Air Sea Battle 1977 By: Atari

Overview:

This is a game that is simple and a lot of fun. All you need is one button and it's all about timing. The graphics look pretty good considering all the other 2600 games. It has bright colors and you can actually make out the airplanes, helicopters, and guns. The sounds are annoying, but again I blame the 2600, not the game. The controls are super easy to learn, but you will still find the game has some degree of difficulty. This game is a lot more fun when you have a buddy to play with.

Directions:

There are six basic types of games, and for each type, there are one or two groups of three games, for a total of twenty-seven game variants. Within each group, variant one is the standard game, variant two features guided missiles which can be directed left or right after being fired, and variant three pits a single player (using the right gun) against a computer opponent, which simply fires continuously at the default angle or speed. In every game, players shoot targets (enemy planes or ships, shooting gallery targets, or each other, depending on the game chosen) competing to get a higher score. Each round lasts two minutes and sixteen seconds; the player with the higher score after time expires is the winner, unless one player wins (and ends the game) by reaching 99 points before the time is up.
Anti-aircraft games

Variants 1-6 are anti-aircraft games, in which the player uses a stationary anti-aircraft gun that can be positioned at a 30, 60, or 90-degree angle to shoot down four different types of aircraft. The planes typically appear in groups of three to five, and once every plane in a formation has been destroyed, a new formation appears. There are two groups of anti-aircraft games: in variants 1-3, each target hit is worth 1 point, while in 4-6, the various types of aircraft have different point values. Additionally, zero-point blimps are added as obstacles in games 4-6.
Torpedo games

The torpedo games (7-12) are essentially the same as the anti-aircraft games, except that each player mans a submarine and fires at ships instead of planes. As with the anti-aircraft games, in games 7-9, all targets are worth one point, while games 10-12 have variable point values for targets and additional zero-point obstacles, this time in the form of mines.
Shooting gallery games

The shooting gallery games (13-15) differ from the previous variants in that, in addition to setting the gun angle, the player can move the gun left and right. Instead of planes or ships, the targets are clowns, ducks, and rabbits, with point values of 1, 2, and 3 respectively.
Polaris games

The polaris games (16-18) put the player in control of a boat which moves back and forth across the bottom of the screen automatically. Instead of controlling the gun angle, the player controls the speed at which the ship moves, attempting to shoot the same fleets of planes as in the anti-aircraft variants, with the point values of games 4-6.
Bomber games

In the bomber games (19-21), the player-controlled vehicle is a plane flying near the top of the screen, dropping bombs on the ships from the torpedo games. As in the polaris games, the plane's speed is controlled by the player, and the point values are identical to those in games 10-12.
Polaris vs. Bomber games

In the polaris vs. bomber games (22-27), one player controls the ship from the polaris games while the other controls the plane from the bomber games, with the goal being to destroy the other player's craft. Games 25-27 feature zero-point mines as obstacles.