Moon Patrol(Atari 2600) FAQ/Walkthrough version 1.0.0 by schultw.andrez@sbcglobal.net(anti-spam spoonerism) Please do not reproduce for profit without my consent. You won't be getting much profit anyway, but that's not the point. This took time and effort, and I just wanted to save a memory of an old game and the odd solutions any way I could. Please send me an email referring to me and this guide by name if you'd like to post it on your site. ================================ OUTLINE 1. INTRODUCTION 2. CONTROLS 3. WALKTHROUGH 4. VERSIONS 5. CREDITS ================================ 1. INTRODUCTION Moon Patrol is an old game from when arcade games were starting their boom that just about everyone likes. Unlike many other loved arcade games, though, it translated well to the Atari 2600. You don't have the parallax scenery or the cool backgrounds, and the randomness can be truly annoying, but it's well done given the memory constraints. In Moon Patrol you guide a buggy across several bits of terrain, with five mini-courses per level and five checkpoints per level. If you die, you return at the last checkpoint. Along the way you have boulders to shoot and holes to jump, and enemies will appear above to shoot you down. Some of them even create holes as they fire. Then there are mined levels where you need to jump, not too fast or slow, to keep going. You always have the ability to fire up and to the right at the same time as the screen scrolls left, and timing when you fire and when you jump is critical in getting through the game. On the one hand, once you know the tricks, Moon Patrol doesn't seem all that complex. Still there's enough timing in there and enough strategy that the occasional random time it traps you when enemies hail shots from above to create several pits in a row is worth it. 2. CONTROLS You can move right to go faster and left to go slower. Speed only gives you more points, although in some cases it may be necessary to move across the screen to avoid enemy fire. Pushing up jumps, and the fire button fires. You can have up to four shots on the screen at the same time. However, if you space them together too closely, then they will become redundant. Spacing them correctly allows them to take up more of the screen without an enemy getting through. Jumping as you fire makes things go a bit more quickly, but unlike the arcade game, your buggy does not take up as much of the screen, so it does not really give you an advantage that offsets the possibility you will forget about an oncoming rock or pit. Going fast(as defined here) doesn't take time off your score, but it may leave you open to crashing into two obstacles in a row, but you can leave the joystick in the center and not lose time, while going slow may mean you are unable to jump over a pit. In general, I go fast so I have no problems with most jumps, but when things get tough, you need to go about at medium speed. Toggling speeds also lets you hit enemies that insist on bouncing around in the upper left quadrant. If you have a lot of enemies above, or triads to kill, push the joystick right and release as you fire, and bounce your finger up and down on the fire button to space the shots correctly. I generally hold right when I need to. Extra men at 10000. Bonuses for finishing(above 1000 flat) 100*55-x seconds for mini courses 1-2 100*60-x seconds for mini courses 3-4 100*65-x seconds for mini courses 5 First course overall: 5000 2000 for any level 2 mini course + (70-x)*100 seconds 10000 for the whole thing Regular UFOs(yellow or purple) get 100 and triads get 200. Jumping a single hole = 100, double = 200, land mine = 50. Rocks and tanks can be shot(80, 100) or jumped(100, 200). Enemy cars that start behind you are 500/800/1000. Fire to start the game. 3. WALKTHROUGH 3-0. EASY WALKTHROUGH MINI-COURSE 1 1: Hole, wait, rock, wait, hole, wait, rock 2: 2 yellows above, then 2 purples 3: rock, 2 yellows, hole 4: 3 yellows, 2 rocks 5: 2 triands, then hole-before-rock at the end. Shoot and fire. MINI-COURSE 2 1: rock, rock-then-hole 2: hole&2 rocks(jump early) then 2 yellow/2 purple 3: 4 purple 4: 3 triads, 3 purple, and watch for holes from triads 5: rock-before-hole, rock MINI-COURSE 3 Red flashing mines ahead. You can go fast here, but it is a bit of a hassle to judge things in advance. 