"Sonar": Atari 2600 game long thought lost discovered by chance
Archiving video games is important in order to preserve them as cultural assets. However, many gems are lost, especially in the early days of gaming history. One such gem, "Sonar", has now resurfaced after more than 40 years.
Brad Stewart developed video games for Atari in the late 1970s. Some of them were either never published or he never finished programming them. The public only learnt about these games through an interview in 2001. One of them is "Sonar". The game is based on the classic pen & paper game "Sinking Ships". Now, 44 years after Brad had to abandon the project, the game has resurfaced.
Saved from destruction
Brad doesn't have a copy of the game, as he says in the interview. That's why it's considered lost. Last year, a copy of "Sonar" suddenly turned up in the collection of the late Jim Snyder. He worked at Atari in the 1980s. Video game nerd Alvaro Arroyo met Snyder's daughter shortly after his death. She wants to throw away the collection after it is rejected by a museum. Alvaro buys everything from her. After a short search, it becomes clear that "Sonar" is part of the collection.
Not quite finished
"Sonar" is based on "Sinking Ships", but differs in one important respect. In "Sinking Ships", both players have their own screen - their own hand. The other player cannot see where the ships are. Brad solves this in the video game by making the ships invisible. You have to move around the screen in real time to find the ships. The first player to score five points wins. To give you an idea of where the ships are, a sonar sound is emitted - hence the title "Sonar".
Source: Atariprotos.com
But how can you tell who is closer to the ship? Via the audio channel. The signal is played through either the left or right speaker. The problem: The Atari 2600 can only play mono. This is probably also the reason why the game is never released, even though it is almost finished. You simply can't play it because without stereo sound, the most important gameplay feature is missing.
Since "Sonar" was programmed with stereo sound in mind, development probably started before the release of the Atari 2600, which was originally supposed to be stereo, but the feature was cancelled before release.
Except for a display bug and the random placement of the ships, the game is finished. So if you want to game it, you can. Alvaro provides the ROM in the Atari Age forum.
Cover image: Shutterstock
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