Do
you remember River Patrol from the arcades? Did you even know that it was
a coin-op game by an obscure Japanese company called Orca? (It was distributed
in the U.S. an equally obscure company named Kersten.) Apparently unable to
compete with the likes of Parker Brothers, Coleco and Atari in obtaining
licenses to hit arcade games, Tigervision went to Japan and procured the rights
to such offbeat coin-ops as Espial, Polaris and River Patrol.
In this game, you take control of a tug that is streaming merrily down a jungle river. Along the way, obstacles such as rocks, crocodiles, logs, whirlpools and other boats conspire to prevent you from reaching the dam at the end of the river. The player also must keep an eye on the water meter, because your boat takes in water and there's only so much it can take before sinking! For bonus points, you can also rescue the drowning folks in the river who occasionally turn up on the screen. Plucking them out of the water is a simple matter of passing your boat through them.
The graphics for the game are representative of first generation 2600 effort but are colorful and clear nonetheless. The accompanying cheeky tune that plays throughout the game is bound to relax any player who just finished a tough round of River Raid. While it may never be a main staple in any gamer's daily 2600 diet, River Patrol is nevertheless a serviceable action-simulation which possesses enough unique features to make it almost as enjoyable to play as it is to own (consider yourself among the elite if you own this cartridge.)
