Scramble (video game)#Reception and legacy

{{Unreferenced section|date=January 2018}}

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.{{Cite web|date=26 September 2019|title=Arcade Archives Scramble|url=https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/arcade-archives-scramble-switch/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814120848/https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/arcade-archives-scramble-switch/|archive-date=14 August 2020|access-date=22 October 2021|website=Nintendo}} More fuel can be acquired by destroying fuel tanks in the game.{{cite web | url=https://www.retrogamer.net/retro_games80/scramble/ | title=Scramble - Retro Gamer | date=16 February 2009}}

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.

• 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.

The United States Court of Appeal states the following regarding the game's development and release:

{{Quote|In January 1981 at a London trade exhibit Stern became aware of Scramble, an electronic video game developed in late 1980 by a Japanese corporation, Konami Industry Co., Ltd. The audiovisual display constituting what Stern alleges is the copyrightable work was first published in Japan on January 8, 1981. Stern secured an exclusive sub-license to distribute the Scramble game in North and South America from Konami's exclusive licensee, and began selling the game in the United States on March 17, 1981.}}

A dedicated Tomytronic version of Scramble was released in 1982.{{Cite book |url=https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102662208 |title=Tomytronic Scramble game |date=1982}} A second electronic tabletop version of Scramble was released the same year in the UK by Grandstand{{cite web|url=http://www.handheldmuseum.com/Grandstand/Scramble.htm|title=Grandstand Scramble|access-date=20 February 2014}} under licence from Japanese firm Epoch Co., who sold the game in Japan under the title Astro Command.{{cite web|url=http://www.retrogamesnow.co.uk/grandstand-scramble-handheld/|title=Grandstand Scramble|date=28 February 2012 |access-date=20 February 2014}} Gameplay differs from the arcade version as no scenery is rendered and the ship has no need to refuel. A handheld compact LCD version known as "Pocket Scramble" was released the following year. Scramble was also made available on the 2002 Game Boy Advance cartridge Konami Collector Series Arcade Advanced. This version is a close port of the original game in the arcade cabinet.

Scramble was commercially successful and critically acclaimed. In its February 1982 issue, Computer and Video Games magazine said it "was the first arcade game to send you on a mission and quickly earned a big following".{{cite web|url=http://www.solvalou.com/subpage/arcade_reviews/161/432/scramble_tips.html|title=Home page of Arttu|website=www.solvalou.com|access-date=5 January 2018}} In the United States, the game sold 10,000 arcade cabinets worth {{US$|20,000,000|long=no|year=1981|round=-6}} in sales within two months of release in 1981,{{cite news |last1=Seaberry |first1=Jane |title=Maker of Pac-Man Claims Asian Firms Cheating at the Arcade |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1982/04/04/maker-of-pac-man-claims-asian-firms-cheating-at-the-arcade/882b21f3-8ccb-421b-ae2a-65198958f811/ |access-date=20 April 2023 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=4 April 1982}} and it topped the US monthly RePlay arcade charts in June 1981.{{cite book |last1=Kubey |first1=Craig |title=The Winners' Book of Video Games |date=1982 |publisher=New York: Warner Books |isbn=978-0-446-37115-5 |page=118 |url=https://archive.org/details/Winners_Book_of_Video_Games/page/n134}} It sold 15,136 arcade cabinets in the United States within five months, by August 4, 1981, becoming Stern's second best-selling game after Berzerk. Its sequel, the more difficult Super Cobra, sold 12,337 cabinets in the U.S. in four months that same year, adding up to 27,473 U.S. cabinet sales for both, by October 1981.{{cite web|title=Stern Production Numbers and More CCI Photos|url=http://www.tokensonly.com/2012/05/misc/stern-production-numbers-and-more-cci-photos/|access-date=21 July 2013|date=1 May 2012}} In Japan, Scramble was tied with Jump Bug and Space Panic as the 14th highest-grossing arcade video game of 1981.{{cite magazine|title="Donkey Kong" No.1 Of '81 — Game Machine's Survey Of "The Year's Best Three AM Machines" —|magazine=Game Machine|issue=182|publisher=Amusement Press, Inc.|date=15 February 1982|page=30|url=https://onitama.tv/gamemachine/pdf/19820215p.pdf#page=16}}

