APB (1987 video game)
APB (short for "All Points Bulletin") is a video game released in arcades by Atari Games in 1987. The player assumes the role of "Officer Bob," a rookie police officer. As Bob, players drive around the city, ticketing motorists for minor infractions and pulling over more serious offenders. Eventually, players must apprehend criminals for which an all-points bulletin has been called.
| APB | |
|---|---|
Flyer showing the arcade cabinet's attached seat | |
| Developer(s) | Atari Games (arcade) Tengen |
| Publisher(s) | Atari Games (arcade) Domark Atari Corporation (Lynx) |
| Designer(s) | Mike Hally |
| Programmer(s) | David Theurer Alan Murphy Russell Dawe |
| Artist(s) | Mike West |
| Composer(s) | Arcade Brad Fuller Hal Canon Earl Vickers Amiga David Whittaker |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Lynx, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC |
| Release | 1987: Arcade 1989: Amiga, ST, C64, Spectrum, Amstrad CPC 1991: Lynx |
| Genre(s) | Vehicular combat |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Arcade system | Atari System 2 |
The arcade cabinet looks like a police car, with a gas pedal, steering wheel and a siren button, complete with flashing lights atop the unit. The game's cartoonish visuals and sense of humor gained it positive reviews. The game was slightly criticized for its difficulty; the game's developers later admitted that a long development cycle had resulted in the gameplay growing more complicated than originally planned.
Ports of APB were released for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum in 1989. The home versions were mostly developed by Tengen and published by Domark. A version for the Atari Lynx handheld was published later, in 1991.