Moon Patrol

The Good
Moon Patrol was released in the arcades back in 1982. It was created by Takashi Nishiyama, who also did Kung-Fu Master. It is just another one of those games that you couldn't stop playing. Like other games that were released around the same time, there is no real plot involved.

As a Lunar City police officer assigned to Sector Nine, your job is to guide a buggy across the moon’s surface, shooting UFOs and aliens above you while avoiding any obstacles that are on your path. The buggy has the ability to shoot at objects, jump, reverse, speed up, and slow down. In the “Beginner Course”, there are 26 checkpoints you pass through, and each stage introduces new obstacles and alternating backgrounds. Once you have passed all checkpoints, you proceed to the “Champion Course” in which things will be a little bit harder.

The interface is laid out nicely, especially the progress bar on the right representing what checkpoint you are approaching. The traffic lights on the right warn you what type of enemy is approaching you. Moon Patrol was one of the first games to feature parallax scrolling, where the backgrounds move with the player. Of these backgrounds, the Lunar City looks good. The animations are excellent, and when you get killed by aliens or when you fall into a hole, the explosion of the buggy is brilliant.

Moon Patrol plays a memorable tune while you play, but there are different pieces of music, with the most heard one played when you manage to pass five checkpoints. Sound-wise, a wavy pattern can be heard when enemies hover above you. I like the sound effect when you kill these enemies.

The Bad
Nothing is bad about this game

The Bottom Line
Moon Patrol was not only one of the first arcade game to feature gorgeous graphics and parallax scrolling, but it was also the first to offer a continue option, making it an incentive for players to have that "just one more go" attitude. The object of the game is simple: drive a buggy along the moon's surface to get to all 26 checkpoints, blasting aliens in the process. Classic stuff.