1: 1 mine, then 2--so jump when the mine touches the 0 on normal speed, or when it is a bit to the right on fast 2: 1 then 1 then 1 3: 2 then 1 4: 4 purple, 3 yellow 5: 3 triads, 3 yellow MINI-COURSE 4 This is rather easy although if you have too many enemies, it might get a bit tangled. 1: rock, then rock-after-hole. Fire then jump. 2: rock-hole-rock quickly. 3: 2-and-2, then 3 yellows, then rock-hole, then rock 4: 2-and-2, then 3 purples 5: 3 triads MINI-COURSE 5 1: hole. 3 rocks then hole. Tank then hole. 2: 2 tanks then hole. 3 tanks then hole. 3: hole, hole, 3 triad, hole-then-rock, hole-then-rock. This is tricky if the triads fire in the middle of it, but go slow, fire when the rock is at the midway point of the screen, then lurch right in midair and fire/jump to get all the way over and hit the rock. The next part is tricky as you need to, at regular speed, jump(with the pit under the 0), fire fire and jump. 4: 4 purple, 3 yellow 5: 4 purple, 3 triad 6: 3 triad, rock-rock-hole, rock-hole-hole. Just fire and jump when necessary 3-1. MEDIUM WALKTHROUGH Even the easy course has its random pitfalls. I had to use save states to get through it the first time. It is hard to remember what to expect for five mini-courses, especially when enemies can hover out of sight and just drop bombs ahead of you. MINI-COURSE 1 1: Hole, boulder, hole, boulder 2: 2 yellow guys, 2 purple 3: rock, then 2 yellows 4: rock, 3 yellows, rock 5: triads, rock/hole near end My best: 42 seconds There is not much tricky here, as you basically need to learn when and how frequently to fire. MINI-COURSE 2 1: rock+hole, rock+hole--shoot + jump right after 2: hole right away(jump just after the X) so you can shoot down the 2 rocks Then you have 2 yellow, 2 purple 3: 4 purple Just keep firing and jumping and you should be OK. They'll disappear at the next one anyway. There's a rock at the end. 4: 3 triads, then 3 purples, rock just before the end. Watch for triads dropping missiles. 5: rock, rock-before-hole, rock MINI-COURSE 3 For this part, you need to jump when the flashing mine is over the 0 on your scoreboard. Don't speed up or slow down. After 3 x's you'll face 8 non triads, then 4 triads and 4 non triads after the final X. MINI-COURSE 4 1: rock-after-hole, rock-hole-rock(shoot before jumping here) 2: rock-hole-rock-hole. Jump over the first hole at regular speed, then fire at the rock and jump again. 4 enemies and a hole come by. 3: hole, then hole-rock-hole. Deal with the enemies from part 2. Rock near the end. 4: This level is just coasting. Shoot everyone above. 5: See above, but this time a few triads come out. Jump when necessary. MINI-COURSE 5 1: hole, rock-rock-rock-double hole(shoot the rocks) then tank-3 holes(fire several times at tank) 2: 2 tanks before hole(rapid fire to gun them down), 3 tanks before 2 holes(shoot the first two and continue firing and jump over the second) 3: hole, hole(fire as you jump,) then triads, and what sucks here is that the leading one may drop a missile between 2 holes, making it impossible to jump correctly. So if you lose a life, there's little that can be done about it. Then hole-rock-hole-rock, slowing a bit and firing just before jumping. Now there are 2 rocks a way ahead of the holes, and you can fire before jumping just to nick them, though it is best to go full throttle right. Now 4 purple guys, then 3 yellows. 4: 5 purple, then 3 triads before the end. There are 2 more rock jumps, but that should not be a problem. 