G.I. Joe: Cobra Strike

G.I. Joe: Cobra Strike

Publisher(s) Parker Brothers[1]
Platform(s) Atari 2600
Release date(s)
Genre(s) Action[2]

G.I. Joe: Cobra Strike is the title of a video game released for the Atari 2600 in 1983. The game was developed and published by Parker Brothers and involves three different types of gameplay. The game is loosely based on the G.I. Joe franchise of the same name. The U.K. version of the game was renamed Action Man: Action Force.[3]

Contents

Gameplay

In the single-player mode, the player controls a G.I. Joe training camp on the bottom of the screen protected by a barrier and armed with two laser cannons. In this mode the goal is to keep the giant Cobra-operated robot snake from destroying the shield and thus the training camp by hitting it eight times. The Cobra robot shoots venom and laser beams.

In two-player cooperative mode control of the G.I. Joe training game is split between two players as they work to destroy the Cobra robot. In the two-player competition mode one player controls the Cobra robot and another player controls the training camp.

Publication history

Cobra Strike was the first video game to use the G.I. Joe license.[4]

Action Force variant

A variant of the game was released as the Action Force video game in Europe.[2]

Based on the European version of G.I. Joe known as Action Force, the game was similarly published by Parker Brothers in the PAL format for European markets.

Synopsis

"The Action Force training camp is under siege from a giant Cobra Combat Machine built by the evil Baron Ironblood.[5] As the Cobra looms over the camp the Action Force recruits run to shelter from its vaporizing venom and piercing laser beams. Man your positions! Defend the camp! Use missile attack canons and atomic powered energy shields to fight the deadly Cobra."

Reception

 Reception
Review scores
Publication Score
Allgame [6]

Jeremy Parish of Retronauts blog felt that this game "had about as much to do with G.I. Joe as any other licensed game from that era, which is to say not a whole hell of a lot", comparing it to the E.T. video game for the Atari system.[4]

Allgame review noted that G.I. Joe: Cobra Strike is best played multi-player; the "graphics are decent" and the "sounds are only average".[6]

Notes

  1. ^ a b G.I. Joe: Cobra Strike at GameSpot
  2. ^ a b G.I. Joe: Cobra Strike at MobyGames
  3. ^ Retro Gamer issue 82, page 74
  4. ^ a b Parish, Jeremy (July 21, 2009). "Something Old, Something Blu: G.I. Joe Season 1.1". 1UP.com. http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8998991. Retrieved February 9, 2010. 
  5. ^ Note: Baron Ironblood was in fact leader of the Red Shadows in the comicbook Action Force universe, not the Cobra Organization which materialised later in the series
  6. ^ a b Sutyak, Jonathan. "G.I. Joe: Cobra Strike Review". Allgame. http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=8992&tab=review. Retrieved April 2, 2010. 

External links