Super High Impact/Walkthrough

Once you have inserted your coins into the cabinet of Midway Games's 1991 American football arcade game Super High Impact and pressed one of the four Start Buttons, the text "ENTER YOUR INITIALS?" will appear on the screen as the game's opening theme starts to be heard from the Yamaha YM-2151, and you will have ten seconds to select either "YES" or "NO" by pushing the joystick up and down then pressing the Action Button to confirm your choice; if you select "YES", you will have to enter your initials and birthdate (excluding the year) by pushing the joystick up, down, left and right to select three letters (if you do not have a middle initial, you will have to make one up!), one month (which is represented by a three-letter abbreviation) and one day (however, you may not select "31" if you were born in February, April, June, September or November, and you also may not select "30" if you were born in February), then pressing the Action Button to confirm your choice. The text "INDIVIDUAL LIFETIME STATS" will then be displayed at the top of the screen with every player's initials, win-loss record and salary below it - and the game shall then proceed to the team selection screen shown above (however, if you select "NO" after inserting your coin and pressing your Start Button, it will immediately go to it). As in the original High Impact Football, you may not select a team, until all credits registered on the cabinet have gotten entered through subsequent presses of the Start Buttons (each credit registered is worth 100 seconds or 1:40 when entered, and a maximum of 10 credits for one player is worth 999 seconds or 16:39) - and, if you should run out of time, you'll have to insert another coin and press your Start Button within ten seconds in order to continue. Once all credits registered on the cabinet have been entered you must push your joystick up, down, left and right to select the team you want to control (1P/2P's highlighter is red, while 3P/4P's is blue), then press your Action Button to confirm your choice; if one side of the cabinet isn't being used, the text "CHOOSE YOUR LEAGUE" will appear at the top of the screen and you must select "EXHIBITION" (1x victory points), "PRO" (2x victory points) or "ULTIMATE CHALLENGE" (3x victory points) by pushing your stick left and right then pressing the Action Button to confirm your choice. However, if at least one player is present on both sides of the cabinet, the "Coin Toss" from the original game will be invoked (pick heads or tails by pushing the joystick down or up) - and when it lands and stands up, the text "HEADS/TAILS IT IS" will appear at the bottom of the screen, and whoever won the toss receives first. However, if only one side is in use, the CPU team shall be randomly-generated, and your chosen side shall always receive first regardless of what league you chose.

The camera will then pan down to the field of a stadium (not the same as the original) where all of the players have taken up their starting positions, and the two chosen teams' logos will then be displayed in the centre of the screen, with the texts "RECEIVES" and "KICKS OFF" below them (depending on who won the Coin Toss!); the player(s) controlling the defense team must tap their Action Button(s) to build up the Power Kick meter on their side of the screen, which determines how far they will kick the ball across the field. When the ball is caught by a member of the offense team, the player controlling him (indicated by the red or blue numbered arrow over him) must use their joystick to direct him toward his opponents' end zone and their Action Button to make him jump - but as soon as he is brought down by a member of the defense team the two halves of the play selection screen will come into view from the left and right sides of it as its theme starts to be heard from the Yamaha YM-2151 (and you will be seeing this screen more than the field itself).

This time, the players controlling the offensive team can select either "Double Option", "Run and Shoot", "Bomb", "Super Fly", "Sweep", "Blast", "Double Blast" or "Flood"; however, if you select "More Plays", you may also select "Time Out" (to stop the timer, but you may only do it three times per quarter), "Field Goal", "Punt", "Power Bomb", "Option Pass", "Blow Out", "Bootleg", or "Zone Buster" (selecting "More Plays" returns it to the first group of plays). The players controlling the defensive team can also select "Goal", "Stunt", "Cube", "Cube 2", "Suicide", "Yer Toast", "Blitz" or "Anti-Bomb" - but again, if you select "More Plays", you may also select "Time Out" (again, you may only do it three times per quarter), "Saf-T-Blitz", "Zone", "Cold", "Colder", "Yo' Mama", "Dare", or "QB Feast" (again, selecting "More Plays" returns it to the first group of plays). Once all the players have selected a play, by pushing their sticks up, down, left and right, then pressing their Action Buttons to confirm their choice (however, if only one side is in use, the CPU will randomly select a play), both halves of the play selection screen shall recede back off the left and right sides of it as the text of "1ST/2ND/3RD/4TH DOWN AND XX/GOAL" (XX being the yard line's number) appears at the bottom of it and the members of both teams adopt the positions for their chosen plays; 1P and 3P can use their Action Buttons to pass the ball at the start of any play, while 2P and 4P can use theirs to switch control to the next available team member and the game shall continue until a player on either team is brought down. However, if a pass bounces off a player's head and another player doesn't manage to catch it, the text "INCOMPLETE PASS" will appear on the screen, as the umpire appears in the centre of it - and if a member of the other team intercepts a pass, the text "INTERCEPTION" will appear on the screen. Also, if you throw the ball, and it hits a member of the other team in the head (bringing him down as a result), "Manic Max" (the commentator from the original game) shall appear in the centre of the screen with a "Hit-O-Meter", to measure the force with which the ball hit the team member ("DWEEB", "MAMA'S BOY", "GRANNY", "COMMON", "WICKED", "AWESOME", or "OUTRAGEOUS"); finally, when a player gets brought down, any of the following texts might also appear on the screen (and he may also get all his protective pads knocked off and scattered over the field when he hits the ground, something that never happened to the players in that original game):


