Gato

Gato is one of the early submarine simulators for home computers, putting the player in the role of the commander of an American Gato-class submarine fighting against Japanese convoys and warships in the Pacific during World War II. For its time, the game offered a relatively detailed submarine model, in which the player monitors sonar, controls diving and surfacing, and plans torpedo attacks based on the target's speed and course, while also having to account for a limited supply of fuel and torpedoes on board, which leads to weighing when it's worth attacking and when it's better to end the patrol and return to port.

The gameplay is built on a simple but functional cycle: locating a convoy on the map, closing in either submerged or on the surface, calculating the angle on the bow for the torpedo tubes, and then dealing with the countermeasures of escort vessels. The graphics are necessarily simple given the year of release, with simple outline renderings of ships and instrument panels, but the overview map and indicators give the player enough information for sound tactical decisions even without modern visual bells and whistles. The sound design is limited to basic sonar signals and explosions, yet it still manages to convey a sense of tension during the long wait before firing.

In the mid-1980s, Gato was among the first titles to show that even limited DOS hardware could support a convincingly functioning war simulator, and it earned a reputation as an honest, if undemanding, submarine game. Today the game is interesting mainly as a historical exhibit and a stepping stone toward later, more elaborate submarine simulations like Silent Service, alongside which it belongs among the genre's foundational titles by concept, even though it lacks the later degree of detail, graphical polish and atmosphere that newer titles brought at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s.

Why play it: For those interested in the genre's history rather than modern comfort — an honest, undemanding stepping stone toward more elaborate submarine simulations like Silent Service, even though it now lacks the detail and atmosphere of later games.