Sears Submarine Commander -Atari 2600
Retro Gaming Review

Rating:

Submarine Commander is one of those games that taxes your ability to "fill in the gaps" where 8 bit pixels fail to paint the whole picture. I could have said it was "graphically challenged" or "looks like Hell", but it's a better game than first glance might reveal. There are a slew of crappy looking one-dimensional games out there for the Atari 2600, but submarine Commander isn't one of them. Someone put a good deal of thought into it and gave it life beyond a simple single-screen game.

Several guages are available to provide information and status during the game. Sound is also used to alert you to incoming PT boats before they appear on screen. Attributes like this make the game more interesting than just a simple shooter. After all, your goal is sinking as many boats as you can. Moving the action via a 360° periscope was pretty slick for a game of it's vintage!

Submarine Commander Story Arc

You are the captain of a submarine tasked with protecting your country. Your sub is equipped with many new features including a radar scope, sonar depth charge detector, status indicators, fuel gauge, engine temperature gauge, and torpedoes. commanding from the helm, it's up to you to pilot your sub using your periscope to scan the ocean and detect enemy vessels. Destroy enemy ships before they destroy you. With limited supplies you must keep an eye on your fuel and energy levels. Every maneuver costs you fuel. When the fuel runs out, your mission is over.

Submarine Commander Game Play

There are 8 game variations - 4 if you don't count the 1 and 2-player differences. These variations primarily determine which types of ships have the capability to drop depth charges on your sub. The most difficult variant has all ships depth charging your ass. Scoring comes from sinking ships - tankers requiring 2 hits. Each enemy ship is worth more points if destroyed from farther away. Far away ships display at half their size and are surrounded by blue sky - indicating their further distance from your submarine.

Your mission is to sink as many ships as possible while avoiding depth charges and maintaining an adequate fuel supply. As mentioned yo have quite a few gauges to ensure your sub's energy and avoid depth charges. Your sub bergins with 3000 units of fuel and 2 torpedo launchers. Your fuel level is proportional to the engine temperature, so you need to monitor the engine temperature gauge at the top center of the screen.

You can move right and left with the joystick as well as move it up & down to change your viewing distance - you'll see the change in the green vertical bars of the open waters. The fire button launches torpedoes. It all sounds simple enough but this simple looking game has a set of gauges and indicators that give status and take your concentration off that depth charge that's about to blow you up. Or you might be flailing around trying to avoid attack, not realizing you're closing in on zero fuel.

The more maneuvers you make, the hotter the engine gets. Every torpedo launched uses three units of fuel and every depth charge hit costs 300-377 units of fuel. When all the fuel runs out, the temperature gauge turns black, and the game is over. You can't kick ass without fuel. This is one of the cool aspects of the game - its not just shoot or be shot. There are other elements to monitor, which actually can distract you from your assault mission.

Depth charges are shown on the depth charge detector gauge which alerts you to the proximity and the danger-level of a depth charge. Sonar will help identify the location of enemy ships before you can see them through the periscope. This lets you to fire a torpedo before the enemy drops a depth charge.

Submarine Commander Gauges & Displays

• Fuel Gauge- The fuel gauge at the lower, center of the screen starts with 3000 units of fuel and counts backwards until you run out of fuel.
  
  
• torpedo Status Gauge- Torpedo status gauges are located at the bottom of the screen, above the fuel gauge. The gauge is green when a torpedo is ready to launch. The fire button launches a torpedo displaying a green light. If a torpedo tube is damaged by a depth charge, it turns black and won't work for the rest of the game.
  
  
• Engine Temperature Gauge- Located at the top, center of the screen it displays engine status. As the engine heats up, the gauge turns red. The hotter the engine, the more fuel it consumes. When the gauge turns yellow, the engine has been damaged and running at half speed.
  
  
• Directional Gauge- The broken black line located below the engine temperature gauge shows your sub's direction. When you move the sub right or left, the lines move right or left, as though you are steering the submarine.
  
  
• Sonar- Located at the bottom, left side of the screen, it identifies the location of an enemy ship before it's visible on the screen. When it turns red, it is indicating the depth and the location of an enemy ship.
  
  
• Depth Charge Detector- The arrow which at the lower right corner of the screen points to where a depth charge is located. If the arrow is white, it is not dangerously close and you can move your sub in the opposite direction to avoid a hit. If the arrow is red, you're about to be hit!
  
  

Submarine Commander Difficulty Switch Settings

Since Submarine Commander has 2-player options, the difficulty switches toggle one or two players between Novice (B) and Expert (A). The Expert level changes the amount of damage your sub incurs from depth charge hits. In Expert move every time your sub is hit by a depth charge, the damage could cause the loss of one of your gauges. See! Those gauges really are useful!

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