"...playing cops and robbers has never been this fun before!"
High speed chases, dangerous arrests and shoot-outs are brought to life with a touch of humor in Atari's new APB. The player portrays Officer Bob in his action-packed pursuit of common law-breakers and hardened criminals.
— Arcade Flyer
An arcade game released by Atari Games surrounding Officer Bob as he works for the police to hunt down various folks who break the law and meet the quota established by his boss. On occasion, he will be sent to hunt down an A.P.B. when an order for their arrest is made.
- Cop Killer: One of the A.P.B.s is Fake Frank, who has murdered at least one police officer.
- Donut Mess with a Cop: The player gets extra time when they drive through a donut shack. Driving over donuts along hidden pathways will also net bonus time. Destroy a donut shack by plowing into it, and the player receives one demerit.
- Drugs Are Bad: One of the A.P.B.s is Freddy Freak who was selling drugs illegally.
- Endless Game: The ultimate objective was to arrest 15 dangerous criminals, each of which looked different and drove a different vehicle. The levels got harder as you went, and you could continue for as long as your tokens held out. It looked for all the world that if you played long enough, there would eventually be a triumphant victory screen, or at least an acknowledgement of your prowess before the game looped. Nope and nope.
- Every 10,000 Points: Every $5000 you scored through arrests (APB or quota) and recovered money bags removed one demerit from your "Demerit Meter". (The more demerits you have, the closer you are to losing the game) When APB arrests (which require both "apprehending the suspect" AND "making him/her talk before the Chief gets to the interrogation room") are worth enough to remove at least one demerit, this can be very important if you're in danger of getting "Too Many Demerits" and a Game Over.
- Friend on the Force: If you both arrest the APB criminal AND get a confession from him/her, the Chief is willing to overlook it if you hadn't made your quota that way, concentrating on getting the criminal first. However, failing to get the confession nets you a demerit, AND you'll be judged on your quota, with one demerit for each arrest you missed your quota by. (The Lynx version, however, credits you with the confession and APB reward if you bring in the criminal though.)
- The Hero: The player character of the game is Officer Bob.
- It's a Wonderful Failure: The game over screen reads "Too Many Demerits - YOU ARE FIRED", and shows other cops pulling Officer Bob out of his patrol car and either throwing him into a paddy wagon or canning him by stuffing him into a trash can.
- Mad Bomber: One of the A.P.B.'s the player much catch is a man partaking in terrorist bombings.
- The Many Deathsof You: If Bob fails to make his quota WITHOUT getting a confession from an APB criminal, he gets penalized one demerit for each arrest he missed it by. In addition, the Chief would yell "LOUSY COP!" and do one of the following:
- Breathe fire and singe Bob (Bob's face is shown grey).
- Grab Bob's nose and yank it.
- Grab Bob's neck and one-hand "strangle" him.
- Pull Bob's police hat over his eyes.
- Opaque Lenses: Cool Hand Duke, one of the A.P.B.s wears this set of glasses.
- Optional Traffic Laws: The game teaches you to pull over minor offenders such as litterbugs by rapidly pressing the siren button until they comply. What the game doesn't teach you is that, when going after major criminals where you have to smash into their car, you need to hold the siren button down. If you don't, you get demerits!
- Railroad Tracks of Doom: The player must avoid – among other things – a train. Getting struck by the train simply takes time off the clock.
- Stock Money Bag: There are money bags in the game close by donuts on the side of the road, getting these are worth valuable income to your "score" (as said, at every 5000 dollars in tickets/APB arrests/recovered cash, you lose a demerit from your "Demerit Meter"). On rare occasions, these bags also had a valuable "Demerit Erased" prize as well, which could help if you started piling up demerits (they removed one demerit regardless of score).
- Video Game Cruelty Punishment: Running over civilians or shooting innocent parties will earn you demerits.
"Too many demerits, you're fired!"