3-2. MEDIUM-2 WALKTHROUGH MINI-COURSE 1 1: 3 yellow/purple to shoot above 2: car behind you, go fast and when he starts moving, fire 3: 2-jump, 1-jump, tank ahead of hole(go to normal speed here,) hole, 2 tanks ahead of hole 4: there are 2 tanks ahead of 2 holes here. Slow up to shoot them and then, when you're where the second was, go to the center and jump just before the edge. Make 2 quick jumps here, keeping the joystick in the center. Fire away. Before the next hole, tap right slightly just before you get to it then make a regular jump, so you can fire on the tank to the right. 5: 3 yellow/purple, then 1 hole, double hole, then 2 holes spaced--run fast and jump over them. MINI-COURSE 2 1: 2 yellow 3 white. The end part is tricky as you need to be on the ground when the x appears, but someone may drop a hole. Fire twice and jump and fire to get rid of the hole-3 rocks. 2: jump over the hole so you land early, stay back and shoot the 2 rocks, then go forward to jump barely over the hole and the next one. Triads will come before the next X and you may get crossed up by them. But if you do, you'll be past the next x, which is an easier area. I've found you may get a bit more traction firing as you jump, if an enemy deposits a hole between the two holes or near the rocks. 3: 2 holes then 2 rocks, then 2 rocks then 2 holes. Purple guys shoot above. 4: 3 of each, hole, 2 holes, hole, 2 purple along the way too 5: 3 triads are tricky so just try to shoot them(fire up as the X is about to disappear,) do a normal jump over the 2 pits, and shoot the rock to get to the end MINI-COURSE 3 1: hole, hole, 3 rocks. Jump over the first one at regular speed, slow, shoot 2 rocks and go back to regular to jump and shoot the third rock. There's another tricky jump ahead too. You need to jump over 1 hole, then over 2, then slow down and shoot 2 rocks before and after, make one of those comeback jumps where you speed up, jump and shoot. Next X after 4 yellows 2: normal speed. when the red is 2 digits right of the 0, jump up, then jump forward. Jump forward over the next pairs, too. Next time, jump when the red is 2 right of the 0, then 4 jumps forward. 3: rock, but the 3 triads and 3 purple will probably drop a hole, then hole(jump early) and rock and rock MINI-COURSE 4 1: 3 yellow, 3 purple 2: another car. 1 hole, 2 double holes, then fire when it goes forward. You'll have time to shoot it before jumping over the double holes that are part of... 3: double hole, 3 rocks, 2 holes, 1 hole 4: 2 tanks over 1 hole, where you need to slow down, take them out, then speed up and jump 5: 3 rocks, 3 triads, 3 yellows and then a hole thrown in for good measure to go with what the triads shoot MINI-COURSE 5 1: 2 yellow 2 purple 2: lots of red mines here. Jump at regular speed until you see a boulder, then slow back and shoot all 3 rocks and make a regular jump. Jump over the 2 red mines. 3: 4 yellow 2 purple, shoot the 2 rocks. 4: shoot the 3 rocks between the 2 holes, then jump and slow down and then regular jumps. 5: 3 triad, 3 yellow. Jump the hole, then 2 rocks spaced evenly. 6: jump the hole, 2 tanks. Slow jump over the hole after them. Go regular speed and fire at the tank when he shoots, so that you can jump over him and then fire quickly. After this the game repeats. End of FAQ Proper ================================ 4. VERSIONS 1.0.0: sent to GameFAQs 12/27/2007, complete, though I missed where an X is. 5. CREDITS Thanks to the usual GameFAQs gang, current and emeritus. They know who they are, and you should, too, because they get/got some SERIOUS writing done. Good people too--bloomer, falsehead, Sashanan, Masters, Retro, Snow Dragon/Brui5ed Ego, ZoopSoul, War Doc, Brian Sulpher, AdamL, odino, JDog and others I forgot. OK, even Hydrophant in his current not-yet-banned message board incarnation. I am not part of his gang, but I want him to be part of mine. Special thanks to Retro for notifying me about this version of the game.