| Smash TV began as a Williams arcade game; VideoGames & Computer Entertainment's September 1991 issue says Williams released it the year before and that it quickly became a hit, and Nintendo Power called it a Bally/Williams pay-per-play arcade hit. The NES manual dates the game ©1990 Williams Electronics Games. | back page (PDF p. 10), legal text | Magazine |
| Acclaim Entertainment distributed and marketed the NES cartridge, and Nintendo Power's data box names Acclaim Entertainment. | back page (PDF p. 10), legal text | Manual |
| The manual sets the game in 1999, when television game shows offer contestants their lives as the prize. Alone or in a pair, armed contestants are sent into a closed arena. Nintendo Power and VideoGames & Computer Entertainment give the same year. | printed p. 1 (PDF p. 2)printed p. 1 (PDF p. 2)printed p. 1 (PDF p. 2) | Manual |
| The NES version has four play options: one player with one controller, one player with two, two players with one each, and two players with two each. | printed p. 3 (PDF p. 3), mode selectprinted p. 3 (PDF p. 3), mode selectprinted p. 3 (PDF p. 3), mode selectprinted p. 3 (PDF p. 3), mode select | Manual |
| With one controller, the control pad moves the contestant and sets the aim, A fires, and B keeps firing in the last direction while the contestant moves any way. With two controllers, the first pad moves and the second aims and fires, so the contestant can move one way and shoot another. | printed p. 4 (PDF p. 4)printed p. 4 (PDF p. 4)printed p. 4 (PDF p. 4)printed p. 4 (PDF p. 4)printed p. 4 (PDF p. 4)printed p. 4 (PDF p. 4)printed p. 4 (PDF p. 4) | Manual |
| Two players with two controllers each need Nintendo's four-player accessory: pads 1 and 3 move the two contestants and pads 2 and 4 aim and fire. For the feel of the arcade, the manual says the controllers are held at a right angle to the usual grip, with the pad at the top. | printed p. 4 (PDF p. 4)printed p. 7 (PDF p. 5)printed p. 7 (PDF p. 5)printed p. 6 (PDF p. 5)printed p. 6 (PDF p. 5) | Manual |
| The contestant starts with a machine gun and a brief force field with each new life, and picks up weapons and power-ups by moving over their symbols. Only one weapon works at a time, but power-ups such as extra speed or the force field work alongside any weapon. | printed p. 7 (PDF p. 5), Weaponsprinted p. 7 (PDF p. 5), Weaponsprinted p. 7 (PDF p. 5), Weapons | Manual |
| Each of the four rounds features a star opponent: Mutoid Man in the first, Scarface in the second, the Cobra Twins in the third, and the game show host in the fourth. | printed pp. 9-10 (PDF pp. 6-7), Your Opponents Tonightprinted pp. 9-10 (PDF pp. 6-7), Your Opponents Tonightprinted pp. 9-10 (PDF pp. 6-7), Your Opponents Tonightprinted pp. 9-10 (PDF pp. 6-7), Your Opponents Tonightprinted pp. 9-10 (PDF pp. 6-7), Your Opponents Tonight | Manual |