 * "NO YARDS GAINED" (if the offense team did not advance or retreat; this usually happens when a player is brought down at the start of a play, and if the player who was brought down was a quarterback, even though they all look the same, the text "QUARTERBACK SACKED" will appear below it as the quarterback in question appears to express his frustration at the "sack" in the top- or bottom-left for 1P/2P, or top- or bottom-right for 3P/4P)
 * "XX YARD GAIN"/"LOSS" (if the offense team advanced 1-9 yards, or retreated any number of yards; XX being the number of yards gained or lost)
 * "FIRST DOWN!!" (if the offense team advanced over 10 yards; umpire appears in the top- or bottom-left for 1P/2P, or top- or bottom-right for 3P/4P)
 * "TOUCHBACK" (if the offense team took the ball over their own goal line; the ball will then be taken out to the 20-yard line, where the defense team will take over). Also, if a player carrying the ball crosses the white line at the edge of the field, the text "OUT OF BOUNDS" will appear on the screen.

Occasionally, a player shall stop to stamp on his downed opponent, in which case the text "FIGHT" will appear on the screen; all four players must press their Action Buttons as rapidly as they can to build up their teams' meters (as the team members fight), and once one of them has filled their meter to the top the text "(TEAM NAME) WINS" shall appear on the screen. The text "INSTANT REPLAY" may also occasionally appear at the top of the screen with a player holding a television that has "Manic Max" sticking his arms out of it below it (if the play was particularly dramatic) - and the play will be replayed. The text "HE BLEW IT" may also occasionally appear at the top of the screen, with one of the coaches sticking his finger down his throat, as if to try and make himself vomit, below it (if the play was particularly poor); this usually happens if a player gets brought down inches from the other team's end zone and if either of the teams happens to lose possession of the ball without kicking it, the text of "TURNOVER" will appear at the top of the screen with both teams' logos, "DEFENSE" and "OFFENSE", and either coach punching a player, pointing and laughing, vomiting into his left hand, putting his hand over the camera, or putting his hand on his forehead to show frustration in the bottom-left or bottom-right corner (based upon which team is now on defense).

Also, in the case of the "Field Goal" or "Punt" plays being selected, the player(s) controlling the offense team must tap their Action Button(s) to build up the Power Kick meter on their side of the screen, and if the ball flies through the uprights and over the crossbar (in the case of the former, the text "IT'S GOOD!" shall appear on the screen, as the offense team receives three points (and the umpire appears in the bottom-left or bottom-right corner based on who scored, followed by a coach cheering and occasionally holding the ball, player and coach high-fiving, or cheerleader blowing a kiss, raising her finger or raising her arms in the bottom-centre); however, if it did not, the text "NO GOOD" shall appear on the screen and both teams' logos, the texts "DEFENSE" and "OFFENSE", and either a player punching out at the camera while holding a ball, making either a "cut-throat" or "arm-pump" gesture, laughing while pointing, or flexing his muscles in the bottom-centre). Just like in real American football (and the original game), players can also score safeties for 2 points (by bringing a member of the opposing team down in his own end zone if he is carrying the ball!), and touchdowns for 6 points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone - and, in the case of the latter, the umpire shall appear in the bottom-left or bottom-right corner. After a touchdown has been scored, the text "EXTRA POINT ATTEMPT" will appear on the screen as the players of the scoring team adopt the "field goal" position; the player(s) controlling the team must tap their Action Button(s) to build up the Power Kick meter on their side of the screen and if the ball flies through the uprights and over the crossbar it'll be worth 1 point (but if it does not, it will be "NO GOOD"). The text "YOU WON A FOOTBALL CARD" may also occasionally appear on the screen after you score and the cabinet will dispense one - however, in MAME, this cannot be replicated.

Once the five-minute timer has run out, the text "END OF 1ST QUARTER" will appear at the top of the screen over a crowd of cheering fans; after the second quarter the text "HALFTIME" shall appear at the top of the screen as seven cheerleaders scroll from right to left below it and two more groups five more cheerleaders scroll from right to left beneath them. After the third quarter the text "END OF 3RD QUARTER" shall appear over the crowd of cheering fans, and the main and play selection screen themes shall change - and after the final quarter, the text "THIS GAME IS OVER" shall appear with a player emptying a cooler of water all over his coach below it, followed by the text "FINAL SCORE" with the text "(TEAM NAME) WINS" and the winning team members in their locker room below it. But if the score's tied after the last quarter the text "TIE SCORE. SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME" shall appear on the screen; if the score's still tied after the overtime period, an infinite amount of additional overtime periods shall be played, until one team comes out as the winner. It is also worth noting that as soon as either team scores in overtime in both "HIF" games, they shall immediately win.

The game shall then display both teams' final statistics (points scored, passing, passing yardage, running yardage, quarterback sacks, interceptions, human tackles, fights won, "Hit-O-Meter" and salary); if you did not enter your initials at the beginning, they will not be registered on the "best-salary" table (and you will also not be eligible to set new world records during gameplay!). However, if you did, your individual lifetime statistics will again be displayed on the screen (as they shall have changed after the match), followed by the "best-salary" table and the text "THE ULTIMATE CHAMPION: XXX" (XXX being the highest-paid player's initials) with the two texts "SALARY: $X,XXX,XXX" ($X,XXX,XXX being the player's salary) and "WITH A RECORD OF: X-X" (X-X being the player's win-loss record) below it - and the game shall then go back into attract mode. The game shall also retain your individual lifetime statistics until the operator clears them or dumps the cabinet (but they shall not be saved in MAME if the NV file is read-only).