1.
Chrono Trigger (SNES)
2.
Gyromite (NES)
3.
Lucy -The Eternity She Wished For- (Steam)
4.
Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (Famicom)
5.
Radical Dreamers (SNES)
6.
Video Games 1 (TI-99/4A)
7.
Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken (Famicom)
8.
Exile (TurboGrafx CD)
9.
Exile: Wicked Phenomenon (TurboGrafx CD)
10.
Xak (PC Engine CD,
Xak I・II)
11.
Xak II (PC Engine CD,
Xak I・II)
12.
Neutopia (TurboGrafx-16)
13.
Captain Silver (Sega Master System)
14.
Märchen Veil (Famicom Disk System)
15.
Vanguard (Atari 2600)
16.
Kangaroo (Atari 2600)
17.
Front Line (Atari 2600)
18.
Mario Bros. (Atari 2600)
19.
Harmonia (Steam)
20.
Donkey Kong (Atari 2600)
21.
Jungle Hunt (Atari 2600)
22.
Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes (TurboGrafx CD)
23.
Gorf (Atari 2600)
24.
Neutopia II (TurboGrafx-16)
25.
Dungeon Magic (PlayStation 2,
Taito Legends 2)
26.
The Lost Vikings (SNES)
27.
Blue's Journey (Wii Virtual Console)
28.
Wizard Fire (Wii,
Data East Arcade Classics)
29.
Super Mario Run (Android)
30.
Dragon Warrior II (NES)
31.
Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure (GOG.com)
32.
Witch & Hero (Nintendo eShop)
33.
Phoenix (Atari 2600)
34.
Emerald Dragon (Super Famicom)
35.
Sky Skipper (Atari 2600)
36.
Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
37.
Cadash (TurboGrafx-16)
38.
Cadash (Genesis)
39.
Popeye (Atari 2600)
40.
Mega Man 2 (NES)
41.
Mother (Famicom)
42. Scramble (Game Boy Advance, Konami Collector's Series: Arcade Advanced)
First Summer Challenge game. Konami's
Scramble, originally released in 1981, is one of the first scrolling shooters. The version available on GBA isn't quite a direct emulation of the arcade original, but it comes close. The field of view is zoomed in a bit to accommodate the smaller screen, and the status bar has been flipped horizontally. There were very few ports released back in the day, so this is likely the easiest way to play it today.
Scramble is a fast, impressive games that ultimately ends up feeling like a proto-
Gradius. The ship has two methods of firing: horizontal bullets and downward-arcing bombs. Both need to be utilized as enemies constantly spawn from both screen bottom and side. There's also the issue of fuel, which depletes at a steady rate. Thankfully the ground is littered with fuel containers, but contrary to all logic these need to be shot rather than touched. This is generally accomplished by dropping bombs, which are endowed with some strange physics as they travel along the same axis as the ship.
The game consists of six stages, though all are blended together in a seamless experience. The first three are cavernous, consisting of enemies that move in varying ways (upwards in level one, wave motion in level two, directly horizontal in level three). Things get harder once the "base" is reached because the ship must then be maneuvered around obstacles and through some tight spaces. The game is beaten - there's even an ending (message) - once the final "target" is annihilated. This is a stationary target, so unfortunately the game lacks a true final boss battle.
Gameplay is impressively fast and frantic. The ship controls well, though things feel a bit "off" throughout the final base sections, as if there's some sort of gravitational pull on the ship. The graphics are nothing to write home about, they're downright ugly really, and the "music" is mostly a shrill series of beeps. My daughter thought an ambulance was nearby.
I enjoyed
Scramble quite a bit. It's a tough game, as it features checkpoints rather than respawns and no opportunity to credit feed, but that just made completing it that much more worthwhile. It's short - a perfect run can be done in about four minutes, add in a few extra minutes if you're not a shmup god - and a fascinating piece of shoot 'em up history. Konami actually released a bunch of pre-
Gradius shooters, though many are mediocre and/or arcade only.
Scramble is one of the better ones, alongside
Super Cobra,
Gyruss, and
Time Pilot.
