''Cobra Command'', known as in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, is an

interactive movie Across the many fields concerned with interactivity, including information science, computer science, human-computer interaction, communication, and industrial design, there is little agreement over the meaning of the term "interactivity", but mo ...

shooter game Shooter video games or shooters are a subgenre of action video games where the focus is almost entirely on the defeat of the character's enemies using the weapons given to the player. Usually these weapons are firearms or some other long-range ...

originally released by

Data East , also abbreviated as DECO, was a Japanese video game, pinball and electronic engineering company. The company was in operation from 1976 to 2003, and released 150 video game titles. Its main headquarters were located in Suginami, Tokyo. The Am ...

in 1984 as a

LaserDisc The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as DiscoVision, MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diam ...

-based

arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade v ...

. Released as an

arcade conversion In video gaming parlance, a conversion is the production of a game on one computer or console that was originally written for another system. Over the years, video game conversion has taken form in a number of different ways, both in their style a ...

kit for ''

Bega's Battle is a Japanese science fiction manga and novel franchise that began in 1967. It was a collaboration in ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' by science fiction writer Kazumasa Hirai and manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori. It was adapted into a 1983 a ...

'' (1983), ''Cobra Command'' became one of the more successful laserdisc games in 1984. A

Mega-CD The Sega CD, released as the in most regions outside North America and Brazil, is a CD-ROM accessory for the Sega Genesis produced by Sega as part of the fourth generation of video game consoles. It was released on December 12, 1991, in Jap ...

port of ''Cobra Command'' developed by

Wolf Team , formerly known as , was a Japanese video game development company founded in 1986. The company was renamed in 2003 when Telenet Japan sold part of its stake and made Namco the majority shareholder. Namco Tales Studio was originally the primary d ...

was released in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

Plot

Terrorists are threatening the

free world The Free World is a propaganda term, primarily used during the Cold War from 1945 to 1991, to refer to the Western Bloc and similar countries. It also more broadly refers to all non- communist and democratic countries. It has traditionally pr ...

and have amassed a diabolical force. Only the brave pilot of ''Cobra Command'' can vanquish the terrorist threat and save the free world from total destruction. The player assumes the role as pilot of the LX-3 Super Cobra helicopter (fictional, but similar to the

Bell AH-1 SuperCobra The Bell AH-1 SuperCobra is a twin-engined attack helicopter that was developed on behalf of, and primarily operated by, the United States Marine Corps (USMC). The twin Cobra family, itself part of the larger Huey family, includes the AH-1J S ...

). The missions go across the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

streets, the

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a List of colossal sculpture in situ, colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the U ...

, the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, the

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...

and the enemy's headquarters on

Easter Island Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its nearl ...

Gameplay

The original arcade version is an

and

shooter Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, Bow and arrow, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or Blowgun, blowpipe). Even the acts of launching Flamethrower, flame, artillery, Dart (missile), darts, ha ...

game, where the player watches scenes as the helicopter flies by the conflict zone. The game screen is represented by the helicopter's cockpit, and the player controls a crosshair that can be moved to aim at the enemy forces. The game features a joystick and two buttons: one Machine Gun and one Missile. The game can be played with 1 or 2 players. In certain moments, the voice of the pilot's

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

helps the player out with completing each mission by firing at enemy forces and dodging both enemy fire and natural surroundings, by pressing the joystick or directional pad in the correct direction and at the right time. If the pilot makes a mistake, the anime sequence shows the Cobra helicopter blown up and the player loses a life. If all lives are lost, the "Game Over" screen shows the Cobra in smoldering ruins and its pilot is presumably dead from the crash.

Development

Kunio-kun The series (typically localized as ''River City'') is a video game series started by Technōs Japan. The series is now handled by Arc System Works who purchased all of the intellectual property rights from Technōs' successor, Million Corp. The ...

'' and '' Double Dragon series'' creator Yoshihisa Kishimoto designed an entirely new game, ''Cobra Command'', using Data East's ''

'' hardware. Kishimoto would work later on '' Road Blaster/Road Avenger'', made with the same arcade technology. As the Double Dragon saga was made after those LaserDisc arcades, we can see the LX3 chopper from Cobra Command/Thunder Storm at the beginning of Double Dragon 2, and at some point in the gameplay of Road Blaster/Road Avenger arcade as a nice homage, made by his creator. ''Cobra Command'' was developed by Data East in co-operation with

Toei Animation () is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' ''GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' ''Mazinger Z'', ''Galaxy Express 999'', ''Cutie Honey'', ''Dr. Slump'', ' ...

