Atari 2600 Game
Produced by: Atari
Model Number: CX2602
Rarity: 2
Year of Release: 1981
Programmer: Larry Kaplan

ACK! Enemy attack! Planes are flying overhead, none of them are shooting at you. But as the brave crewmember of an anti-aircraft cannon, it is your duty to shoot the bastards down anyway. It's Air-Sea Battle for the Atari 2600!

Air-Sea Battle has 27 mildly different games that you can play. They are all based around the idea of shooting down targets from your base. In most of the games the targets do not even fire back, the games are actually based on a timer so they always last 2 minutes and 16 seconds. The object is to get the highest score you can. There are six main variations, which I will detail below.

Air-Sea Battle Variations
  • Anti-Aircraft
    Control a fixed turret that can fire at three angles. Planes fly overhead from both directions. None of them fire back at you.
  • Torpedo
    Control a movable base that can only fire directly up, just like in Space Invaders. Various ships and boats sail overhead, but none of them fire back.
  • Shooting Gallery
    This is perhaps the best version. Control a movable turret that can also fire at 3 different angles. Targets such as smiley faces and arrows move around above you in a random fashion.
  • Polaris
    Control a fixed battleship that moves from left to right across the screen. You can adjust the speed of your movements by pressing up or down. Your shots move with you (they go off at an angle so they stay directly above your head even though you are moving). Enemies are the same planes as in the Anti-Aircraft variation.
  • Bomber
    This is just like the Polaris variation, except that it is backwards. Control a blimp at the top of the screen. All the same rules apply.
  • Polaris Vs. Bomber
    You control the Blimp at the top of the screen while your opponent (human or computer), controls the ship at the bottom. This is the only variation where anything actually shoots back at you.

From the Atari catalog
Here's your chance to become an artillery commander, a submarine captain, or an aircraft bombardier. Just hit the firing button and shoot your way through 27 different shooting games and variations. Planes, boats, and other targets appear on the screen from different directions at different speeds. Shoot 'em off your TV screen with guided missiles, torpedoes, and anti-aircraft guns.
Collectors Information

This cartridge was available with 4 different labels, 2 with pictures and 2 with text. All of them are fairly common. Sears also produced a clone of this game entitled Target Fun. I would estimate the value of this game at $2 USD, and of course games with boxes and manuals are worth more.

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