Gato (video game)

GATO
Developers	Spectrum HoloByte Xanth F/X (Atari 8-bit)
Publishers	Spectrum HoloByte Atari Corporation
Designers	Paul Arlton Ed Dawson
Platforms	MS-DOS, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Mac, Commodore 64
Release	1984: MS-DOS, Mac 1985: Apple II 1986: Atari ST 1987: Atari 8-bit
Genre	Submarine simulator
Mode	Single-player

GATO is a real-time submarine simulator published in 1984 by Spectrum HoloByte for MS-DOS. It simulates combat operations aboard the Gato-class submarine USS Growler (SS-215) in the Pacific Theater of World War II. GATO was later ported to the Apple IIe, Atari ST, and Mac. In 1987, Atari Corporation published a version on cartridge for the Atari 8-bit computers, to coincide with the launch of the Atari XEGS.

Gameplay

File:Gatoshot.png

MS-DOS GATO with CGA graphics

The player is tasked with chasing Japanese shipping across a 20-sector map while returning for resupply as necessary from a submarine tender. The islands are randomly generated and not based on real-world geography. Combat is conducted using a screen with a view through the periscope and at various gauges and indicators. The game has multiple difficulty levels, the highest of which requires the player to translate mission briefings that are transmitted only as audible Morse Code.

The MS-DOS and Apple IIe versions contain a boss key which replaces the game screen with a spreadsheet.

Development

Gato was developed by student programmers in Boulder, Colorado.

Reception

Billboard magazine reported in June 1985 Gato coming in at number 6 of a national sample of retail sales and rack sales reports.

In 1985, Computer Gaming World praised the game for being simultaneously easy to play and having deep, detailed strategy. 1991 and 1993 surveys in the magazine of strategy and war games, however, gave it one and a half stars out of five, stating that "it was adequate in its time, but not exemplary in any regard". Compute! stated that "Gato promises realism, and it delivers ... [it] lives up to its claims". Jerry Pournelle wrote favorably of the game in BYTE, stating he wished he could slow the game down, but "I've certainly wasted enough time with it ... Recommended", and that he preferred the black-and-white Macintosh version to the color IBM PC version.

External links

• GATO at MobyGames
• The MS-DOS version of Gato can be played for free in the browser at the Internet Archive
• Of AJAX, GATO, and Bill Scott