Sea Battle
Encyclopedia
Sea Battle is a multiplayer strategy game released by Mattel
for its Intellivision
video game system in 1980. In the game, players command fleets of naval vessels attempting to invade the harbor of their opponent.
During the game's "strategy phase," players can only see the location of enemy fleets on the screen, and not what ships are within them. Players may only direct one fleet at a time, and may cycle through them at any time. Players move the fleets by directing them on the desired heading, with the fleet moving in that direction until ordered to stop or until encountering land or another fleet. Should two opposing fleets approach each other, all action stops and the two fleets begin to flash rapidly. Either player may choose to engage in battle, or if neither player engages, the two fleets will continue moving their separate ways after a few moments.
When two fleets engage, Sea Battle enters the "combat phase." The action zooms into the section of the ocean where the fleets are located, and both fleets become visible. Players take control of their respective flagships and attempt to sink the ship(s) in the opponent's fleet. Ships can be damaged by enemy fire or by colliding with land, and sink when they have taken too much damage for that particular ship type. If the player's flagship sinks, control shifts to the next ship in that player's fleet. Combat ends and the game returns to the strategy phase when all ships in one player's fleet are destroyed. A player may also choose to retreat from battle, but must survive for 15 seconds after sounding the retreat in order to successfully escape.
Ships that have been damaged can be repaired by directing them back to the player's home port. Also, fleets may be disbanded and re-assembled while in the home port. However, the player may only do so a combined total of three times per game. Gameplay continues in this fashion until one of the players directs their aircraft carrier
or troop transport into the opponent's home port, thus successfully invading it and winning the game. Should the player lose both ships during battle, any remaining ship in their fleets may invade the port.
s and troop transports are slow to move and weakly armed, but are well armored and are necessary to capture the opponent's home port. Battleship
s and destroyer
s are well-rounded escort vessels, while submarine
s and PT boat
s trade armor strength for speed and attack power.
Each player's minelayer
can place up to four minefields at strategic locations in the ocean. Minefields are invisible to both players and are live immediately after being placed. The mines are harmless to fleets belonging to the player that placed them, but will damage, or potentially sink, the flagship of an enemy fleet. However, if a player's fleet contains one of their minesweeper
s, the fleet will survive if the player commands the fleet to begin sweeping operations prior to entering the suspected minefield. Fleets are only vulnerable to minefields during the game's strategy phase.
console, but it was never released for sale. In the early 21st century, it was also released as part of the Intellivision Lives! compilation game for computers and other video game consoles, like the PlayStation 2
and Nintendo GameCube
. Most recently, Sea Battle was made available on Microsoft's
Game Room
service for its Xbox 360
console and for Windows-based
PC
s.
Mattel
Mattel, Inc. is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. The products it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. The company's name is derived from...
for its Intellivision
Intellivision
The Intellivision is a video game console released by Mattel in 1979. Development of the console began in 1978, less than a year after the introduction of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. The word intellivision is a portmanteau of "intelligent television"...
video game system in 1980. In the game, players command fleets of naval vessels attempting to invade the harbor of their opponent.
Gameplay
In Sea Battle, players must successfully invade the home port of their opponent while protecting their own ports from invasion. Game play takes place in an island-dotted ocean, with one player's home port at the lower-left corner of the screen and the other player's home port at the upper-right corner. Each player has access to thirteen naval vessels representing eight different ship types. The player may organize these ships into smaller fleets, with a maximum of three ships per fleet and four fleets active at one time. Single-ship fleets are permitted, while larger fleets may not have two ships of the same type in one fleet. When fleets are deployed, the first ship selected as part of the fleet becomes its flagship.During the game's "strategy phase," players can only see the location of enemy fleets on the screen, and not what ships are within them. Players may only direct one fleet at a time, and may cycle through them at any time. Players move the fleets by directing them on the desired heading, with the fleet moving in that direction until ordered to stop or until encountering land or another fleet. Should two opposing fleets approach each other, all action stops and the two fleets begin to flash rapidly. Either player may choose to engage in battle, or if neither player engages, the two fleets will continue moving their separate ways after a few moments.
When two fleets engage, Sea Battle enters the "combat phase." The action zooms into the section of the ocean where the fleets are located, and both fleets become visible. Players take control of their respective flagships and attempt to sink the ship(s) in the opponent's fleet. Ships can be damaged by enemy fire or by colliding with land, and sink when they have taken too much damage for that particular ship type. If the player's flagship sinks, control shifts to the next ship in that player's fleet. Combat ends and the game returns to the strategy phase when all ships in one player's fleet are destroyed. A player may also choose to retreat from battle, but must survive for 15 seconds after sounding the retreat in order to successfully escape.
Ships that have been damaged can be repaired by directing them back to the player's home port. Also, fleets may be disbanded and re-assembled while in the home port. However, the player may only do so a combined total of three times per game. Gameplay continues in this fashion until one of the players directs their aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
or troop transport into the opponent's home port, thus successfully invading it and winning the game. Should the player lose both ships during battle, any remaining ship in their fleets may invade the port.
Ship types
Each player's overall fleet contains eight different types of naval vessels, each with its own specific characteristics. Aircraft carrierAircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
s and troop transports are slow to move and weakly armed, but are well armored and are necessary to capture the opponent's home port. Battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
s and destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s are well-rounded escort vessels, while submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
s and PT boat
PT boat
PT Boats were a variety of motor torpedo boat , a small, fast vessel used by the United States Navy in World War II to attack larger surface ships. The PT boat squadrons were nicknamed "the mosquito fleet". The Japanese called them "Devil Boats".The original pre–World War I torpedo boats were...
s trade armor strength for speed and attack power.
Each player's minelayer
Minelayer
Minelaying is the act of deploying explosive mines. Historically this has been carried out by ships, submarines and aircraft. Additionally, since World War I the term minelayer refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines...
can place up to four minefields at strategic locations in the ocean. Minefields are invisible to both players and are live immediately after being placed. The mines are harmless to fleets belonging to the player that placed them, but will damage, or potentially sink, the flagship of an enemy fleet. However, if a player's fleet contains one of their minesweeper
Minesweeper (ship)
A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...
s, the fleet will survive if the player commands the fleet to begin sweeping operations prior to entering the suspected minefield. Fleets are only vulnerable to minefields during the game's strategy phase.
Ports
Sea Battle was released under the same name by Sears for its private-label version of the Intellivision console, the "Super Video Arcade." Mattel's "M-Network" brand developed a port of the game for the Atari 2600Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
console, but it was never released for sale. In the early 21st century, it was also released as part of the Intellivision Lives! compilation game for computers and other video game consoles, like the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
and Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
. Most recently, Sea Battle was made available on Microsoft's
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
Game Room
Game Room
Game Room is a gaming service for the Xbox 360 video game system, Microsoft Windows PCs, and Windows Phone 7. Launched on March 24, 2010, Game Room lets players download classic video games and compete against each other for high scores...
service for its Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
console and for Windows-based
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
s.
External links
- Sea Battle at IntellivisionLives
- Sea Battle at GameFAQs