Moon Patrol is a side-scrolling game where the player must drive a moon buggy from one station on the Moon to another, all while avoiding crashing or getting destroyed by alien ships. The vehicle is constantly moving right and the player can speed up or slow down, jump, and shoot (simultaneously firing upwards and forwards.) There are 25 checkpoints along the way, each symbolized with a letter from A to Z and serving as a respawn point. Every five checkpoints mark a separate "stage" within the entire course; reaching the end of a stage under the par time grants a large score bonus.
The player must navigate through the Moon's surface, avoiding obstacles like rocks, pits, and UFOs that fire at the player or bombard the ground. Later stages introduce new dangers such as stationary tanks firing missiles, landmines, carnivorous plants popping out of pits, and rocket cars chasing the buggy. The game gets progressively harder with each subsequent stage.
After completing the first course, players can attempt to conquer the more challenging Champion Course.