Moon Patrol is a horizontally scrolling shooter developed by Irem and released to arcades in 1982. It was published by Williams in North America.
Gameplay[]
The player controls a moon buggy as they attempt to pass through 26 checkpoints, labelled alphabetically. Multiple obstacles are there to impede the player's progress, including rocks (stationary and rolling,) pits, landmines, spaceships, tanks and other buggies. The player can jump to avoid pits, mines and rocks. The player has two weapons, which are controlled by the same button: A laser cannon that fires in the air to take out spaceships and a missile cannon to destroy bigger rocks. Some of the ships fire projectile that crater the ground, creating new pits, but all projectiles can be shot out of the air.
The HUD has three circles that light up to indicate oncoming threats. The top light indicates spaceships, the middle light indicates a minefield and the bottom light indicates enemy buggies coming from behind.
After checkpoints "E," "J," "O," "T," and "Z," the player is given a short break and bonus points if they beat the average time to reach the checkpoint. The game begins on the Beginner Course, and after reaching Checkpoint Z, you will enter the Champion Course.