From the introduction of the Atari Video Computer System (later renamed the Atari 2600) in September 1977 through the 1980's, there were approximately 500 or so titles (games) released for the console. Atari launched the system with nine titles and, for the first three years or so, manufactured and released 38 in total. For the next three years, in addition to Atari continuing to make games, third party companies like Activision, Games by Apollo, Imagic and many, many more added to that count. And even after the now legendary video game crash of 1983, some new titles continued to make it to market. However, there were also games that, due to the crash and perhaps other factors as well, were never released. These prototypes have come to be known as "lost" games, due to the fact that their existence was unknown for many years, before many of them were finally discovered and released in one form or another. And of course, games thought of as "lost" are often of great interest to gamers and collectors alike. And with that in mind, I'll now be looking at the Atari 2600 prototype Aquaventure, a game with a copyright date of 1983 that never made it to market back then but was subsequently released in 2005 and has been made available on several retro collections since.
Aquaventure box art as seen on the Atari Vault on the Steam network
The above picture is from the Atari Vault on the Steam gaming network, which is where I first discovered Aquaventure. According to the brief online manual, "you're a world-famous treasure hunter on the trail of Calico Blue's sunken pirate ship." In the game, your man dives into the depths, descending downward until you reach the treasure chest sitting on the ocean floor. You then bring it up to the surface and are rewarded with a whopping 10,000 points for your efforts. However, as is always the case, it's not that easy because there are many obstacles and enemies standing in the way that result in instant death (the loss of a man) upon contact. These include the razor-sharp coral reef adorning the sides of the trench (screen), as well as poisonous fish, seahorses and other odd-looking underwater creatures moving back and forth in your path. Additionally, you only have a limited amount of air which is constantly depleting, so you must complete your task before it runs out. Your "little buddy Trax the Sea Turtle", who is waiting up on the beach, dutifully marches from screen left to screen right to remind you to hurry up and get back to the surface before there is no more air. And as is also always the case, these various challenges get more challenging with each level completed. As the sequence repeats, you must travel farther down to get the treasure, enemies get faster and harder to avoid, and the air supply drains ever quicker.
Like many titles of this era (unreleased or otherwise), Aquaventure is a simple, straightforward game that is easily understandable and enjoyable to play from the get-go, without the absolute necessity for reading the instruction manual (although I personally believe in always reading the manual first). You descend downward, scoring points as you eliminate some enemies with your spear gun, avoid others, grab the treasure and head back up in the allotted time for that aforementioned big points haul. The choice immediately presented to the player, which continues to be a factor as the action proceeds, is how much time to take zapping the baddies before grabbing that sparkling chest and swimming back to the surface. In other words, it's how many extra points do you think you can add before the risk towards your limited number of lives gets too high. On second thought, it might be best to at least read how much each of those cantankerous fish are worth before hitting the start button.
The graphics in Aquaventure are colorful and fun, with the coral reefs having an appropriate red / orange tint, and the color of the water changing as the diver descends further down into the depths. The underwater enemies are also varied enough in their appearance, as are your friends, adding to the overall visual appeal. And speaking of friends, besides the aforementioned trustworthy turtle, there is a mysterious mermaid who comes to your assistance when you get near the surface of the water. All of this keeps things interesting graphics-wise. Additionally, the various blips and bleeps are lively enough to compliment the onscreen action and add to the excitement.
One notable thing missing from Aquaventure, which is found in most games of this era, is the granting of extra lives at certain point levels. This is probably due to the fact that the game was a prototype and that feature simply hadn't been added yet. Whatever the case, it makes things ever more challenging because mistakes become much more costly. And when a player reaches a certain level, one must play with near perfection to keep going. And this leads to great frustration as the enemies become increasingly (and deceptively) more difficult to hit. (Hint: eliminating one enemy with your spear gun gives you a brief reprieve before a faster and angrier one takes its place).
Overall Aquaventure, despite being a prototype, is a very solid title for the Atari 2600 that in my opinion would have made a great release back in the day. As mentioned, the overall look of the game is appealing, with decent colors and complimentary sounds. And while it would have been nice to see some other screens, or at least some variations in the playfield, I still find the gameplay to be addicting enough to keep coming back to it from time to time. So, if you're looking for a decent undersea adventure, give this game with an admittedly mysterious history a try.
Note: Aquaventure was released as a physical cartridge as part of the Atari XP line in 2022. It was also released for the Atari Flashback 2 (2005) console, Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration, and Atari Collection 1 for Evercade.
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