Seaquest (video game)

Seaquest is an Atari 2600 video game designed by Steve Cartwright and published by Activision in 1983.[2] The game is an underwater shooter in which the player controls a submarine.

This article is about the Atari 2600 game. For the unrelated video game based on the television show, see seaQuest DSV (video game).
Seaquest
Seaquest
Developer(s)Steve Cartwright
Publisher(s)Activision
Platform(s)Atari 2600
Release
Genre(s)Shoot 'em up
Mode(s)1-2 players alternating

Gameplay
Gameplay screenshot

The player uses a submarine to shoot at enemies and rescue divers. Enemies include sharks and submarines, which shoot missiles at the player's submarine .[3] The player must ward off the enemies by firing an unlimited supply of missiles while trying to rescue divers swimming through the water. The points awarded to the player for shooting an enemy starts at 10 points each, and increases as the game advances. The sub can hold up to six divers at a time. Each time the player resurfaces prior to having a full load of six divers, one of the divers is removed.

The submarine has a limited amount of oxygen. The player must surface often in order to replenish the oxygen, but if the player resurfaces without any rescued divers, they will lose a life. If the player resurfaces with the maximum amount of divers, they will gain bonus points for the sub's remaining oxygen. Each time the player surfaces, the game's difficulty increases; enemies increase in number and speed. Eventually an enemy sub begins patrolling the surface, leaving the player without a safe haven.

The player starts the game with 3 extra lives, and is awarded an additional extra life each time the player scores 10,000 points.

Seaquest can be played single-player or with two players alternating turns.

Reception

Retro Gamer's Darran Jones wrote that the Atari and Activision titles of the Atari 2600 era featured fantastic box art on their covers and that the Seaquest title was one of the few to live up its cover saying "a shoot-'em-up at heart, it's developer, Steve Cartwright, mixed things up by giving you divers to rescue and a strict air supply to manage."[4]

Reviews

See also

References
  1. Seaquest at GameFAQs
  2. Hague, James. "The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers".
  3. Bogost, Ian; Montfort, Nick (2009). Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System. Cambridge: MIT Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-0262012577.
  4. Jones, Darran (May 2021). "Seaquest: Does Exactly What It Says on the Box". Retro Gamer. 219.
  5. "GAMES Magazine #40". June 1983.
  6. "GAMES Magazine #44". October 1983.
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