magazine

Ultimate gUide to
arcades. 1982 was titles a big sUch year as in scramble the
generation had set of the games tone, were bUt a pUshing new
the it’s limits. time strap for a in moon to yoUr patrol! bUggy,
it’s a tough life being a police officer in
the Luna City police force. Far away from
home, stuck on the inhospitable satellite,
things are bad enough before you’re
assigned to Sector Nine, home of some of the
most dangerous criminals in the solar system.
Fortunately you have help. Fortunately, you have a
state-of-the-art, six-wheeled moon buggy.
Moon Patrol’s bespoke buggy is a technological
marvel. Especially adapted to cope with the
rough demands of the moon’s surface, it has
three extra shock-absorbent axles that are adept
at cruising over the consistently bumpy surface.
Its six wheels also have a special power – they
can propel the buggy into the air, useful for
straddling the many craters and other hazards
on the surface, the buggy seemingly hanging
in the air in the low gravity of the moon. Finally,
the vehicle is well armed, too. In addition to a
forward-pointing cannon, it can simultaneously
shoot multiple missiles upwards. And these
weapons are going to come in very useful, for
the villains of the sector own a vast fleet of flying
saucers and other spacecraft with which to try and
eliminate our valiant police officer. Two of these,
the regular spaceship and a flying saucer, drop
missiles which can either be shot or dodged. The
third, a strange collection of constantly-shifting
orbs, drop powerful bombs in front of the buggy,
creating new craters in the process. Clearly, this
dedicated patrolman has one hell of a job in front
of them. But that’s not all: there are also
» [Arcade] Moon
Patrol ’s city,
sweetly lit up on one
side by the sun.
36 | RETRO GAMER