Moon Patrol
Description official descriptions
Moon Patrol is a side-scrolling game where the player must drive a moon buggy from one station on the Moon to another, all while avoiding crashing or getting destroyed by alien ships. The vehicle is constantly moving right and the player can speed up or slow down, jump, and shoot (simultaneously firing upwards and forwards.) There are 25 checkpoints along the way, each symbolized with a letter from A to Z and serving as a respawn point. Every five checkpoints mark a separate "stage" within the entire course; reaching the end of a stage under the par time grants a large score bonus.
Dangers on the Moon include rocks (small and big ones) which can be shot to pieces or jumped over, pits which must be jumped, and UFOs which fire at the player or bombard the ground (creating pits). Later the player also comes upon stationary tanks which fire missiles (which can be destroyed with the player's own shots), landmines, carnivorous plants that pop up out of pits, and rocket cars which stalk the buggy from behind before rushing forward in an attempt to ram it down.
After completing the first course (the "Beginner Course") the player can try his skill on the harder Champion Course.
Spellings
- アーケードアーカイブス ムーンパトロール - Japanese PS4 / Switch spelling
- ムーンパトロール - Japanese spelling
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Credits (Arcade version)
| Lead Designer (uncredited) | |
| Music and Sound Effects (uncredited) |
Reviews
Trivia
1001 Video Games
The Arcade version of Moon Patrol appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.
Cancelled Spectrum version
In one of the stranger moments in Sinclair Spectrum history, a version of this game was completed but never released, despite a great review from Crash! magazine. A handful of copies exist, but never reached a shop floor.
Innovation
According to the 2007 documentary Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade, Irem's 1982 arcade version of Moon Patrol (distributed in North America by Williams) was the first arcade game to allow gameplay continuation with score retention by inserting another coin. Thus, for the first time, one's high score wasn't solely a matter of how far a player could get on a single coin, but rather a function of how many quarters they wanted to sink into the machine.Furthermore, the game is credited with introducing parallax background scrolling to video games to imply depth.
Awards
- TeleMatch
- Issue 04/1984 – #3 Arcade Game of the Year 1983 (Readers' Vote)
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Related Sites +
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AtariMania (Atari 2600)
for Atari 2600: database; downloadable releases; artwork; additional material -
AtariMania (Atari 5200)
for Atari 5200: database; downloadable releases; artwork; additional material -
AtariMania (Atari 8-bit)
for Atari 8-bit: database; downloadable releases; artwork; additional material -
AtariMania (Atari ST)
for Atari ST: database; downloadable releases; artwork; additional material -
Game Base 64
for C64: Downloadable links, Database, Music, Emulation, Frontends, Reviews and Articles -
Game Oldies (Nintendo Game Boy Color)
for (Nintendo Game Boy Color): online emulation of games Moon Patrol and Spy Hunter -
Lemon 64
for C64: games, reviews and music -
MSX Generation
for MSX: catalogue; cover art; additional material -
My Abandonware
for PC Booter and C64: downloadable releases; online versions; additional material -
The International Arcade Museum
extensive information about the arcade game machine -
Virtual Apple 2 - Online disk archive
for Apple II: online emulation of game (for Windows and Mac); downloadable releases; additional material -
Wikipedia
combined platform entry -
YouTube (John's Arcade Game Reviews & Tech)
for Arcade version: gameplay and detailed explanation on an authentic Arcade.
Identifiers +
- MobyGames ID: 575
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Trixter.
TI-99/4A added by Corn Popper. Atari 2600, Commodore 64 added by PCGamer77. PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch added by Rik Hideto. BREW added by Kabushi. Atari 8-bit added by Martin Smith. Atari 5200, Apple II, VIC-20 added by Servo. Sord M5 added by Игги Друге. MSX added by koffiepad. Atari ST added by Belboz. Arcade added by rcoltrane.
Additional contributors: Martin Smith, Pseudo_Intellectual, Игги Друге, Patrick Bregger, Rik Hideto, FatherJack, ZeTomes.
Last modified February 22nd, 2023.