Smash T.V. (Arcade)

Released in arcades in 1990 by Williams, Smash T.V. is a twin-stick shooter for 1 or 2 players. In 1999 the game show remains the most popular program on T.V. In particular the most popular show is "Smash T.V.", where contestants enter an arena to try and survive waves of enemies with a chance to win cash & prizes, all as a live worldwide crowd watches. You're the next contestant. Good Luck! You'll Need It!
The game is considered a spiritual sequel to early 1980s megahit "Robotron 2084", both designed by legendary developer Eugene Jarvis. The player can move freely around each arena, with a few exceptions as some layouts have corner areas blocked off due to the TV setups, and has infinite ammo for their weapon. Special weapons drop frequently with remaining ammo indicated by a status bar below your score, also dropping frequently are shields that grant invincibility for a few seconds along with cash & prizes that improve your score. Enemies come in waves from the four doors in each arena and some have enemies mounted on the walls. If an enemy or projectile touches you, you lose a life. If you lose all lives the game is over but you can continue.
After the first arena in each round is completed you get a few seconds to look at the arena's layout and decide how you want to proceed. Rooms with a "$" are bonus rounds, starting with a massive amount of prizes to grab but then becoming much more difficult. The final round of each arena is against a massive boss. After the third boss, what happens depends on how many keys you collected as if you collected enough (some waves near the end make it incredibly easy) you could access the vaunted Pleasure Dome, or worst-case is you run into the final boss-M.C. Mutoid Man, as the show's host gets his chance to get in on the action for a hilarious finale. If you survive past all this, you complete the game.
The game's fake prizes played perfectly on game show hype, and retro gaming fans & those of a certain age may catch a particular old-school gaming reference in the second arena with one magnificent prize! You also might catch a phrase made popular by a certain scene in 1980s movie "RoboCop". And of course in the final arena you could even win their exciting home game!

Said exciting home game actually is a real thing-in the US it was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991 by Acclaim and also was released for Commodore 64 & Amiga computers. The NES version allowed players to use two control pads or, if you had the NES Satellite or Four Score accessory, two NES Advantage joysticks to play dual-stick style like in the arcades. It was also released for the Sega Master System & Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1992 and for the Sega Game Gear in 1994 by Acclaim as "Super Smash T.V." It was also released for the Sony PlayStation in 1999 by Midway as part of "Arcade Party Pak", for the Nintendo GameCube, Microsoft Xbox & Sony PlayStation 2 in 2003 as part of "Midway Arcade Treasures" and in 2012 for Xbox 360 & PlayStation 3 as part of "Midway Arcade Origins".

A sequel in arcades was planned but never got into development, however it would become a spiritual sequel called "Total Carnage", which was released in 1992 by Midway.