Moon Patrol Arcade Machine
Moon Patrol Arcade Machine is a 1982 arcade video game developed and released by Irem. It was licensed to Williams for distribution in North America. The music during gameplay appears to pay homage to the baseline of James Brown’s “Soulful Christmas.” Moon Patrol Arcade Machine is often credited with the introduction of full parallax scrolling in side-scrolling games.
Gameplay:
The player takes the role of a Luna City police officer assigned to Sector Nine, the home of the “toughest thugs in the galaxy.” The player controls a Moon buggy that travels over the Moon’s surface, viewed from the side as it moves toward the right. Craters, mines, and other obstacles on the ground must be shot or jumped over. Two types of flying UFOs attack from above and must be shot down. One of the flying enemies has a weapon which creates a crater when it hits the ground.
There are a number of courses. Each course is divided into 26 checkpoints, named after the letters of the English alphabet.
Five major checkpoints: Denote a new “stage”
- E
- J =mines
- O
- T
- Z
The top portion of the screen shows a timeline-style map of the course, with the five major checkpoints clearly marked.
Above the map is an indicator of the current checkpoint, the time spent in the stage, and three indicator lights:
- the top light indicates upcoming enemy aerial attacks
- the middle one indicates an upcoming minefield
- the bottom one indicates enemies approaching from behind
Bonus Points:
- at the end of the stage at 1,000 plus 100 per second bettered
- completing an entire course gives an additional 5,000 points plus 100 per second bettered
Unique Courses:
- “Beginner Course”
- “Champion Course” – loops forever, and each loop is numbered
Extra Lives at:
- 10,000
- 30,000
- 50,000
The game ends upon the last patrol car destroyed. However, game play can be continued, but points scored from one game do not carry over. 999,999 points is the maximum high score that can be achieved. Players can exceed this score, but it “turns over” if they do.
“An incredible thing happens when a person takes control of Williams’ Moon Patrol”