The Vectrex version was reviewed in Video magazine where it was praised for its fidelity to the original arcade game and was described as the favorite among Vectrex titles they had reviewed.{{cite journal |last1= Kunkel |first1= Bill |author-link1= Bill Kunkel (journalist)|last2= Katz |first2= Arnie |author-link2= Arnie Katz|date= October 1982 |title= Arcade Alley: The First Portable Video Game System |journal= Video|publisher= Reese Communications|volume= 6|issue= 7|pages= 32, 118–120|issn= 0147-8907}}{{rp|120}} The game's overlays were singled out, with reviewers commenting that "when you're really involved with a Vectrex game like Scramble, it's almost possible to forget that the program is in black-and-white".{{rp|32}} David H. Ahl of Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games reported in 1983 that no test player was able to get past the fourth level of the Vectrex version.{{Cite magazine |last=Ahl |first=David H. |author-link=David H. Ahl |date=Spring 1983 |title=The Vectrex Arcade System |url=http://www.atarimagazines.com/cva/v1n1/vectrex.php |magazine=Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games |page=56}}

In 1982, Arcade Express gave the Tomytronic version of the game a score of 9 out of 10, describing it as an "engrossing" game that "rates as one of the year's best so far".{{cite journal|title=The Hotseat: Reviews of New Products|journal=Arcade Express|date=August 15, 1982|volume=1|issue=1|pages=6–7 [6]|url=http://www.digitpress.com/library/newsletters/arcadeexpress/arcade_express_v1n1.pdf|access-date=3 February 2012}}

Scramble made the list of Top 100 arcade games in the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition. In 1996, GamesMaster ranked the arcade version 60th in their "Top 100 Games of All Time" list.{{Cite journal |date=July 1996 |title=Top 100 Games of All Time |url=https://retrocdn.net/images/c/cf/GamesMaster_UK_044.pdf |journal=GamesMaster |issue=44 |pages=76}}

According to the Nintendo Game Boy Advance Gradius Advance intro and the Gradius Breakdown DVD included with Gradius V, Scramble is considered the first in the Gradius series, but the Gradius Collection guidebook issued a few years after by Konami, lists Scramble as part of their shooting history, and the Gradius games are now listed separately.

An updated version of Scramble is available in Konami Collector's Series: Arcade Advanced by inputting the Konami Code in the game's title screen. This version allows three different ships to be chosen: the Renegade, the Shori, and the Gunslinger. The only difference between the ships besides their appearance are the shots they fire. The Renegade's shots are the same as in the original Scramble, the Shori has rapid-fire capabilities triggered by holding down the fire button, and the Gunslinger's shots can pierce through enemies, meaning they can be used for multiple hits with a single shot.

In an interview with RePlay magazine in January 1990, Konami founder Kagemasa Kōzuki (Kaz Kozuki) stated that he considers Scramble to be Konami's most important game. He said that Scramble was the company's first major hit that launched Konami into world prominence.{{cite magazine |title=A Conversation With... Kaz Kozuki: the Konami chief who put TNT into video's arsenal with TMNT |magazine=RePlay |date=March 1990 |volume=15 |issue=6 |pages=201–2 |url=https://archive.org/details/re-play-volume-14-issue-no.-6-march-1990-600dpi/RePlay%20-%20Volume%2014%2C%20Issue%20No.%206%20-%20March%201990/page/201}} The game also served as a foundation for the horizontally scrolling shooter sub-genre.{{cite magazine |title=After Pong |magazine=ACE |date=February 4, 1988 |issue=6 (March 1988) |pages=29–32 |url=https://archive.org/details/ACE_Issue_06_1988-03_Future_Publishing_GB/page/n28}}{{cite magazine |last1=Santos |first1=Wayne |last2=Lip |first2=Khang |title=Twitch on Live: Xbox Live Arcade Games |magazine=GameAxis Unwired |issue=38 |date=October 2006 |pages=30–1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EekDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA30 |publisher=SPH Magazines}} While not the first horizontally scrolling shooter (it was predated by Defender two months earlier), Wayne Santos of GameAxis Unwired notes that Scramble and its sequel Super Cobra "created the side-scrolling shooter that progressed to the end of a level, rather than having a self-enclosed level that warped on itself in an infinite loop, like Defender".

