Planet Patrol

The Good
For a 2600 game to hold up today the core gameplay loop needs to be easy to pick up but also engaging enough to maintain the player's attention. Planet patrol succeeds at this.

Planet Patrol has the player flying through a barrage of enemy fighters and missiles with the player only able to destroy the enemy fighters. After a set amount of time a different colour ship will join the barrage. The player needs to fly into this ship to earn a bonus.

This then brings us to the second half of gameplay; the player then needs to destroy the buildings in their way before they are able to continue. If the player is unable to destroy all the buildings in time it will be lights out. When the buildings are destroyed the player then has to fly through the newly created debris field before landing to refuel.

Once refuelling is complete the player repeats the gameplay loop but now the game transitions to night time with the screen only being lit when the player is firing. This provides a different kind of challenge as everything is much harder to see/avoid.

The graphics hold up considerably well for the 2600. The player ship is a stand with the wings extending in real time when the difficulty switch is pressed. The buildings the player is tasked to destroy also look great for the system, not a blocky mess like other games on the 2600.

Overall this gameplay loop is really enjoyable for the 2600; it feels as if the developers really knew what they wanted to achieve with this game. The game's not bogged down by any random mechanics, instead bringing its own unique idea to this type of shooter.

The Bad
There is very little not to like about this game. I think the worst aspect has to be the sound. While the sound is not the worst I have heard from a game on the system it still isn't anything worth writing home about.

The Bottom Line
Planet Patrol really does hold up today. It avoids many of the pitfalls that similar games at the time fell into. In avoiding these pitfalls Planet Patrol stands on its own as a game worth playing today.