Ten years after the real moon landing--which totally happened and don't let conspiracy theorists tell you otherwise--Atari introduced Lunar Lander, a vehicle simulation game for the arcade. Players got the chance to pilot a module on a landing approach to the moon and try to set it down ever so gently.

Lunar Lander's screen displayed simple vector graphics of the Moon's surface that turned out to be surprisingly rocky and jagged. Those hoping for a soft landing on a landscape of green cheese were in for a rude surprise.

The lander had thrusters to counteract gravity and could rotate clockwise or counterclockwise. Points were awarded for successful landings, proportionate to the difficulty of the terrain. A throttle controlled thruster burn, two buttons rotated the lander in two directions and a third 'abort' button was your last chance in case something went wrong.

The screen displayed a wealth of information based on real world physics, like altitude, horizontal and vertical speed and fuel levels. Approach and landing used up fuel and if your lander was still in the air when that fuel ran out, it was a fast, short fall to the surface. Pumping more quarters into the game bought you more fuel.

There were several levels of difficulty in Lunar Lander that featured increasingly harder landing surfaces. From Training to Cadet to Prime to Command, players of all skill levels could try their luck at bringing down the lander.

A few months after its release, Lunar Lander was eclipsed by Atari's other vector graphic game, the insanely popular Asteroids.