Smash T.V.
Description official descriptions
The year is 1999. The world's most popular television show is Smash T.V., an ultra-violent contest between two armed-to-the-teeth combatants, set loose in a series of deadly arenas that are filled to bursting with hordes of mindless beasts and killer robots. The aim of the game is to blast everything in sight and try to grab more cash and prizes than the other guy. Toaster ovens, VCRs, fancy cars and luxury holidays are there for the taking... for anyone who can survive long enough to enjoy them.
Smash T.V. is an insane shoot-em-up from the brain of Eugene Jarvis, creator of Robotron: 2084. It retains that game's frantic style of play and two-joystick control method, but adds plenty of gore, violence, a hint of satire and that all-important two player mode.
Spellings
- Smash TV - Alternate spelling
- スマッシュTV - Japanese spelling
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Credits (Arcade version)
20 People
Reviews
Critics
Average score: 75% (based on 67 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.6 out of 5 (based on 147 ratings with 2 reviews)
One of the goriest games I've seen.
The Good
If you like'd Mortal Kombat games check this one out. The game is to get through each level not getting killed by the "thousands" of humans and animals and robots you're going to face. There is a boss on each level with some kind of gory effect. For example the first battle, you eventually shoot your enemy so much that his skeleton is showing. Plus their head goes flying off with lots of blood. I'm surprised this didn't get a M rating.
The Bad
This game is "very hard". If you've played Mortal Kombat 3 for SNES, you know hard but this is almost impossible to beat without losing. This is true in the last few rooms.
The Bottom Line
Gory. Very gory. Very hard. If you actually beated the final boss which is the game show host, then you're pretty amazing.
SNES · by powerstone05 (344) · 2005
A great conversion of a great arcade game
The Good
The action is fast and furious, with some intricate bad guys, and impressive speed even when loads of them are on the screen.
The range of control options is great, catering for one or two joysticks. Using two is ideal, as you can fire in one direction while moving in another, but it's perfectly playable with one. Better still, with a 4-joystick adapter, 2 players can play simultaneously using 2 joysticks each!
The edge of humour in terms of the prizes and sound samples is great, and adds a real sense of the macabre to the proceedings.
The Bad
It's tough. With one joystick, it'll take a long time before you're getting anywhere - few games have such a torrent of challenges.
The graphics are occasionally a little indistinct, and the sound seems like an afterthought (other than the aforementioned samples)
The Bottom Line
A classic shoot 'em up, converted effectively. It's set as a futuristic game-show at a time when that was a new idea, involving going through a whole batch of arenas shooting out baddies and collecting prizes (for points).
Amiga · by Martin Smith (81722) · 2004
Trivia
1001 Video Games
The Arcade version of Smash TV appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.
BPjS/BPjM index
On June 30, 1992, Smash T.V. was put on the infamous German index by the BPjS. For more information about what this means and to see a list of games sharing the same fate, take a look here: BPjS/BPjM indexed games.
Awards
- Commodore Format
- January 1992 (Issue 16) - Cf's all time Top Ten Essential Mega Games
- July 1993 (Issue 34) - Modern Classics: Shoot-'em-ups
- November 1994 (Issue 50) – #33 The All-Time Top 50 C64 Games
- October 1995 (Issue 61) – The Top Ten C64 Games of all Time
- EGM
- November 1997 (Issue 100) - ranked #6 Best Arcade Games of All Time
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X360A achievement guide
X360A's achievement guide for Smash TV.
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by xroox.
Xbox 360 added by Kabushi. Atari ST, ZX Spectrum added by Martin Smith. Arcade added by Pseudo_Intellectual. Antstream added by lights out party. Game Gear, SEGA Master System, NES, Amstrad CPC, Amiga added by Katakis | カタキス.
Additional contributors: chirinea, Alaka, Xoleras, Silverfish, formercontrib, Cantillon, Starbuck the Third, FatherJack.
Game added July 7, 2003. Last modified November 3, 2024.