Variations
1 – Air-Sea War, Rear Guided Shots: A two-player game in which one player takes on the role of an aircraft, while the second takes on the role of a submarine. Both players move automatically in opposite directions across the screen, but their speed and altitude/depth can be adjusted using the joystick. Pressing the fire button launches a shot from the rear of the aircraft or submarine, which can be “guided” somewhat after launch by pushing left and right on the joystick. The winner is whoever has the most points after three minutes. A point is gained for hitting the other player, and lost for hitting the two “neutral” ships that move across the middle of the screen.
2 – Air-Sea War, Rear Unguided Shots: As above, but the shots cannot be guided after launch.
3 – Air-Sea War, Front Guided Shots: As variation 1, but the shots launch from the front of the aircraft and sub rather than the rear, requiring different timing.
A – Battle, Basic Game: A two-player game in which each player controls a tank from a top-down perspective by pushing left and right on the joystick to turn, up to move forwards and the fire button to fire a shot. Each player must destroy their opponent as many times as possible within a 3 minute time limit. Each player has 20 rounds of ammunition; the game ends early if both players deplete their stocks. In order to let players know when they are nearly out of ammunition, their last three shots are a different colour.
B – Battle, Basic Game with 2 Barriers: As above, but there are two impassable “barriers” on the screen that cannot be moved or fired through.
C – Battle, Basic Game with 10 Barriers: As above, with a more complex arrangement of barriers.
D-F – Battle, Guided Missiles: As A-C, but the direction of shots can be changed after they are fired by steering your tank.
G-I – Battle, Mines: As A-C, but mines are present on the map. Driving into these destroys your tank and gives your opponent a point.
J-L – Battle, Pro-Tier 1337 Noscope: As A-C, but the direction of shots can be changed after they are fired and there are mines present.
Original release date: 1978
Also known as: Sub Chase!/Armored Encounter! (USA)
Air-Sea War 
Battle
Pete’s Take
There’s pretty much nothing here for you if you’re a solo player, but if you have a friend willing to play with you, this Videopac is hard to beat for competitive funtimes. Wikipedia claims there is a variant of this cartridge that provides a Risk-style tabletop “metagame” where conflicts between the players are resolved using the video game, but I’ve seen no evidence of this actually existing. This is most likely a case of confusion with a similar board game/Videopac hybrid called Conquest of the World, number 41 in the library.
Comparisons to the Atari 2600’s Air-Sea Battle and Combat are inevitable, and as launch titles for the 2600, Atari’s games predate this Videopac by a year. There are pros and cons to each; here, you’re getting two distinct experiences for the price of one, while Atari’s games each provide considerably more variations on the basic experience than you get here — particularly in the case of Air-Sea Battle, which has a huge number of very different ways to play.
Taken on its own merits, however, Videopac 4 is an essential addition to any collector’s library, particularly if you have someone to enjoy it with. While it totally lacks a single-player component, it is, in many ways, a quintessential example of what video gaming really meant in the late ’70s: a competitive, social activity for friends and family members to engage in together around the living room TV.
Videopac Games 