Moon Patrol |
Atari 2600 |
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Review by Matt Paprocki |
Atari |
Shooter |
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Graphics: 8 |
Sound: 9 |
Gameplay: 8 |
Overall: 8 |
Infectious is the only word in the English dictionary to describe the soundtrack to William's classic "Moon Patrol." As a matter of fact, it's stuck in my head as right this, distracting me from the task at hand. Thankfully, those who converted this one to the 2600 obviously felt the same way. Oh, it plays pretty well too.
Almost the entire game is based on memorization. The space-based landscape never changes (unless one of the aliens decides to do it for you) so it's imperative to watch where you're going while playing. It can only help when the likely billion dollar spacecraft gets a second chance. Only the extraterrestrials alter their movements to avoid being brutally gunned down from the invading ground forces.
A reasonable facsimile of the arcade game, the 2600 port actually loses very little visually. The parallax scrolling from the arcade game (the first game to use it) is missing, but the war torn enemies look almost exactly like they did inside the full-size cabinet. The amount of sprites on screen at once is pretty impressive as well, amazingly avoiding any flicker or break-up. But even to this day, it's the sound that makes "Moon Patrol." The sound effects just plop you right into an early 80's arcade. You almost wish a hundred screens could surround you at once, simulating the unforgettable era. It's something that the largest orchestras and digital sound could never reproduce. Then of course, we have the music that has to be one of the great video game anthems of all time. Instantly catchy, the 2600's meager sound chip pulls off double duty and flawlessly replicates one of gaming's greatest.
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