Konami's Gradius (1985), the first title in the Gradius series, was originally intended to be a follow-up to Scramble, with the working title Scramble 2. It reused many of its materials and game mechanics.{{cite web |title=Machiguchi Hiroyasu Gradius Interviews (Translated) |url=http://shmuplations.com/gradius-machiguchi/ |website=Shmuplations |access-date=8 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190729084921/http://shmuplations.com/gradius-machiguchi/ |archive-date=29 July 2019}} Game designer Scott Rogers named Scramble as well as Irem's Moon Patrol (1982) as forerunners of the endless runner platform genre.Swipe This!: The Guide to Great Touchscreen Game Design by Scott Rogers, Wiley and Sons, 2012

Scramble gameplay is featured during the opening credits of the 1982 Spanish film Colegas by Eloy de la Iglesia, along with some other arcade games of the era like Defender, Monaco GP and Missile Command.

• Xbox Live Arcade library for the Xbox 360 on September 13, 2006.
• Microsoft's Game Room service for the Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows on March 24, 2010.
• 1999 for the PlayStation as part of Konami Arcade Classics.
• 2002 for the Game Boy Advance on the compilation Konami Collector's Series: Arcade Advanced.
• 2005 for the PlayStation 2 in Japan as part of the Oretachi Geasen Zoku Sono series.
• 2007 for the Nintendo DS as part of Konami Classics Series: Arcade Hits.
• PlayStation 4 as part of the Arcade Archives series in Japan in 2014, North America and Asia in 2015, and for the Nintendo Switch in 2019.
• PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Windows on Steam on April 18, 2019 as part of the Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection.

Atari 8-bit games Airstrike{{cite journal |last1=Salm |first1=Walter |title=Airstrike |journal=Electronic Fun with Computers & Games |date=February 1983 |volume=1 |issue=4 |page=64 |url=https://archive.org/details/Electronic_Fun_with_Computer_Games_Vol_01_No_04_1983-02_Fun_Games_Publishing_US/page/n63}} (1982) and Bellum{{cite web |title=Bellum |url=http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-bellum_587.html |website=Atari Mania}} (1983) are both Scramble clones. Skramble (1983) is a clone for the Commodore 64.{{lemon64 game|name=Skramble|id=2331}}{{Cite magazine |last=Williams |first=Steve |date=September 1984 |title=Skramble! |url=https://archive.org/details/creativecomputing-1984-09/page/n121/mode/1up?view=theater |access-date=2025-03-21 |magazine=Creative Computing |publisher=Ziff-Davis |pages=120 |volume=10 |number=9}} Whirlybird Run (1983) is a TRS-80 Color Computer clone.{{cite web |last1=Boyle |first1=L. Curtis |title=Whirlybird Run |url=http://www.lcurtisboyle.com/nitros9/whirlybirdrun.html |website=Tandy Color Computer Games}}

In Stern Electronics, Inc. v. Kaufman, 669 F.2d 852, the Second Circuit held that Stern could copyright the images and sounds in the game, not just the source code that produced them.{{cite web | url=http://www.patentarcade.com/2005/06/case-stern-elec-v-kaufman-2nd-cir-1982.html | title=Case: Stern Elec. v. Kaufman (2nd Cir. 1982) | publisher=Patent Arcade | author=Brandon Rash | access-date=2006-09-16}}

• Cosmic Avenger (1981)
• Vanguard (1981)

{{Notelist}}

{{reflist}}{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book

| year = 2006

| title = Gradius Portable Official Guide

| publisher = Konami

| isbn = 4-86155-111-0

}}

{{refend}}

• [http://www.hamster.co.jp/american_hamster/arcadearchives/scramble.htm Official Arcade Archives website]
• {{KLOV game|id=9447|name=Scramble}}
• [http://www.arcade-history.com/?page=detail&id=2328 Scramble] at the Arcade History database

{{Gradius series}}

Category:1981 video games

Category:Arcade video games

Category:Gradius video games

Category:Konami games

Category:Horizontally scrolling shooters

Category:Nintendo Switch games

Category:PlayStation 4 games

Category:Stern video games

Category:Vectrex games

Category:Xbox 360 Live Arcade games

Category:Konami arcade games

Category:Video games developed in Japan

Category:Multiplayer and single-player video games

Category:Arcade Archives games

Category:Hamster Corporation games