Scramble (c) 1981 Konami.

In Scramble, a single player takes control of a spaceship and has to
fight their way through 6 different levels. Contact with either scenery
of objects results in an instant loss of life. The player's Scramble
ship is armed with both a blaster and bombs; the blaster is used for
enemy ships, while the bombs fall down to attack ground-based targets
and to collect fuel from fuel dumps. The fuel dumps are of particular
importance as the player ship's fuel gauge constantly decreases as the
player progresses, and the only way to fill it back up is by bombing the
fuel tanks that are located throughout the levels.

Fuel usage increases as the game progresses, until fuel usage actually
outstrips the amount of fuel dumps available and the game becomes
impossible.

Scramble is considered a classic and was the world's first ever
'multi-level' shoot-em-up.


- TECHNICAL -
The Scramble cabinet was the same basic cabinet design that Stern used
for all its games. It featured a monitor that was set back at a 45
degree angle, and a very large marquee that was angled towards the
player. Most cabinets have straight up and down marquees, so Stern ones
are easy to spot. This title features rather primitive painted sideart
that only uses two colours, but it makes up for it with the impressive
comic-book style art on the control panel and monitor bezel.

The marquee has a roundish 'Scramble' logo, with some sort of space
castle in the background. The control panel is aluminum, and it has a
mostly yellow design, with game instructions and a red ball-top 8-Way
leaf switch joystick mounted centrally. It has fire buttons on both
sides of the panel, so it can be played either left handed or right
handed. The industry later forgot about lefties altogether and went
completely right handed. Most of these machines were uprights, but there
were several cocktail units made as well.

Game ID : GX387
Main CPU : Z80 (@ 3.072 Mhz)
Sound CPU : Z80 (@ 1.78975 Mhz)
Sound Chips : (2x) AY8910 (@ 1.78975 Mhz), (6x) RC (@ 1.78975 Mhz)
Screen orientation : Vertical
Video resolution : 224 x 256 pixels
Screen refresh : 60.61 Hz
Palette colors : 99
Players : 2
Control : 4-way joystick
Buttons : 2 (LASER, BOMB)

- TRIVIA -
Released in February 1981.

Licensed to Stern for US manufacture and distribution (May 1981).

Sometimes unfairly referred to as a 'poor man's Defender', Scramble was
not only the world's first multi-level shoot-em-up, it was also the
first of its type to feature a re-fueling system. These innovations
helped to ensure that Scramble was a well deserved commercial success
for Konami.

This game was the first title to use the 'Scramble Hardware', which was
later used for "Super Cobra", "Lost Tomb", "The End" and a number of
other titles. Many of these titles were actually bootlegs of other
games, such as Namco's "Pac-Man". This was because Konami neglected to
give Scramble ANY copy protection whatsoever; making it incredibly easy
to run just about anything that used a Z80 processor, which, at the
time, was pretty much every game out there. There were, of course, a lot
of Bootleg copies of Scramble itself floating around, such as "Explorer"
or "Strafe Bomb".

Scramble is considered the first in the "Gradius" series acording to the
Nintendo Game Boy Advance "Gradius Galaxies" intro sequence.

This game had a Bulgarian bootleg called "Memory Devices Facility"
("&#1047;&#1047;&#1059;" or "&#1047;&#1072;&#1074;&#1086;&#1076;
&#1079;&#1072;
&#1047;&#1072;&#1087;&#1072;&#1084;&#1077;&#1090;&#1103;&#1074;&#1072;&#1097;&#1080;
&#1059;&#1089;&#1090;&#1088;&#1086;&#1081;&#1089;&#1090;&#1074;&#1072;").

A Scramble unit appears in the 1983 movie 'Joysticks'.


- SCORING -
10 points per second of flying.

Missile on ground : 50 points
Missile in air : 80 points
UFO : 100 points
Fuel Tank : 150 points
Mystery Base : 100, 200, or 300 points
Main Base : 800 points

- TIPS AND TRICKS -
A) Always watch what passes below you as you fly, especially in Sectors
One through Four.

B) Ignore the 10 points added to your score every second : you want to
finish each round quickly, because running out of fuel is bad news.

Try also to hit as many fuel tanks as you can, even in preference to
mystery bases. One hundred and fifty points plus fuel is more desirable
than an average mystery score of 200 points.

C) When you fuel gets low, the rule is to ignore everything but speed
survival, and getting more fuel.

D) In Sector One, fly close to the ground. Your object should be scoring
points rather than precise maneuvering, so keep in mind just a few
simple rules :
1. Fly slowly only when you must to destroy a rich cluster of targets.

