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Abe Sargent · 07-24-2006, 12:10 AM

I do have one honorable mention game. So this would technically be number 31 on a list of thirty, but I wanted to put in an entry for it:

Honorable Mention: Sea Battle
Intellivision
Mattel Electronics
1980
GameSpot Review - 8.9 (There is no official review, this is the cumulative review score of all players)
Action - Strategy

Of all of the video games from the early 80s, the only one that stands the test of time well is Sea Battle. Designed fo rthe IntelliVision, and one of its first games, Sea Battle is a unique strategy game that must be played between two players.

The game is divided up into two phases. An overland phase sees you deploying various ships and trying to outmaneuver your opponent. Each player has a certain number of ships of various types. One lays invisible mines, while another canl sweep mines. If you get either your Troop Transport or your Aircraft Carrier into your opponent's base, you win.

When one of your fleets meets up with an opponent's fleet, you enter a battle screen, where you duel with your opponent. A couple of ships have torpedos, while the rest have gun batteries. Different ships have different speeds, weapons, range, damage capability and armor. A big Battleship, for example, can do so much damage it can kill smaller ships with one hit and destroy the biggest with two or three. It has a long range, but it can occasionally be outmaneuvered by a faster vessel, like the fastest ship in the game, the PT Boat.

Like all IntelliVision games, Sea Battle came with an overlay for the controller, which you can see here:

This will show how many ships you have at the beginning and what types they are.

In deploying fleet, your opponent only knows the size, not the content. He also will not know where you drop mines. Therefore, there is a lot of cat and mouse in the overland game.

This game's dual nature with one side beign strategy and the other side with a battle map and each being equally challenging was a unique creation that went on to inspire numerous games (To be fair, IntelliVision's Space Battle, which was one of the system's launch game was the first video game with two interweaving maps and challenegs, but the strategy map is too, light to really count to most poeple. It's just sending ships to computer controlled bad guys before they reach your base, and then you fight). Sea Battle is still a load of fun because the game's challenge comes from the opponent.

Chess is still a good game despite its age because it provides an amazing foundation for you but the challenge lies in the other's skill. The same is true of Sea Battle. I still have an IntelliVision and play this occasionally with friends, who just love it.

This is one of the greatest classic video games, and it stands the test of time, unlike others. The IntelliVision was a very avant-garde system with many brillant and inovative games, like Utopia (often called Civilization 0.5) Football (with actual plays called), Baeball (with an actual voice) and Treasure of Tarmin (the original first-person 3D game. Still, those games have become quaint, while Sea Battle remains a good game to this day.

This was the honorable mention. Stay tuned when we hit the first game on my list!

-Anxiety

07-24-2006, 12:10 AM	#2
Abe Sargent Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Catonsville, MD	I do have one honorable mention game. So this would technically be number 31 on a list of thirty, but I wanted to put in an entry for it: Honorable Mention: Sea Battle Intellivision Mattel Electronics 1980 GameSpot Review - 8.9 (There is no official review, this is the cumulative review score of all players) Action - Strategy Of all of the video games from the early 80s, the only one that stands the test of time well is Sea Battle. Designed fo rthe IntelliVision, and one of its first games, Sea Battle is a unique strategy game that must be played between two players. The game is divided up into two phases. An overland phase sees you deploying various ships and trying to outmaneuver your opponent. Each player has a certain number of ships of various types. One lays invisible mines, while another canl sweep mines. If you get either your Troop Transport or your Aircraft Carrier into your opponent's base, you win. When one of your fleets meets up with an opponent's fleet, you enter a battle screen, where you duel with your opponent. A couple of ships have torpedos, while the rest have gun batteries. Different ships have different speeds, weapons, range, damage capability and armor. A big Battleship, for example, can do so much damage it can kill smaller ships with one hit and destroy the biggest with two or three. It has a long range, but it can occasionally be outmaneuvered by a faster vessel, like the fastest ship in the game, the PT Boat. Like all IntelliVision games, Sea Battle came with an overlay for the controller, which you can see here: This will show how many ships you have at the beginning and what types they are. In deploying fleet, your opponent only knows the size, not the content. He also will not know where you drop mines. Therefore, there is a lot of cat and mouse in the overland game. This game's dual nature with one side beign strategy and the other side with a battle map and each being equally challenging was a unique creation that went on to inspire numerous games (To be fair, IntelliVision's Space Battle, which was one of the system's launch game was the first video game with two interweaving maps and challenegs, but the strategy map is too, light to really count to most poeple. It's just sending ships to computer controlled bad guys before they reach your base, and then you fight). Sea Battle is still a load of fun because the game's challenge comes from the opponent. Chess is still a good game despite its age because it provides an amazing foundation for you but the challenge lies in the other's skill. The same is true of Sea Battle. I still have an IntelliVision and play this occasionally with friends, who just love it. This is one of the greatest classic video games, and it stands the test of time, unlike others. The IntelliVision was a very avant-garde system with many brillant and inovative games, like Utopia (often called Civilization 0.5) Football (with actual plays called), Baeball (with an actual voice) and Treasure of Tarmin (the original first-person 3D game. Still, those games have become quaint, while Sea Battle remains a good game to this day. This was the honorable mention. Stay tuned when we hit the first game on my list! -Anxiety __________________ Check out my two current weekly Magic columns! https://www.coolstuffinc.com/a/?action=search&page=1&author[]=Abe%20Sargent Last edited by Abe Sargent : 05-01-2022 at 10:14 AM.