How to play Polaris online
- Move the submarine: arrow keys (up, down, left and right)
- Fire: Space bar ā missiles on the first screen, torpedoes in the channel
- One or two players: F11 (the consoleās Select switch). In a two-player game you take turns.
- Start a new game: F12 (the consoleās Reset switch)
- Save and load your progress: Ctrl + 0ā9 saves to a slot, Alt + 0ā9 loads it
The difficulty switches are not used in this game.
Gameplay
Your sub starts on the left side of the sea. Above you, squadrons of up to five bombers cross the screen and drop bombs. Enemy submarines patrol the water, and now and then a destroyer passes overhead dropping depth charges. You can only fire a new missile once the last one has left the screen or hit something, so every shot counts.
When the whole squadron is gone, a dive bomber arrives with torpedoes that seek you out. Destroy it and you move on to the mined channel, where you fire torpedoes instead of missiles. Unlike missiles, a torpedo can be cancelled and fired again by pressing the button. The mines only appear from level 2, so your first trip lets you learn the shape of the channel.
There are 16 levels in four groups of four. Each group adds more bombers and submarines and makes the enemies faster. The game ends when you run out of subs; the number you have left is shown next to your score.
| Target | Points |
|---|---|
| Bomber (bottom / middle / top row) | 100 / 200 / 300 |
| Enemy submarine (top / middle / bottom depth) | 100 / 200 / 300 |
| Channel mine | 300 |
| Destroyer | 800 |
| Dive bomber | 1,000 |
Tips
- Donāt waste missiles. A missed shot has to leave the screen before you can fire again, and that is when bombs catch you.
- Take the destroyer when it shows up. At 800 points it is worth more than a whole row of bombers.
- Keep moving once the dive bomber appears. Its torpedoes home in on you, so staying still is dangerous.
- Use level 1 to learn the channel. With no mines yet, it is the best time to remember the route.
History
Taito released the Polaris arcade game in Japan in July 1980 and in North America later that year. Tigervision, the games label of toy maker Tiger Electronics, licensed it for the Atari 2600, and a VIC-20 version also appeared. The 2600 cartridge received a Certificate of Merit for Best Action Videogame at the 1984 Arkie Awards. Today it is hard to find, and AtariAge rates it as rare.
