Task: Play Submarine Commander on Your Atari 8-Bit Computer
Needed: Atari 8-bit computer or emulator, Submarine Commander cartridge or ROM
Time: 15-30 minutes
Introduction
Submarine Commander was developed by programmer Dean Lock and released by Thorn EMI in 1982 for the Atari 8-bit computers. This game is part submarine war simulation and part arcade game. I enjoyed playing this game back in the day and also had Jumbo Jet Pilot from the same publisher.
The setting is war, and your job is to hunt down and destroy enemy ships using your map, sonar, and periscope (all shown below). A neat thing about this game is that there is a lot of info at your fingertips giving the game a better sense of reality. It is very satisfying to take down a ship. Be careful! The enemy ships fire back when you are at the depth required for firing a torpedo.
The graphics, sound, and details of this game are quite good which is why it received a number of positive reviews at the time. My only complaint is that gameplay can be a little tedious at times. It is well worth 30 minutes to give it a try!
Instructions
Submarine Commander cartridges are fairly common and thus easy to find on eBay. You can get a loose cartridge for about $10 and one in a box for about $15 to $20.
The ROM can be downloaded from Atari Mania. You can boot the ROM on your 8-bit computer using FujiNet or some other SD-card based device such as A8PicoCart I recently covered.
A scan of the manual can be found on the Internet Archive.
Comments
I enjoyed dusting this off and playing it for the first time since the 1980s. I definitely recommend giving it a try. Be sure and read the manual first!
