APB

About APB

APB (1987) is Atari Games' comic arcade driving game in which rookie cop Officer Bob tickets litterbugs and chases wanted felons in a cabinet shaped like a police car, with flashing lights on top.

APB in Depth

Seen from above, Officer Bob drives patrol car 54 with a wheel and gas pedal, trying to meet a daily quota of citations or arrests before time runs out. Day one is a closed course where he sirens traffic cones; from then on he pulls up behind offenders and hits the siren to make them pull over, some needing several taps. Each offence belongs to a particular vehicle, so only the pink convertibles litter, until speeding arrives, which anyone can commit, followed by road rage, drunk driving and "dopers". Doughnuts extend the time limit, filling stations refuel the car, and the daily "Speed Shop" upgrades it with brakes, guns, armour and radar. From day three, every other day brings an all-points bulletin for a felon such as "Bernie Gasman", wanted for arson, or "Buzz Geiger", wanted for stealing nuclear fuel.

Back at the station, Bob must shake a confession out of the suspect, filling the "Confess-O-Meter" by alternating fire and siren, before the Chief walks in; if he sees, the suspect walks free for police brutality and Bob gets demerits. Demerits also come from crashing without the siren, shooting innocent drivers, hitting pedestrians and doughnut huts and missing the quota, and too many ends with "TOO MANY DEMERITS. YOU ARE FIRED." as Bob is handcuffed and thrown in a paddy wagon or a garbage can.

Making APB

Atari Games developed and published APB for arcades in 1987. Its team said it had an extended development in which new ideas such as the in-game shops kept being added, so the final game may have been overly complex. It enjoyed moderate success, its high-resolution graphics and novel cabinet adding to its appeal. Critics noted its rising difficulty, The Games Machine calling it at times "utterly frustrating", but praised its humour and cartoon look: Your Sinclair called it "one of the funniest games of the year", Computer and Video Games "hilarious", and Crash "refreshingly different". Allgame's Paul Biondich later wrote that its gameplay had "stood the test of time". Tengen developed home versions for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum, published by Domark in 1989, and a 1991 Atari Lynx version drew good reviews from CVG and Raze, though EGM's reviewers found it repetitive. It was later included in Midway Arcade Treasures 2 and Midway Arcade Origins.