How far can YOU invade our Scramble system? This is one of the earliest horizontally scrolling shoot-em-up games set across 6 levels, each with a slightly different type of enemy to avoid or destroy. The game sees you in control of a rocket ship, armed with horizontal missiles and bombs which arc to the ground in front of you. You must destroy fuel depots on the ground in order to keep your ever diminishing fuel supply topped up. If you run out of fuel you crash to the ground and lose a life. There is an indicator below your score which shows you which of the 6 stages you are currently playing.

The first stage is a straightforward enough: avoid the launching rockets and destroy the ground targets. There are rockets on the ground which can be destroyed before or after they launch, along with fuel depots and enemy ground ships. Simply survive the onslaught and advance to stage 2.

The 2nd stage sees the introduction of flying enemy ships which weave up and down in front of you. You can shoot them or bomb them, but they are difficult to avoid if you get too close to them. You should also still concentrate on destroying the ground targets, although thankfully on this level the rockets do not launch, which would only serve to complicate matters!

Survive and you're on to stage 3: this time fiery comets are blazing their way towards you horizontally at random heights. These are the most difficult opponents you will have encountered so far as they are difficult to avoid. It also becomes more of a battle to hit the ground targets as you must constantly be alert to avoid the comets.

The 4th stage sees the return of launching rockets as you are flying above the rooftops of the enemy skyscrapers. Rockets are positioned on top of the buildings and have the nice habit of launching when they are directly below you!

The penultimate stage is a challenge: you must make your way through a narrow maze of tunnels to reach the enemy base. The only ground targets on this stage are fuel depots, and there are no other challenges except for some of the tighter tunnels, which is more than enough!

The final stage is where you must swoop down over the skyscrapers and destroy the enemy base. There are no other enemies to encounter on this stage, and once the base is destroyed, you complete the mission and restart on stage 1.

An extra ship is awarded for 10,000 points.

Starting lives can be set to 3, 4 or 5 (default is 3).

Stage 1 - just bomb and fire constantly and watch out for the rockets.

Stage 2 - fire in a straight line to destroy several of the weaving ships in front of you. This will give you a little breathing space to concentrate on the ground targets, but be ready to move forward above or below a ship if it gets too close.

Stage 3 - stay low! Concentrate on the ground targets where possible and avoid the lowest level of comets. Dive over the mountain tops between comets to get to the next ground targets.

Stage 4 - bomb constantly to destroy rockets before they can launch. Move quickly over and past rockets if you fail to destroy them with bombs. Pick off the fuel and ground ships when they are placed in rows by dropping down in front of the first one where possible and firing constantly.

Stage 5 - Fire constantly to destroy any fuel depots that are in your way. You can move forward through the depots as you are destroying them without fear of dying. Learn the layout of the maze, as there are several very tight turns. In order to master these you will need to be as far forward as possible when approaching them, and then move up/left or down/left to negotiate them as soon as you are clear of the tunnel. This will just give you the clearance you need to enter the next tunnel. You will not need to move back at all on some of the smaller turns: simply move up or down accordingly in one motion.

Enemy base - either swoop down in front of it and shoot it, or bomb early and get your timing right.

If you destroy the base and then crash and destroy your ship you will still complete the level, and not have to repeat this section.