Discovering the World of Cobra
You know that saying “every day’s a school day”? Well, not only is it trite and annoying, but it can actually turn out to be true.
You see, I was not aware of the apparently seminal 1982 animated series Space Adventure Cobra until I started to play the subject of today’s review, Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening. Based on a manga from Buichi Terasawa, originally released in 1978, the film and series follow the adventures of Cobra, believe it or not.
The reason I’m telling you this is that Magic Pockets and Microids have come together for “the first adaptation of the anime on modern platforms”: aka your Xbox. So, can a film from 43 years ago based on a book from 47 years ago still be relevant today? Well, there’s only one way to find out, so I jumped in to see what was occurring.
A Pirate’s Past and a Faked Death
The story of Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening closely follows the first twelve chapters of the anime, or at least that is what is claimed on the store page. Of course, having never watched it, I have no way of knowing if that’s true, but can’t think of a reason for the developers to lie, can you? Basically, Cobra was a Space Pirate back in the day, but didn’t want to play nicely with the other pirates, and instead took to stealing their treasure.
One day, after robbing a pirate called Vaiken, he was given an ultimatum: help the Guild find the treasure of Captain Nelson, or be destroyed. Naturally, Cobra refused, and when the pressure of the countless hitmen trying to take him out grew to be too great, he erased his memory and changed his face, faking his own death in the process. All went swimmingly for five years or so, until Cobra took a trip with a fake dream company (shades of Total Recall, or rather maybe it was the inspiration?) and his memories started to come back. Once he revealed himself, Vaiken appeared to finish the job and from there, it leaves us to try and survive. Whether that happens is down to you and your hand-to-eye coordination!
Retro Aesthetics and Smooth Action
Moving along to the presentation of the game, and it is very much of its time. Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening has been designed in a retro way to ensure fitment with the source material, and this works very well indeed. The game is basically an action platformer, with Cobra leaping and twirling about the place, using his special equipment and amazing athletic ability to traverse the levels and defeat the bosses and enemies he meets on the way. Everything moves smoothly, and the animation of Cobra is particularly good: his kung fu moves and dodges are worthy of particular praise.
The enemies that we face are all a bit cookie cutter in design, and shooting five identical goons in a row does get a bit dull, but this is only to be expected. Further, the cut scenes in between the chapters seem to have been lifted straight from the anime and look great, with full-on cheesy space opera vibes in full effect.
Sound is another area where things appear to be crafted with a lot of care. I don’t know if the voice actors for the various characters are the original ones, but they all do a good job of portraying what is going on. The various pew pew effects of the weapons and the thumps of hand to hand combat all work well as well. All in all, the presentation of the game, bar the multiple character models, sees no issues.
Grappling and Jumping
But it’s gameplay that wins the day, and it’s here where, if the wheels of Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening don’t fall off, they do seem to develop a slow puncture. You see, there are two basic aspects to a game like this: the combat and the exploration/traversal of the environment. And sadly, both of these areas have issues.
I’ll begin with the traversal. The news here is pretty good, and the way that Cobra moves about is absolutely fine – he has a neat line in jumps and slides, and the dash move can also be used in mid air. So far, so good, I hear you think, but there is a third option: the grappling hook. Every now and then, you’ll come across a node floating in mid air that allows you to grapple to it, and the mechanic reminds me of the one in Ori and the Blind Forest. You see, you have to jump (with the A button) and then press the A button again when the node gets an arrow on it. Once you release the button, Cobra will fly off in the direction that the arrow is pointing.
Sadly, the way that it works isn’t awfully accurate, and quite often Cobra will happily fling himself to his death. It does get easier with practice, but it is initially frustrating. The jumping is also a bit annoying, as the length of time you press the jump button for is how far you will jump; and soon you just hold it down all the time so you always jump a long way.
Psycho Gun!
Looking at the combat next, and here the basic news is again good. Shooting, dodging, charging shots with Cobra’s legendary Psycho Gun, along with his other weapons all works well. The difficulty comes in some of the sections where you have to aim shots, mostly as the way to aim the gun is also the same stick as movement, and so you have to run towards foes to shoot them, which isn’t always the best idea. You can press LB and aim that way, but you can’t move while you are doing this, so you do tend to get shot to pieces. Again, you can adapt, but until you do, it is another annoyance.
Luckily, there are some things that help to make up for the difficulties. There is a couch co-op multiplayer mode included in Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening which works pretty well, apart from a weird thing where the camera follows Player One. That means if Player Two gets to be off-screen, they are summarily killed, which is a bit odd.
A Nostalgic Trip That Falters on the Controls
But all in all, Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening has a lot of things going for it. The setting is rich, the action is fluid, and the controls, by and large, work well. There are certain difficulties that require work arounds, but they shouldn’t put you off too much.
If you are a fan of Cobra, this is an easy sell, but even if you are not, Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening is more than decent enough in its own right.
Important Links
Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening Blasts onto Xbox, PlayStation, Switch & PC – https://www.thexboxhub.com/space-adventure-cobra-the-awakening-blasts-onto-xbox-playstation-switch-pc/
Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening: A New Game Based on the Iconic Series; Release Date Confirmed – https://www.thexboxhub.com/space-adventure-cobra-the-awakening-a-new-game-based-on-the-iconic-series/
Buy on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/space-adventure-cobra-the-awakening/9NG380C5XMLV/0010
There’s also a Gold Edition – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/space-adventure-cobra-the-awakening-gold-edition/9MTNNT19BSJZ/0010
