Submarine Commander (Atari 2600)

This article is about the Atari 2600 game. For the Atari 8-bit computer game, see Submarine Commander.

Submarine Commander is a shoot 'em up video game for the Atari 2600, developed by Matthew Hubbard at Atari, Inc.^[1] It was released exclusively under the Sears Tele-Games label in 1982.^[3][4]

Submarine Commander
Developer	Atari, Inc.
Publisher	Sears
Programmer	Matthew Hubbard[1]
Platform	Atari 2600
Release	September 1982[2]
Genre	Shoot 'em up
Modes	Single-player, multiplayer

Gameplay

The player controls a submarine going through enemy territory, and must shoot targets in order to win the game.^[4] The player views the action via a periscope that can be rotated 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]

Development

The game was one of three 2600 titles developed by Atari exclusively for Sears, the others being Stellar Track and a port of the arcade game Steeplechase.^[6] Submarine Commander was based on the 1978 Midway arcade game Sea Wolf II, which was played with a periscope.^[7]

Reception

A December 1982 review in Joystik magazine described Submarine Commander as a "very basic shooting-gallery type game."^[4]

A retrospective review at 8-Bit Central said the game was "not a visually pleasing experience", but that it the complexity of the gameplay made it "worth playing". 8-Bit Central gave the game 2.5/5 overall.^[5] A December 2012 review on the Video Games Critic website called it "an eye-opening experience", praising its faux-3D graphics and action; the review gave the game an overall grade of "B+".^[8]