Released in 1999 by the Japanese studio Sacnoth for SNK's handheld line, Dive Alert appeared in two editions that follow different protagonists through the same conflict. This record covers the version carrying Matt's name, catalogued as a role-playing game with a top-down viewpoint.

The design pairs narrative sequences with tactical submarine combat. Engagements are not action set pieces but contests of detection, range, weapon selection and reading an opponent's movement. Operating underwater gives that its own logic: you often cannot see the enemy at all, you work from imperfect readings, and misjudging a contact costs you the hull.

The two-version release remains the most interesting thing about it. This was not the cosmetic split familiar from paired handheld role-playing games, where the differences amount to swapped creatures. Here the two editions present the same events from opposing sides, so a player could pick a perspective or play both and assemble a fuller picture. On a handheld with a small user base that was a bold commitment of development effort.

SNK's handheld had a short commercial life and its library stayed small, which paradoxically improved its reputation. Most releases were carefully made, and collectors seek them out precisely because there are few of them and several do things that were not attempted elsewhere. A submarine role-playing game split across two complementary editions fits that description exactly.

The entry records the year, the developer, the platform and a set of screenshots. There is no browser-playable version attached, so this page documents the release rather than offering a way to try it.