is an

action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

arcade video game An arcade video game is an arcade game that takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. All arcade video games are coin-oper ...

developed by Orca Corporation and released by GGI in Japan in 1981. It was licensed to Kersten for distribution in North America. The player pilots a patrol boat along a vertically scrolling river to rescue people from the crocodile-infested waters while avoiding obstacles along the way.

Tigervision Tigervision was a subsidiary of Tiger Toys which produced video games for the Atari 2600, Atari 8-bit computers, TI-99/4A, VIC-20, and Commodore 64. Most of their games were ports. ''Polaris'' and '' River Patrol'' were originally arcade games fro ...

released an

Atari 2600 The Atari 2600 is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977 as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS), it popularized microprocessor-based hardware and games stored on swappable ROM cartridg ...

version in 1984.

Gameplay

''River Patrol'' is an action game where players take the role of a captain navigating a river patrol boat across multiple levels to rescue drowning people who fell into the crocodile-infested river for points while avoiding incoming boulders, floating logs and other obstacles that threaten to sink the vessel.''River Patrol'' Instructions (Atari 2600, US) The main objective is to reach a dam at the end of each level before the timer runs out and the boat sinks. Hitting a crocodile or crossing over a whirlpool causes the boat to sink rapidly, however crashing another boat, log, boulder or TNT instantly sinks the player's boat. Once all lives are lost, the game is over unless the player inserts more credits into the arcade machine to continue playing.

Development and release

''River Patrol'' was the second game to be developed by Orca Corporation, a Japanese video game developer headed by Takeshi Tozu, after 1980's ''Shogun''.
Translation
by Gamengai. ). The game was first released for arcades in Japan by GGI in July 1981 and later in North America by Kersten. An

port, developed by

, was released in 1984.

Reception

In Japan, ''River Patrol'' was the eleventh highest-grossing arcade video game of 1981. In a retrospective review, ''Atari Gaming Headquarters'' Keita Iida gave the Atari 2600 port a six out of ten score.

Legacy

A bootleg version of the game developed by Falcon titled ''Silver Land'' was also released, changing the main premise to skiing. The 1981

VIC-20 The VIC-20 (known as the VC-20 in Germany and the VIC-1001 in Japan) is an 8-bit entry level home computer that was sold by Commodore International, Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commod ...

game '' River Rescue'' has strong similarities to ''River Patrol'', but scrolls horizontally. In 1982,

Koichi Nakamura is a Japanese video game designer. Nakamura gained fame as a programming prodigy while still in high school; in 1982, he entered Enix's first national programming contest and claimed runner-up prize with his entry, '' Door Door''. In 1984, he fo ...

programmed a clone of ''River Patrol'' for the

PC-8001 The is a line of personal computers developed for the Japanese market by NEC. The PC-8001 model was also sold in the United States and Canada as the PC-8001A. Original models of the NEC PC-8001B (or sometimes the NEC PC-8000) were also sold in s ...

, also titled ''River Rescue'', that was published in the ''Maikon Game Book 4'' special edition of Japanese magazine ''I/O''. After the release of ''River Patrol'' into the market, Orca would go on to work on several projects: ''The Percussor'', ''The Bounty'', ''Looper'', ''Springer'', ''Funky Bee'', ''Slalom'' and ''Sky Lancer'', '' Vastar'' (published by Sesame Japan Corporation),
Translation
by Shmuplations. ).
Translation
by Shmuplations. ). and ''Espial'', among others.https://archive.org/details/arcadia0084/page/176/mode/2up On June 20, 1983, Orca went bankrupt. Former members of the company later worked at Crux before forming

Toaplan was a Japanese video game developer based in Tokyo. It was best known for its catalogue of scrolling shooters and other arcade video games. The company was founded in 1979 but its gaming division was established in 1984 by former Orca and Crux ...

References

External links

*
''River Patrol''
at

AtariAge AtariAge is a website focusing on classic Atari video games. The site features gaming news, historical archives, discussion forums, and an online store. It was founded in 1998. Taking its name from the 1982–84 '' Atari Age'' magazine, the site ...