Submarine Commander is a 1982 sports video game developed by Atari for the Atari 2600 and released under the Sears Tele-Games label.[1][2]

Submarine Commander
Cover art for Atari 2600 cartridge
Developer(s)	Atari
Publisher(s)	Sears
Platform(s)	Atari 2600
Release	US: 1982
Genre(s)	Shoot 'em up
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Development

The game was one of three developed by Atari exclusively for Sears, the others being Stellar Track and Steeplechase.[3] It was based on the Midway arcade game Sea Wolf II that was played with a periscope.[4]

Gameplay

The player controls a submarine going through enemy territory. The player must shoot targets in order to win the game.[2] The player views the action via a periscope that can be rotated through 360 degrees - a rarity for the time. Information provided to the player includes a radar scope, a depth-charge-detector, a fuel gauge, and an engine temperature gauge for detecting engine-overheating. There are eight modes of play, made up of single and two-player mode and four different levels of difficulty for each. [5]

Reception

A December 1982 review in Joystik magazine described Submarine Commander as being a "very basic shooting-gallery type game."[2]

A review on the 8-Bit Central website criticised the graphics saying that the game was "not a visually pleasing experience" but also said that the game was "worth trying" due to the complexity of the gameplay. The 8-Bit Central gave the game 2.5/5 overall.[5] A December 2012 review on the Video Games Critic website was praising of the game, describing it as "an eye-opening experience" and praising the faux-3D graphics and exciting actionof the game, and gave it a grade of "B+" overall.[6]

References