The End

Traded for Dec 27, 2001
Derek's Classic Top 50 Ranking: 25th All Time
Originally Released 1981

Page updated Jan 11, 2002

When Stern first started making video games, they released them with beautifully painted side art. The End and Berzerk are two of my favorites. With the release of Super Cobra they started to release games in their generic Stern cab. Scramble is one of the few that was released in both with painted side art and a generic yellow stern cab.

This game takes your standard space shooter and adds a new dimension. Your not just shooting aliens as they attack you, you must defend your rows of blocks before they are stolen and the word "End" is spelled with the stolen blocks.

Very fun game that is a lost classic. Most people overlook it and see it as another clone space shooter. I see it as an original that improves and redefines what a shooter could and should be.

This games though licensed from Konami was changed in a  few ways. In the Konami version (lower left) you play as a ship and you play below the bricks you are defending. In the Stern classic (lower right) you play as a bug and play above the bricks. Also in the Stern version the that launched the attackers ship now has tentacles and looks like a queen bug of sorts. An improved version in my opinion. 

Unfortunately when this games was shipped it was damaged. The board came loose (shown above) and a a large 2x6" hole was put in one of the sides along the bottom (The End is on the left on the two cabs. Astro Invader on the right...

Konami and Stern had a relationship in which Stern licensed games from Konami for US release. Konami was very prolific and licensed such greats to Stern  as Scramble, Super Cobra, Turtles, Tutankham, Pooyan and The End. Konami was not biased as they also licensed great games to other US manufacturers as Centuri (Time Pilot & Gyruss), Sega (Frogger) , Gottlieb (Juno First) and other. It wasn't until Konami released Track n Field in 1984 that they began to get the US recognition they deserved.