The neighborhood was bound to go south once humans moved in and colonized the Moon. Irem's answer to rising crime rates and alien invasions was Moon Patrol, the 1982 arcade game that put you in the driver's seat of a moon buggy and in the path of untold dangers.

The player assumed the role of a police officer in Luna City, patrolling one of the toughest 'hoods in the galaxy, full of thugs and cutthroats. Attacks could come from above or from the ground and a vigilant cop was always on the lookout for hidden minefields.

The game scrolled horizontally and featured a timeline of at the top of the screen, indicating how much time the moon buggy spent between the five checkpoints. Faster times meant more points for the player. There were also three lights arranged vertically, the top one signaling hostile UFO fire from the air, the middle light warning of  a minefield up ahead and the bottom indicating an attack from behind.

Moon Patrol had two courses available to players, a regular one and the champion course; after completing the first course, the moon buggy changed color from pink to red and advanced to the tougher level.

Through the rough terrain of the lunar surface, players drove merrily along avoiding craters and boulders and shooting up bad guys. Moon Patrol didn't enjoy the huge popularity of Donkey Kong or Asteroids but it occupies a special corner in the golden age of arcade games.