated in a 1990 interview that Scramble was the company's most important game, its first major hit that launched Konami into world prominence. The game served as a foundation for the horizontally scrolling shooter sub-genre; Wayne Santos noted that Scramble and its sequel Super Cobra created the side-scrolling shooter that progresses to the end of a level, unlike Defender's infinite loop. Konami's Gradius (1985) was originally intended as a follow-up to Scramble under the working title Scramble 2, reusing many materials and mechanics. Game designer Scott Rogers cited Scramble and Moon Patrol as forerunners of the endless runner genre. Scramble gameplay appears in the opening credits of the 1982 Spanish film Colegas. The game was released on Xbox Live Arcade for Xbox 360 on September 13, 2006, on Microsoft's Game Room service for Xbox 360 and Windows on March 24, 2010, on PlayStation in 1999 as part of Konami Arcade Classics, on Game Boy Advance in 2002, and on PlayStation 2 in Japan in 2005 as part of the Oretachi Geasen Zoku Sono series.
Frequently Asked Questions
What platforms is Scramble (video game) available on?
Scramble was released for Arcade, Vectrex, Tomy Tutor and Tomytronic.
Is Scramble (video game) single-player or multiplayer?
Scramble offers single-player and multiplayer play.
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