Air-Sea Battle - Software MAME

Atari 2600 cart. published 47 years ago:

Air-Sea Battle © 1977 Atari, Incorporated.

A target shooting game. On most settings, you are positioned at the bottom of the screen and you shoot at targets at the top of the screen. The various settings provide different targets and weapons with different characteristics.

In games 1-6, you are an anti-aircraft gun and you shoot, unsurprisingly, at aircraft. You are stationary. Your control is limited to selecting the time of firing, the angle at which your shot is fired, and, on some settings, exertion of minor control over the direction of your missile.

In games 7-12, you are a submarine and you shoot torpedoes at the ships above. On these settings, you are able to move your submarine back and forth across the bottom of the screen. Your torpedoes, however, can only be fired directly above. Some settings allow minor control over the direction of your torpedo once fired. In games 13-15, you are apparently the anti-aircraft gun again. This time, however, you are shooting at shooting gallery targets (clown faces, ducks, rabbits). The controls are as in games 1-6.

In games 16-18, you are a ship and you fire Polaris missiles at jets flying above. Your ship constantly moves on its own, you control only the speed. When you fire, the angle of the missile and its speed are based on the speed your ship was traveling at the time of firing. Some settings restrict your ability to change speed once a missile is fired, others allow you to exert control over the missile by changing speed once the missile is fired.

In games 19-21, the situation is reversed, you are the jet dropping bombs at the ships below. The controls in this setting are the same as in games 16-18. The difference, of course, is that you are dropping bombs from above at targets below.

In Games 22-27, one player is the jet and the other is the ship.

Each of the two-player games is a matter of who can hit more targets in 2 minutes and 16 seconds. In each of the single-player games, the single-player tries to outscore a computer opponent that simply constantly fires.

TECHNICAL
Model CX2602

TRIVIA
Air-Sea Battle was one of the nine original launch titles for that system when it was released in September 1977. It was re-published in 1978 with the same catalog number and a slighty different back cover.

It was one of the few games actually programmed to be in stereo (which can only be experienced with a modified system).

Export releases:
PAL "Air-Sea Battle [Model CX2602P]"

TIPS AND TRICKS
If you hit select during an active game in Air-Sea Battle, the background turns to different shades of gray.

STAFF
Programmed by: Larry Kaplan

PORTS

• CONSOLES:

[US] Microsoft XBOX (nov.16, 2004) "Atari Anthology [Model 26084]"
[US] Sony PS2 (nov.22, 2004) "Atari Anthology [Model SLUS-21076]"
[JP] Microsoft XBOX (aug.4, 2005) "Atari Anthology [Model B7X-00001]"
[US] Sony PlayStation 4 (oct.18,2016) "Atari Flashback Classics Vol.1"
[US] Microsoft XBOX One (nov.1,2016) "Atari Flashback Classics Vol.1"

• HANDHELDS:

[US] Nintendo DS (nov.2, 2010) "Atari Greatest Hits Vol.1 [Model NTR-BR6E-USA]"

• COMPUTERS:

[US] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (nov.11, 2003) "Atari - 80 Classic Games in One! [Model 25069J]"
[US] Steam (mar.24,2016) "Atari Vault [Model 400020]"

• OTHERS:

Atari Flashback [US] (2004)
[US] "Atari Flashback 3" (sept.16, 2011) by AtGames
[US] "Atari Flashback 4" (nov.13, 2012) by AtGames
[US] "Atari Flashback 5" (oct.1, 2014) by AtGames
[US] "Atari Flashback 6" (sept.15,2015) by AtGames
[US] "Atari Flashback 7" (oct.1,2016) by AtGames
[US] Atari Flashback 8 (sept.22, 2017) by AtGames
[US] Atari Flashback 8 Gold Edition (sept.22, 2017) by AtGames
[US] Atari Flashback 8 Gold Activision Edition (sept.22, 2017) by AtGames

CONTRIBUTE
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