2. Release a couple of bombs just as you top each mountain, then descend
quickly into the valley.

3. Once there, shoot any threatening rockets by slowing down for a
second and using your laser. Descend to the lowest plateau at the
earliest opportunity, shooting lasers constantly to clear your path of
targets.

4. Rise with the terrain, using your laser against targets in the
foothills, and go all the way up only when the next mountain forces you
to.

5. After the last mountain, be prepared for the UFOs.

E) Through Sector Two, simply fly relatively low at medium speed,
pressing LASER and BOMB constantly. The laser shots will take care of
almost all the UFOs in your way. If one or two survive until you reach
them, shift to full speed until you pass them, dodging vertically if
necessary.

Try to time the release of your bombs so that they hit fuel tanks,
compensating for your middling speed.

F) Don't try to stay alive among the fireballs. Staying below them makes
sense for two reasons - you keep your jet, and you even have a chance to
pick up some points from the sparse targets below.

As for making if from valley to valley, just go where the fireballs
aren't. Fly quickly through each valley, then stop just before you leave
shelter. Wait there until a fireball passes just over you; then chances
are that you will have a second in which to duck swiftly over and into
the next valley. You will find there is definitely a rhythm to it.

G) If you fly through the city too fast, you might not be able to react
in time to a juicy cluster of targets or to a rocket rising in your
path. Fly at medium speed, lasering and bombing for all you are worth,
especially at rockets in front of you and fuel tanks beneath you.

When you fly over silos too deep for your bombs to penetrate, accelerate
for a moment in case the rockets suddenly take off toward your
underside.

Treat a low roof just as you would a Sector One valley; descend and
laser the row of targets into oblivion. Be careful, though, when
reascending; the rises here are much more abrupt than Sector One.

H) Without excellent vertical control, you will never make it through
Sector Five. Blasting away the fuel tanks blocking your path is vital,
but requires much less of your concentration than does piloting the jet
through such a tortuous maze.

As soon as you emerge from a passageway, stop. Then move up or down,
whichever you need, as far as you can until the screen catches up with
you and pushes you forward. Keep the joystick to the left; while the
screen propels you, you should have time to find just the right height
for entering the next passage.

Once you are in the next passage, speed up right away, giving yourself a
head start for the next cavern; you will have to stop once again when
you enter it. The cycle requires concentration even once you know the
rhythm.

Sometimes, you will enter a cavern at top left and need to leave it
through a passage at bottom right, but fuel tanks will block the mouth
of the passage, cluttering even the cavern floor. If you are worried
about crashing into these tanks from above before you have a chance to
laser them, just drop a couple of bombs at the right moment in your
descent. The tanks will stand in your way no longer.

I) Once you know its secrets, the base may actually be slightly easier
than Sector Five. To destroy the enemy octagon, all you have to do is
gun your engine before you enter its canyon, then pull sharply down and
back, and nose up to it. If you are on its level, fire your laser; if
just above, drop a bomb. You will destroy the base.

You will also crash your own ship, but no matter : you will start the
next round with a free replacement. Most players are afraid of crashing,
so they fly too high for their bombs to have any hope of reaching the
base. Eventually, they crash or run out of fuel.

J) By now, you have probably realized the one step essential to
mastering SCRAMBLE; memorization. Since the pattern repeats itself every
round, being prepared for upcoming opportunities and dangers is what the
game is about.


- SERIES -
1. Scramble (1981)
2. Super Cobra (1981)

- PORTS -
* Consoles :
GCE Vectrex (1982)
Sony PlayStation (1999, "Konami Arcade Classics")
Nintendo Game Boy Advance (2002, "Konami Collectors Series - Arcade
Advanced")
Sony PlayStation 2 (2005, "Oretachi Geasen Zoku Sono 1 - Scramble")
Microsoft XBOX 360 (2006) : as a downloadable Live Arcade game.

Nintendo DS (2007, Konami Classics Series - Arcade Hits)
* Computers :
BBC B (1982, "Rocket Raid" - Acornsoft)
Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1982, "Penetrator" - Melbourne House)
Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1983, "Cavern Fighter" - Bug-Byte)
Tandy Color Computer (1983, "Skramble")
Commodore C64 (1983, "Skramble")
Commodore C64 (1984, "Penetrator" - Melbourne House)
* Others :
VFD portable game (1982 - Tomy)
VFD portable game (1982, "Rambler", German version - Tomy)
VFD portable game (1982, "Astro Blaster", Hales UK version - Tomy)
Konami Arcade Advanced Plug 'n Play TV Game (2004 - Majesco)
