C&VG


Cobra

Publisher: Ocean
Machine: Amstrad CPC464

 
Published in Computer & Video Games #63

Cobra

"You're the disease... I'm the cure," Immortal words from vigilante cop Marion Cobretti, also known as The Cobra.

Months after Sylvester Stallone's latest cinema rendering of brutal corpse-strewn crime control was massacred by the critics, Ocean's game of the film slithers onto the software shelves. Better late than never, suppose.

The film's plot - actually that is a gross misuse of the word is fairly simple. Cop Cobra of the "Zombie Squad" has to rescue a fashion model, Ingrid Dnutsen, from the clutches of a band of mad killers and their evil boss who goes by the cute name of the “Night Slasher”.

Cobra

The game roughly follows the film so this is where the law stops... and you start. And what you get is basically a frantic platform and ladders game set across three playing areas - night-time in the city, daytime in the country and the factory.

To move onto the next section of the game you must collect beef burgers - inside are either knives, pistols or laser-sighted machine guns - rescue Ingrid and clear the section of killers. It's only when you get to the factory that you'll confront the Night Slasher himself.

At the start of the game Cobra only has a pretty lethal headbutt - so he can despatch the multitude of killers without doing himself any serious damage. The action is certainly fast and frantic as Cobra charges around like a raging bull.

Cobra

Cobra's lives are represented as boxing gloves. Is this a clever reference to Stallone's Rocky films? If so, what is the significance of the Quackometer, which shows how long Cobra can use a weapon for?

Rogue prams and beefburgers are not prime ingredients of the film but they crop up a lot in the game. The prams charge about on their own slamming into Cobra unless he's quick enough to jump over them. The weapons are hidden in the burgers.

Graphically and soundwise Cobra is okay, but really it's the sort of game you've seen many times before. It will sell on the name rather than on the originality.