Story[]
"Fly the Cave Ranger deep into sunless caverns of Subterranea. You seek precious Treasure Crystals. But first you must contend with the hideous Hexuplex! It sends deadly Aerobots screaming towards you. Dodge them! Turn and fire! Obliterate them all!
Flashing Electro-Gates pulse with eerie intensity. Slip past them and on into deeper darkness. To what depths can you descend? Skulls encrust the cavern walls - keep keen wits about you or yours may join the rest!"
--- Game Manual Atari2600
Gameplay[]
Subterranea is divided into two stages, that appear repeatedly. The first one is a Cavern with a Hexuplex creature. The second part consist of series Cavern Tunnels.
At the beginning the Ranger ship is found the top of the Cavern while a creature known as the HEXUPLEX occupies the bottom. The HEXUPLEX starts ejecting certain amount of Aerobots, that must be shoot down to proceed. A small pink UI bar indicates the progress. Colliding with Aerobot will destroy a Ranger. After destroying all Aerobots the HEXUPLEX will flee, leaving behind a Treasure Crystal. Cave Ranger needs to fly down to the Crystal and touch it until a shaft opens up through the cavern floor. It creates a vertical passage that leads to Cavern Tunnels.
Now, in the second stage, there is set amount of targets to be shoot (also indicated by the bar at the bottom) that behave in various manners, changing with every further descent. Clearing all targets causes a passage down to be opened (a chime will ring out, signaling open exit). Ranger must fly horizontally until Electro-Gate is found, which is guarded by a pulse. Being hit by pulse costs lose of points but it won’t destroy the ship ( Ranger will also be knocked out of the gate). If third attempt fails, the Tunnel fills with foes, and needs to be clear out again (without scoring additional points). Making through the Gate results descending further down the next Tunnel and face a new set of enemies to destroy. After a certain number of tunnels is vanquished, the new Cavern with the HEXUPLEX is found, although at a higher degree of difficulty.
Goal[]
- Descend as deep as possible
- Score high
- Keep going if you can! (--- Game Manual Atari2600)
Rules[]
- Fight off attacking Aerobots and swoop down to seize the Treasure Crystal.
- Descend to the tunnels, blasting the flying foes. Don't let the Ranger touch tunnel sides...especially any skulls!
- Clear a tunnel and find the Electro-Gate. Move the Ranger through it safely in 3 attempts or less.
- When you've cleared the bottom tunnel, descend through the glowing transit port and enter a big cavern.
(--- Game Manual Atari2600)
Player[]
| Cave Ranger | |
|---|---|
|
FEATURES: - attack: single fire - defense: none - 5 units total at start - gained for no hit Tunnel clear out |
Moves[]
Basic Moves
- Attack (single fire)
- Fly: up/down/forth/back
Special Moves
| move | image | description | how to perform |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening Transit Port |
Forbidden Moves
Weapons[]
Game Environment[]
Levels[]
Two stages:
- Cavern with a Hexuplex
- series Cavern Tunnels
| name | map start | description/objective |
|---|---|---|
| HEXUPLEX Cavern - firts one | ||
| Cavern Tunnels - 3 flors | ||
Items[]
None.
Interactable Objects[]
| name | icon | type | characteristics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Treasure Crystal | 
|
mechanism | - appears after destroying the last Aerobot released by Hexuplex - opens Transit Port to enter a Cavern Tunnels (Ranger need to fly over it a short while, like a "long pick up") - adds +1000 score points |
Enemies[]
| name | image | attack | durability | loot/score | level encounter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hexuplex | 
|
|
|||
|
|||||
| Aerobot | |||||
| Tunnel Foe | 
|
Hexuplex 1: tunnel 1 | |||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
Bosses[]
None.
Dangers[]
| name | image | mechanics | level encounter | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skull | 
|
- stays in Cavern Borders - deadly in touch (life lost) 
|
- all Cavern Borders | |
| Cavern Borders | 
|
|
- loss of points on touch (the longer touch the more loss) - incrusted with one, two or three Skulls at some places (Ranger loss on touch) |
- Separates all cavern tunnels |
|
| |||
Characters[]
None.
UI[]
Menu[]
None.
Game modes[]
Save Options[]
HUD[]
| name | image | description |
|---|---|---|
Controls[]
| peripheral | button/key | action |
|---|---|---|
Scoring[]
| score | action |
|---|---|
Releases & Credits[]
| platform | first release | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| box cover | date | developer | publisher | authors | ||
| Atari 2600 | 
|
|
1983 | Imagic | Imagic | 
|
OTHER RELEASES:
| platorm | box cover | date | publisher | country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Manual[]
| language | file |
|---|---|
| English [EN] |
|
Bonus Content[]
Secrets[]
Easter Eggs[]
Cheats[]
Game Series[]
Game Clones[]
Unreleased Content[]
Development Phase[]
Concept Art[]
Map Editor[]
Additional Info[]
- The similarly-named later game of Sub-Terrania for the Sega Genesis came out a little over a decade later. Aside from the underground theme, the two games don’t have much in common, as Sub-Terrania took place over a course of nine levels (Subterranea can go on indefinitely, depending on a player’s skill), having changing mission objectives for every level.
- Do not confuse with the game of the same title developed for Commodore 64 by Hewson Consultants: see Subterranea (by Hewson)
Gallery[]
