A look at Subterranea from Imagic (Atari 2600)

The 1983 space shooter Subterranea is a hidden gem from an Atari 2600 third-party publisher that arguably released several of the most memorable titles during the heyday of the classic console. Imagic of course followed closely behind Activision (the first third-party publisher) in competing against Atari's own games and is best known for classic hits like Demon Attack and Atlantis, among others. Both of these well-known space shooters have solid, addicting gameplay, and the same can be said for Subterranea. So, with that in mind, let's take a look at this lesser-known game.

Subterranea is a horizontally scrolling space shooter similar to the arcade (and Atari 2600) classic defender, where your ship (called a ranger in the instructions) has the freedom of movement to travel and fire in either direction on the screen. And holding the joystick button down produces rapid-fire. The action starts as the monstrous Hexuplex, a spider-looking creature which guards the dark tunnels below, unleashes lethal Aerobots upwards to try and collide with you. As the beastie slides back and forth, the challenge is to anticipate when it will release these tracking projectiles so you're far enough away to maneuver and destroy them before they destroy you. This can get quite tricky considering how relatively close you are to the Hexuplex, and often requires quickly zipping to the opposite side of the screen, turning and blasting away before it's too late. It's engaging gameplay right from the start.

The monstrous Hexuplex releases Aerobots which you must destroy!

After destroying all the Aerobots a sparkling crystal appears on the bottom of the screen, which when picked up increases your point score and opens a tunnel that you descend through to the underworld. You'll then face more flying attackers, some of which (in later levels) can fire at you, that must also be destroyed. These enemies appear on either side of the screen and move horizontally. Destroying all attackers in a wave without being hit earns another ship. I find the best strategy here is to get behind them as they are exiting the screen and then shoot, thereby taking away the risk of a collision or being blasted (since they only fire forward). This gets more important as the skill levels increase, because the enemies often fire immediately as they appear on the screen, leaving little time for reaction. It should also be noted that touching the sides of the tunnels decreases your score more and more the longer the contact continues, while touching a skull costs a life. Conversely, if you're good enough to clear a wave of enemies without being hit, you're awarded a bonus ranger (up to a maximum of seven). Like the opening action, these battles are engaging and require getting a feel for the best way to deal with the different foes. 

After defeating enemies in a tunnel, you'll encounter the Electro-Gates, which are narrow passageways with flash pulses you must descend through in order to advance to another tunnel. This is a matter of timing, which means waiting for each pulse to appear and disappear, then inching your ship past it to the next pulse, and so on until all are cleared. Unlike the frantic space battles, this requires precise, nuanced movements of the joystick which takes some getting used to. And it's also an exercise in tension, because touching the Electro-Gates or a flash pulse puts you back to the beginning again. And after three failed attempts you're sent- back to the previous tunnel which must be replayed with no points awarded for destroying enemies. Conversely, taking too much time to descend through the Electro-Gates costs points. I think the cool thing about this stage is how the game shifts abruptly from fast-paced battle action to concentrated, calculated maneuvers. It's a very nice touch.

Your ranger must descend through the Laser-Gates in order to advance further

Following successful completion of the bottom tunnel, you fly through a transit port and enter another big cavern where... the Hexuplex is back! And now it's unleashing faster and smarter Aerobots at you! And the whole adventure starts all over again at a higher skill level. As the instruction manual says, "try to capture another crystal!"

Subterranea box art, featuring Imagic's distinctive silver and red coloring

Subterranea is a fun space shooter from a company known for some excellent space shooters, such as the titles mentioned above. Those two games put Imagic on the map and are still among my favorite Atari 2600 titles to this day. And this game is arguably even more accomplished, given its multiple screens, varying gameplay and different types of enemies. It's also got decent graphics and sounds, with a gradually increasing difficulty that will leave retro gamers eager to play again to top that current high score. Highly recommended.