Museum of the Game ®

International Arcade Museum® — Killer List of Videogames®


Moon Lander Moon Lander - Japanese Logo - Katakana / Kanji

MARQUEE PICTURE NEEDED FOR Moon Lander - Click for details on how to contribute.

Description

You must land your ship on one of the moon's three platforms. Rescue an astronaut and return him to your mothership.

Moon Lander was produced by Taito in 1980.

Taito released 486 machines in our database under this trade name, starting in 1967. Taito was based in Japan.

Other machines made by Taito during the time period Moon Lander was produced include: ZunZun Block, Straight Flush, Lunar Rescue, Galaxy Wars, Galaxy Rescue, Balloon Bomber, Crazy Balloon, Indian Battle, Lupin III, and Polaris

Specs

Name Moon Lander
Developer Taito (Japan)
Year 1980
Type Videogame
KLOV/MOG # 8746
Class Wide Release
Genre Space
Monitor
  • Orientation: Vertical
  • Type: Raster: Standard Resolution
  • Color: Black and White with a Color Overlay
  • Red and Gold Overlay on B/W monitor

Conversion Class unique
# Simultaneous Players 1
# Maximum Players 2
Game Play Alternating
Control Panel Layout Single Player
Controls
  • Joystick: 2-way (left, right)
  • Buttons: 1 - Fire/Retro
Sound Amplified Mono (one channel)
Cabinet Styles
  • Upright/Standard
  • Cocktail
Instructions Moon Lander Instructions Image
Bezel Moon Lander Bezel Image

Game Introduction

The game is like Lunar Lander in that you must land your ship on the moon and like Choplifter in that you must rescue an astronaut and return him back to your mothership. You have only a set number of fuel units to use and once your afterburners have been exhausted, you will freefall to the moon and crash. On the way down, you must avoid the asteroids and on the way up you must avoid enemy ships as they try to drop bombs on your ship. You are able to blast enemy ships on the way up using the fire button. Dock with the mothership and press the Fire/Retro button to release your ship for the journey back downward.

Game Play

The Fire/Retro button functions as follows:

  • Retro: releases a capsule from the mothership and fires the thrusters to either steer the ship or slow its descent onto the platforms.
  • Fire: fires the laser upwards to blast the enemy ships that are dropping bombs on you.

You begin the game with your Fuel level at 800. To Score, land on one of three platforms which are worth 50, 100 or 150 points respectively. Recovering the astronaut during the first round scores 50 points and 100 points in the second. 500 bonus points are awarded when all the astronauts have been returned to the mothership.

Moon Lander KLOV/IAM 5 Point User Score: 4.33 (1 vote)

Fun Factor: 4.40

Overall Like 5.00
Fun (Social) 4.00
Fun (Solo) 5.00
Collector Desire 3.00

Technical Rating: 4.25

Gameplay 5.00
Graphics 4.00
Originality 4.00
Sound/Music 4.00

Personal Impressions and Technical Impressions each account for half of the total score. Within the Personal Impressions category, Like carries a little more weight than the other factors.

Log in to rate this game!

Images

Cabinet Information

The game is housed in a stand-up cocktail table cabinet.

Conversion

Slight modification of the game board and ROM swap will allow you to play Space Invaders Deluxe.

VAPS Arcade/Coin-Op Moon Lander Census

There are 15,264 members of the Video Arcade Preservation Society / Vintage Arcade Preservation Society, 9,669 whom participate in our arcade census project of games owned, wanted, or for sale. Census data currently includes 166,973 machines (7,000 unique titles).

Uncommon - There are 7 known instances of this machine owned by Moon Lander collectors who are active members. Of these, 7 of them are original dedicated machines.

For Sale - There is one active VAPS member with a Moon Lander machine for sale.

Wanted - No active members have added this machine to their wish list.

This game ranks a 3 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most often seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on census ownership records.

Rarity and Popularity independently are not necessarily indications of value. [More Information]

Technical

CPU: NEC 8080A CPU
RAM: TI 4060NL/7910 (16 total)
ROM:

  • 2716 (2)
  • 8516 (2)

The boards are marked as follows:

  • P/N AA017756 - ROM Board
  • P/N N/A - CPU Board
  • P/N CV070005a / CVN00002A - Video Board

VOLTAGES: +5V/+12V/-5V/+15V labeled on CPU Board

eBay Listings

Click to search eBay for Moon Lander Videogame machines and related items.

Click to search eBay for Taito for machines and parts.

When you click on links below to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Such revenue helps to fund this site's operations. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

TOP WATCHED LISTINGS FOR: Moon Lander

Ebay Compatible Application

Lunar Lander Arcade Ceramic Coffee Cup Mug 11oz Atari Arcade NEW

Auction ends in: 4 days, 15 hours

FixedPrice
$15.00

Lunar Lander Arcade Marquee For Reproduction Header/Backlit Sign

Auction ends in: 4 days, 10 hours

FixedPrice
$15.75

Atari Asteroids / Lunar Lander Arcade Metal Marquee Bracket

Auction ends in: 2 weeks, 2 days

FixedPrice
$9.99

NOS Atari Lunar Lander Transformer Assembly Part # A034623-02

Auction ends in: 5 days, 10 hours

FixedPrice
$199.00

Lunar Lander Atari 1979 Original Arcade Game Plexiglass Header

Auction ends in: 1 week, 1 day

FixedPrice
$200.00

Contribute

  1. Log in to contribute content to this page
  2. Please consider donating to the International Arcade Museum Library