Moon Patrol - tips and history   Click for Google +1 Moon Patrol was released in 1982 by Irem (whose other notable game was 10 Yard Fight). Despite the fashionable 80s colours, it was not too successful but it does have a few devoted fans. The main frustration with the game was generally little variety, but more importantly the game would also corner you at times no matter how skillful you had become. Unlike Space Invaders or PacMan where you would lose a life only through a mistake, in Moon Patrol your enemies sometimes dropped combinations of bombs that were impossible to escape. Levels Moon Patrol has two unique levels - level one is relatively easy and level two is more advanced. Each time you complete level two or higher, the same layout of level two is repeated. Each level is broken into 26 sections (A-Z). each time you get killed, you return to the last point you crossed. At E, J, O, T and Z you will get bonus points providing you completed that section within the alloted time. Playing Moon Patrol There are four basic controls in Moon Patrol. A joystick for faster or slower (back and forward) and two buttons: jump and fire. When firing, bullets come out the front and out the top at the same time. As you accelerate, you also advance further along the screen, giving you less time to avoid collisions. However, you get bonus points for completing the sections as quickly as possible, so it is important not to go too slow. But at other times, you will need to slow down in order to clear obstacles. The faster you go, the further you jump, so this can cause you to land too far in front and explode (very common in the mine fields). Flying enemies From the sky, there are three enemies. The first two pictured randomly drop bombs on you, while the third will will drop bombs to form craters (which you will need to jump over). You can shoot the missiles they fire at you, but more importantly make sure you kill the craft as soon as possible. After a certain period of time, they will try to crash into you. Most effective way of eliminating the flying enemies is a forward and backward movement while firing.   Ground obstacles Most of the action with Moon Patrol centres around obstacles on the ground. There are bucket loads mines and craters to jump and occasionally other enemies. There are the yellow tanks, moon weeds, rolling balls and occasionally a low level pursuit ship will appear behind you. Everything can be jumped, and apart from the craters, everything else can be shot (but most times you will need to do both). The trick with the rolling balls is to move forward into them, shoot and move backwards, you may need to jump the last one. When the pursuit ship appears, keep moving forward. It will then accelerate. As it approaches you, jump and it will pass under. Then shoot it when it is in front.     Where to play and download Moon Patrol Moon Patrol is part of the MAME project, so in order to play Moon Patrol on your desktop, you will need to download the ROM. For more information about MAME and ROMs, see this MAME article - there are some copyright issues to consider. Around the Web are some Java clones of the game but many don't have the same look and feel as the original game. Finally you can try to locate the upright cabinet version - these are rarely in good working order, but the joystick can make the game a lot easier to play.

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