Scramble (arcade game)

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For other uses, see Scramble.

Scramble

Developer(s)	Konami
Publisher(s)	Stern (North America) Compu-Games A/S (Europe) Artic (Asia)
Platform(s)	Arcade, Tomy Tutor, Vectrex, Xbox Live Arcade
Release date	^JPN March, 1981 ^NA 1981 ^EU 1981
Genre(s)	Horizontal scrolling shooter
Mode(s)	Up to 2 players, alternating turns
Input methods	8-way joystick, 2 buttons
Cabinet	Upright
CPU	Zilog Z80 @ 3.072MHz Zilog Z80 @ 1.78975MHz
Sound	2x AY8910 @ 1.78975MHz
Display	Raster, 224 x 256, vertical orientation

Scramble is a 1981 horizontally scrolling shoot 'em up, arcade game. It was developed by Konami, and manufactured and distributed by Stern in North America.

1 Gameplay
2 Legacy
3 Legal history
4 Notes and references
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Gameplay

The player controls a spaceship referred to in the game as a 'Jet' and has to guide it across a scrolling terrain, battling obstacles along the way. The ship 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 maintain 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 different obstacles. There is no intermission between each section; the game simply scrolls into the new terrain. Points are awarded based upon the number of seconds of being alive, and on destroying enemies and fuel tanks. In the final section, the player must destroy a "base". Once this has been accomplished, a flag denoting a completed mission is posted at the bottom right of the screen. The game then continues by returning you to the first section once more, with a slight increase in difficulty.

[edit] Legacy

Scramble was cloned to many of the computer systems and game consoles of the time. Its direct sequel was the helicopter arcade game, Super Cobra.

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

Scramble was included on Konami Arcade Classics in 1999.

Scramble joined the Xbox Live Arcade library for the Xbox 360 on September 13, 2006, its release having been delayed from September 6, 2006 due to bugs.

[edit] Legal history

Scramble was the subject of an important court case in the field of Intellectual Property, specifically copyrights. 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.^[1]