. It was first published in

in 1984 as ''Thunder Storm'', then released later the same year in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

as ''Cobra Command''.

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Thunder Storm'' on their May 15, 1984 issue as being the most-successful upright/cockpit arcade unit of the month. It remained at the top of Japan's upright/cockpit

arcade cabinet An arcade cabinet, also known as an arcade machine or a coin-op cabinet or coin-op machine, is the housing within which an arcade game's electronic hardware resides. Most cabinets designed since the mid-1980s conform to the Japanese Amusement Ma ...

charts for four months in 1984, through June and July to August. In North America, ''Cobra Command'' was released as an

kit for the previously unsuccessful ''Bega's Battle''. ''Cobra Command'' was more successful, becoming one of the more successful laserdisc games in 1984. In the United States, ''Cobra Command'' topped the ''

Play Meter ''Play Meter'' (initially ''Coin Industry Play Meter'') was an American trade magazine focusing on the coin-op amusement arcade industry, including jukebox and arcade game machines. It was founded in December 1974 by publisher and editor Ralph C. ...

'' laserdisc arcade charts from October to November 1984. However, while it was one of the more successful laserdisc games that year, it was not able to achieve mass appeal due to the laserdisc market being in decline at the time. Roger C. Sharpe of ''Play Meter'' called the arcade game one of the few "shining lights" in the laserdisc arcade market of 1984. They said it "brought the technology another small step closer to where it will ultimately go in the future." Reviewing the Sega CD version in '' Wizard'' magazine,

Glenn Rubenstein Glenn Rubenstein (born March 2, 1976) is a writer, director, and journalist based in Northern California. Journalism Rubenstein has been a columnist for the ''San Francisco Examiner'', ''Sports Illustrated'' for Kids, CNET's (now defunct) GameCente ...

praised the high number of levels and unique interface. He gave the game a B−. On release, ''

Famicom Tsūshin formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...

'' scored the Sega Saturn version of the game 25 out of 40 and the PlayStation version 23 out of 40.NEW GAMES CROSS REVIEW: サンダーストーム&ロードブラスター. Weekly Famicom Tsūshin. No.358. Pg.31. 27 October 1995.

Legacy

Data East released a second game titled ''

Cobra Command Cobra (sometimes referred to as Cobra Command) is a fictional terrorist organization and the nemesis of the G.I. Joe Team in the Hasbro action figure toyline '' G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'' and '' G.I. Joe: Sigma 6'', as well as in related ...

'' in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

. Unlike the 1984 version, the 1988 arcade game is a side-scrolling shoot-'em-up. The Cobra helicopter has a brief cameo in the garage of the Dragon Brothers as they depart in '' Double Dragon II: The Revenge''. The original ''Cobra Command'' was re-released in Japan for the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

and

Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the succ ...

in 1995 in a two-in-one compilation with ''

Road Blaster is an interactive movie video game developed by Data East featuring animation by Toei Animation, originally released exclusively in Japan as a laserdisc-based arcade game in 1985. The player assumes the role of a vigilante who must avenge the de ...

'', another FMV game produced by the same team. In November 2009, Revolutionary Concepts developed and published an enhanced iPhone OS version of the original arcade game. In April 2010,

G-Mode is a Japanese company that specializes in games for Java-compatible mobile phones. The company also licenses content for mobile telecommunications operators, as well as being involved in the original equipment manufacturing of mobile phone games. ...

released an official port for Windows and Sharp X68030 computers. This product was only available for the Japanese market.

References

External links

* *
MSX Version
' at Generation MSX {{DEFAULTSORT:Cobra Command (1984 Video Game) 1984 video games Arcade video games Data East video games Marvelous Entertainment franchises Helicopter video games Interactive movie video games IOS games LaserDisc video games PlayStation (console) games Sega CD games Sega Saturn games Sharp X1 games Telenet Japan games Full motion video based games Video games developed in Japan Video games set in Easter Island Video games set in New York City Video games set in Italy Video games set in Arizona Terrorism in fiction Toei Animation video game projects Data East arcade games