Console

Xbox 360

Released

2009

Developer

Krome Studios

Publisher

Microsoft

Genre

Shooter

Players

—

Scramble

Scramble is a 1981 horizontally scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Konami for arcades. It was distributed by Leijac for manufacture in Japan and Stern in North America. It was the first side-scrolling shooter with forced scrolling and multiple distinct levels, and it established the foundation for a new genre. It was Konami's first major worldwide hit. In the United States, it sold 15,136 arcade cabinets within five months and became Stern's second best-selling game. Scramble was not ported to any major contemporary consoles or computers, but there were releases for the Tomy Tutor and Vectrex as well as dedicated tabletop/handheld versions. Unauthorized clones for the VIC-20 and Commodore 64 use the same name as the original. Scramble's sequel, the more difficult Super Cobra, was released the same month in 1981. Gradius (1985) was originally intended to be a follow-up to Scramble. Gameplay The player controls a futuristic aircraft, referred to in the game as a jet, and has to guide it across scrolling terrain, battling obstacles along the way. The jet is armed with a forward-firing weapon and bombs; each weapon has its own button. The player must avoid colliding with the terrain and other enemies while simultaneously maintaining its limited fuel supply, which diminishes over time. More fuel can be acquired by destroying fuel tanks in the game. The game is divided into six sections, each with a different style of terrain and various obstacles. There is no intermission between each section; the game seamlessly scrolls into the new terrain. Points are awarded based on the duration of survival, as well as for destroying enemies and fuel tanks. In the final section, the player must destroy a "base". Once this objective is achieved, a flag indicating a completed mission is displayed at the bottom right of the screen. The game then repeats, returning to the first section with a slight increase in difficulty. Scoring Per second the jet is in play: 10 points Rockets: 50 points on ground, 80 in air UFO ships: 100 points Fuel tanks: 150 points Mystery targets: 100, 200, or 300 points Base at ends of levels: 800 points The player is awarded an extra jet for scoring 10,000 points, and none more thereafter. A jet is lost upon contact with anything. Once the final jet is destroyed, the game is over.

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