APB

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Let's talk about the arcade game APB and some of its ports. First, a really good video that depicts a restored one.



So, the arcade game is a marvel. Those medium resolution Atari monitors always looked SO good. It is a vertical game and it is one where you play a police officer. Released before the footage of Rodney King, you are the main character, protagonist and hero of this game: Officer Bob.

I have this for the Atari Lynx, and I will play the Amiga version this week. The arcade version has the steering wheel for left and right, but also two buttons: fire and siren, and also a gas pedal. This is where I am a bit confused, because I am not sure what the fire button does just yet.

If you look at the video, you start to see that the game "world" is larger than one screen. I LOVE what Atari was doing in 1987 with the games they were making. Paperboy, 720 and APB all had, for lack of a better description on my part, a "world" to explore. I loved seeing Flack's 720 that gave you freedom to go from area to area to skate. (I can't remember if 720 or "Skate or Die" had the wasps to get you moving? Or both?) APB similarly has this town with roads to explore. The first Grand Theft Auto did a similar thing years later to great effect.

There is more I want to learn about APB. Thank you for going on this journey with me.

[Flack]

The C64 version of APB is good but not great. It's a little different from the arcade game, but still pretty good. I do love those Atari games with that resolution.