Moon Patrol
Arcade
Nostalgia Factor:
While I would never consider it one of my favorites growing up, I always enjoyed Moon Patrol. It was one of those games where I could throw in a few quarters, enjoy myself, and actually feel like I had a chance with the game. It had the perfect balance to its difficulty where it was accessible to pick up and play, but was challenging enough that I could never *quite* make it all the way through to the end.
As I got older, Moon Patrol kind of faded out of my mind forever, until the last few months or so when I kept seeing posts about it pop up on social media. Now that I have a Retropie, I figured there was no better time than the present to revisit this game and see if I could beat it once and for all.
Fun fact: this game initially came out in August of 1982, just one month after I was born. It’s like me and Moon Patrol have grown up together.
Story:
Uhhhh… as far as I know this game doesn’t really have a story. I’m sure if you looked at the Wiki page for this game you’d come up with something, but as far as I know nothing is ever explained in-game. If it isn’t explained in-game, I don’t talk about it here. Those are my rules, not that I think it really matters with this game. You drive and you shoot stuff, and that’s really all you need to know about Moon Patrol coming in.
Gameplay:
This is a very straightforward game. You control a little tank-like vehicle as it races across the surface of the moon. The joystick either speeds you up or slows you down. You cannot bring your tank to a complete stop, however; it is always in motion going forward as you play this game. Aside from the joystick, you only have two buttons: jump and fire. The jump button does exactly what you’d think it would do: it launches your tank off the ground for a second or two, which is something you’ll need to do in order to get over pits, mines, and other obstacles. The fire button shoots a projectile weapon both in front of you and directly above you into the sky. Why do you need a weapon that fires in two directions, you may ask? Because in addition to enemies coming at you on the ground, they come at you from above as well.
Moon Patrol is very fast paced. You’re always going forward. You’re always shooting at stuff (both in front of you and above you). You’re always evading enemy fire. You’re always jumping over obstacles. The game is divided into two main “courses" - beginner and champion. Each course is broken up into 26 segments, as noted by letters of the alphabet. Once you get through all the letters you complete the first course and move on to the next one. The champion course is also broken up into 26 segments. Make it through them once again and you complete the game. Yay!
But I am not sure you can call it really “beating” the game, because everything starts to loop from the beginning of the champion course again. Just like the games of its time (Pac-Man, Frogger, etc) Moon Patrol doesn't really end. Like the Energizer Bunny, it keeps going and going and going...
Graphics:
I'm sure you can tell by these screenshots that the game doesn't look like much. Everything is very basic looking. Aside from a few minor differences in the background, most stages look very similar to one another.
That doesn't mean the game looks bad, though. By today's standards, a lot of games that are this old haven't held up well over the years. They look rough around the edges and in some cases flat out ugly. Moon Patrol does not have this problem. The game looks simple, yes, but it has a charm to it that is difficult to put into words.
Sound:
This game's music and sound effects are very simple too. The stage music you hear throughout the game never changes. It's the same for each and every level you play. While you'd think this would get old fast, I never found myself minding. I like this game's music. It's got a catchy beat to it that really makes you feel like you're on a mission each time you respawn or a new stage begins.
The sound effects are pretty standard for a video game made in 1982. What makes Moon Patrol different is that it never once has that "annoying" sound to it. You know, those loud and obnoxious beeps and bloops that are associated with games of this era. Moon Patrol is pleasing to the ear the whole way through it.
Overall:
I kind of feel bad that Moon Patrol never got the recognition it deserves. When you think of all-time arcade greats, you think of games like Frogger, Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, and Pac-Man. But Moon Patrol? You never hear it brought up.
I think this game is just as good as some of those titles, if not better. I'd rather play Moon Patrol over Pac-Man or Donkey Kong any day of the week. It's fun, it's accessible, and it has more depth and strategy to its gameplay than many other games of its time.
If you have the means to play Moon Patrol, you should check it out. It's a fun little piece of gaming history that's actually a very entertaining game as well.
Final Score:
B
If you liked this review, check out some of my other game reviews:
No comments:
Post a Comment