555th played so far
Genre: Shoot ‘Em Up
Platform: Arcade
Year of Release: 1990
Developer: Williams
Publisher: Williams
Smash TV is a shoot ’em up descended from the likes of Robotron 2084. Its apparent twist? It’s meant to be a TV show.
This worked for me, in a way, in some of the Wipeout setups (I believe 2097), at least at the time – it’s probably horribly over the top now – but as a top down shoot ’em up the idea certainly has a lot of potential.
Our Thoughts
Smash TV is an interesting concept. The basic gameplay – twin stick shooter with large hordes – isn’t quite that special, but the way the story informs a bunch of gameplay elements helps a lot. You’re dealing with big waves of extras, and process through a level while surrounded by cameras. It’s set up as a series of rooms – and more layouts as you go up levels in the game.
With the way the waves are set up, you get few breaks, and some of the area-based hazards – by which I mostly mean gunners spawning on balconies in the wall, meant to be shot but more out of reach – make it feel more orchestrated. To be fair, these waves feel more natural than in most games.
They also drop a nice number of interesting weapon upgrades. Nothing too outrageous (multiple directions and so on), but having to race around tp ick them up, when they’re often out of your way, adds a bit of a challenge.
Final Thoughts
Smash TV feels like one of the better twin stick shooters. The setting works really well and helps it be a proper manic shooter. A decent fun challenge.