How to play Sub-Scan online
- Move the destroyer: left and right arrow keys (up and down do nothing)
- Drop a depth charge: Space bar
- Start a new game: Space bar or F12 (the console’s Reset switch)
There is one game for one player; the Select and difficulty switches do nothing.
Gameplay
Submarines cross the screen at five depth levels. The deeper a sub runs, the more it is worth. Your depth charges leave the ship on the side you last moved towards, and you can have up to four in the water at once. A charge comes back to you when it hits a sub or reaches the sea floor. A radar strip at the bottom shows the whole ocean, including subs that are still off screen.
A counter starts at 10 and drops by one each time a submarine leaves the screen without being hit. When it reaches zero, the game is over. A speed number from 0 to 9 shows how fast the subs are moving, and it rises as your score passes certain thresholds.
| Target | Points |
|---|---|
| Submarine, top level to deepest level | 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 |
| Bonus submarine | collects the bonus value (100 to 1,000 per sub sunk) |
The bonus submarine only cruises at the lowest depth and has its own colour and sound. Its value grows every time you sink an ordinary sub, and you only collect it by hitting the bonus sub. Letting it go never counts as a missed sub.
Tips
- Let the bonus sub pass at first. It costs you nothing, and its value keeps growing while you sink other subs.
- Watch the radar, not just the water. It shows subs before they appear, so you can be in position when they arrive.
- Remember the drop side. Charges fall on the side you last moved towards. Tap the joystick in the right direction before firing.
History
Deep Scan came out in arcades in late 1979 in North America, following earlier submarine games such as Sea Wolf and Depthcharge. For the 2600 release in 1983, Sega renamed the game Sub-Scan. Deep Scan later returned as a bonus game in the Sega Saturn version of Die Hard Arcade.
Similar games to play next
- Submarine Commander – the other side of the fight: sink ships from a submarine
- Polaris – a submarine that shoots upwards at aircraft
- Tac-Scan – another Sega arcade conversion for the 2600
- Seaquest – underwater shooting with divers to rescue