Moon Patrol

Name:	Moon Patrol
Company:	Atari
Model #:	CX-2692
Programmers:	Noelie Alito, Mark Ackerman, & Patty Goodson (GCC)
Year:	1983
Released?	Yes
Notes:	Moon Patrol was one of the first games to be outsourced to GCC.

Moon Patrol was an arcade smash hit from Williams (licensed from Irem), so it was only natural that Atari wanted it on the 2600.  However, it was around this time that Atari realized that the didn't have enough seasoned programmers to do all the games they wanted to do so they contracted Moon Patrol (and several other games) out to a company called GCC.  GCC (which stands for General Computer Corporation), was a small company that got its start by selling illegal speed up kits for Missile Command machines.  After Atari sued GCC they reached a legal settlement in which Atari got two arcade games GCC had developed (Food Fight and Quantum).  Atari then took notice of the skill of the GCC programmers and figured they found a solution to their problem.  Atari and GCC  started to work together and developed a close partnership, which included (among other things) developing 2600 games.  GCC later went on to create the Atari 7800 before leaving the video game market.  GCC continued to develop hardware peripherals and printers until 2015.

In Moon Patrol you are a Luna City police officer assigned to Sector Nine, the home of the "toughest thugs in the galaxy."  Your goal is to patrol the surface of the moon while avoiding various obstacles and hazards ranging from UFO's to land mines.  Your moon buggy is armed with lasers that shoot upwards in addition to forwards.  You will need to use these lasers to fend off the various enemies that appear throughout the game.

One of the more interesting aspects of Moon Patrol is its checkpoint system.  The various areas in Moon Patrol are divided up into zones (denoted by an x). Each time the player passes into a new zone the obstacles and enemies will change, sometimes quite dramatically.  These zones also serve as 'continue points' for when the player dies (you start back at the last zone passed).  Every five zones (six for the final area) the player will reach a checkpoint which signifies the end of a level.  Depending on the amount of time taken to reach the checkpoint, the player may receive bonus points and be informed if they broke the level record or not.

GCC created a wonderful port of the arcade mega hit.  The graphics had to be simplified a bit and some of enemies taken out (such as different sized rocks, boulders, large pits, and pit plants), but the gameplay remained faithful to the arcade version.  GCC even managed to include the Champion Course, rockets at all!  One of the most memorable aspects of the 2600 is its music which while a bit simplified and rearranged, managed to sound similar to the arcade game.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Moon Patrol is not what they left in, it's what they left out.  Several features from the arcade were originally planned (and even programmed), but ultimately taken out of the finished game.  For example, one of the earliest prototypes has the checkpoint letters and displays what area you're currently in, this was replaced with generic markers (small x's) and no indication of the current area.  Another missing arcade feature that was actually implemented at one point are the rolling boulders.  In the arcade there are several areas where large boulders will roll towards the rover and must be shot.  However when GCC tried to implement them they didn't get the motion quite right and the boulders sort of 'bounced' instead of rolling towards the player.  This may have been the reason they were removed.

Another interesting aspect to the evolution of the design of the 2600 version of Moon Patrol was the look of the rover.  The design of the rover went through three different revisions, starting with a large tank with treads, a more refined looking tank, and then finally settling on the 'sports car' shaped rover that we've all grown to love.  Various other aspects of the game were changed as the design process carried on including swapping around the difficulty switches, refining the sounds and music, and even toying around with a continue feature.

    

While some of the arcade features had to be stripped out and the gameplay simplified a little, the 2600 version of Moon Patrol is a very solid port and remains a fan favorite to this day.  Atari must have been impressed with the work GCC did as they ended up programming over 20 more games for the 2600 alone.  GCC also did many arcade ports for the 5200 and 7800 (which they also designed).

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