Super Scope 6

Super Scope 6
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Platform(s)	Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Release	February 1992 June 21, 1993
Genre(s)	Super Scope
Mode(s)	Single player

Super Scope 6 was the title Nintendo bundled with the Super Scope for the Super NES. As the name suggests, the cartridge contains six games that require the Super Scope to play.

Title Screen and Calibration

When the player turns on the SNES with the Super Scope 6 cartridge inserted, he or she will see a title screen with Super Nintendo Super Scope 6 in red italicized letters across the center of screen. The title then move to the top section and the bottom is filled with a diagram of the Super Scope and it's button names. The player is instructed to "shoot the screen".

The next screen is the calibration routine required by all Super Scope titles. The screen diplays a white target with a blue background. The player is instructed to shoot the "bull's-eye" of the target. Doing so tells the SNES where the center of the screen is relative to the Super Scope and its interface box. After calibration the player is asked to test the aim to verify it's accuracy. It is not required to shoot the bulls eye this time, but it's important that the shot mark lines up with where the player aimed and fired though. If the player missed the "bull's-eye" during calibration, or if he or she moves the Super Scope or its interface box afterwards, the shots fired in game will not be accurate.

Choosing the Game

After the calibration routine the player is presented with two options. The option on top is titled Blastris, the bottom option is LazerBlazer. Each option leads to three of the six games.

Blastris

If the player fires at the Blastris option he or she is asked to choose among three games: Blastris A, Blastris B, and MolePatrol. Each game is listed in a large square box. All three boxes are lined up across the top of the screen. The player selects the desire game by aiming at its box and pressing fire. After selecting the game the bottom half of the screen of fills with three option boxes which differed depending on the game selected.

Blastris A

Blastris A is loosely based on the popular Tetris game. It can be played by either one or two players.

After choosing to play Blastris A, the player is then instructed to choose what difficulty of game play by aiming at the center box on the bottom and preesing fire. There are three levels of difficulty: "Low", "Medium", and "High". If the player fires at this box while it's on "High" difficulty resets back to "Low". When the player has chosen the desired level he or she is then instructed to select either one or two player mode by firing at the appropriate box on the left or right bottom of the screen.

When the player has chosen which levele and number players that is desire he or she is then presented with the playing field. The olaying field is a box seven rows high and ten columns across. Above the playing field on the right is a box with five darkened lights. Below the playing field is the status bar. The status bar display the current score, level, and the number of shots available.

Blastris B

Blastris B plays more like Sega's Columns. Single multi-colored blocks are dropped in random locations, and the player must make these blocks arrange in rows, columns, or diagonal lines by shooting the falling blocks to make them change color. Some blocks' colors are unchangeable, indicated by their metallic look and the noise that results from shooting them (sort of a metallic clang). The player can choose between a stage based game mode (which involves a set number of blocks on the bottom level, which the player must eliminate), or a single nonstop game mode.

MolePatrol

Mole Patrol involves protecting your garden from evil blue moles by shooting them. More points are given based on the player's reaction time and accuracy, much like a Whac-A-Mole game.

Mole Patrol involves two modes: Stage Game and Score Game.

• Stage Game plays the game by levels. In each, the player must shoot all of the moles before the time runs out, otherwise the game is over. There are also red moles that once shot, speed up the clock in the upper-right corner, increasing the speed of the moles, thereby making the task harder (the red moles don't count towards the total number of moles per stage). From time to time throughout the game, a mole will appear in the sky, flying on a rocket, presumably from Lazer Blazer's Intercept mode. Shooting it results in bonus points. This mode ends when time runs out.

• Score mode is a single level mode in which the player must shoot the moles in order to gain a higher score at the end of the level. If the player shoots out the moles quickly and without missing any single shot, the score will be higher.

LazerBlazer

By choosing the the LazerBlazer option allowied the player to choose among Type A: Intercept, Type B: Engage, and Type C: Confront. The games were presented the same as Blastris, in three boxes. However the boxes were lined up across the bottom halve of the screen. On the top halve there two boxes which were just aesthetic and had no function. The box on the right similated a communication video displaying a lady giving you your orders. A smaller box of the left instructed the player to select a game. Unlike the Blastris half of the cartridge, each game in Lazer Blazer consists of 30 levels, and finishing those levels will end the game.

Type A: Intercept

• In Intercept, the player must shoot down incoming missiles before they get to the left of the screen. The missiles' distance from the screen sight varies. If the player misses five missiles, the game finishes. The player can only shoot three bullets at a time, and it takes some time to refill them.

Intercept is the only game in Lazer Blazer to allow two players to play 3 levels in alternating turns. The rest are one player only.

TIP: Beating Intercept Mode requires a good perception of lead-time. The farther away the missile is from you, the farther you have to shoot ahead of it to hit it.

Mario appears piloting a plane, chased by a Koopa Kid riding on a Rocket, in some one-player game levels or in Level 2 of the two-player game. Hitting the Koopa Kid will either recover a miss or award the player bonus points (whether the player plays the one-player or two-player games, respectively), but if the player hits Mario instead, it will count as a miss or those points are void (again, depending on which mode the player is).

Type B: Engage

• In Engage, the player shoots down enemy fighters and incoming missiles before the player ship's fuel runs out. If the player gets hit five times or the ship's fuel runs out, the game is over. The player can only shoot four bullets at a time, and it takes some time to refill them. When a level finishes, a green ship refills the player ship's fuel. Occasionally, a red ship appears. It not only refills fuel, but it can recover one hit.

TIP: The frequency of incoming enemy missiles increases after Level 10. So much so that they'll come at you in pairs.

Type C: Confront

• In Confront, the player fights off an incoming invasion of enemy ships. In this game the player can fire bullets indefinitely. Unlike Intercept or Engage, the player can shoot an infinite number of bullets at any time. When an enemy has not been destroyed for a while, it will attack and every shoot received counts as a hit. When the player has been hit five times, the game is over. During some moments, flashing enemies wil appear. Shooting them will recover a hit.

TIP: Never stop shooting, even for one second. It may give you a low Score but it can make the difference between beating the aliens or getting Destroyed.

See Also

1. Super Scope
2. Nintendo
3. Super NES