Co-Op Classics: Twin Cobra

Editorial

Marc "DjinniMan" Allie Saturday 07th of November 2009 11:35 PM

Whenever you discuss a "classic" in any field, nostalgia plays a large role. What is classic to one might be junk to another. To most people, anything that was around when they were younger is considered a classic. The rather insightful song "1985" asks a question: when did Motley Crue become classic rock? The answer is, the Crue became classic around the time that people who loved them as kids "grew up". The lens of nostalgia makes any old thing you remember look much better than it may actually deserve to be. Today's co-op classic, Twin Cobra, is a good example of this effect.

Several years ago, I took on the task of converting an old, gutted, busted up Q*Bert cabinet into a MAME machine. A friend of mine was quite interested in the whole process, and I kept him updated on how things were going. We'd discuss some of our favorite games from the past, and one that he kept mentioning was Twin Cobra. Apparently, a convenience store in his neighborhood had a Twin Cobra machine, and he fed it many quarters over the years. Once my cabinet was in playable condition, we made arrangements for he and his wife to come over. I made sure that Twin Cobra was available for us to play, and out of curiosity, I fired it up ahead of time to check it out myself.

The game may sound like a cheesy 80s Stallone flick, but instead, it's a reference to the two helicopters that players can control. Simultaneous gameplay wasn't exactly new in 1987, but still, it was an attractive feature, and words like "Twin" and "Double" made it to game titles often. Twin Cobra is a vertically scrolling shoot em up, pitting the players' copters (red and blue, naturally) against wave after wave of enemy copters, tanks, and turrets.

Large gun copters appear in your flight path from time to time, and once destroyed, they drop power ups of different colors. Your weapons power up in several ways, including adding a spread shot, changing to a continuously shooting laser, or even a very powerful four way strike. You can drop a limited amount of bombs which clear a good portion of the screen. Enemy helicopters and bullets must be avoided entirely, but tanks and turrets can be flown over without harm. Twin Cobra is fairly typical for a game of its age.

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Tags: co-op classics twin cobra

Reader Comments

ong_elvin at 07:23 AM on 11.8.2009

Djinni. Dude. You don't play shmups and FPS for the story. Sure it can be a plus, but to criticise a weak or non-existent story in those genres is tantamount to criticising FPS for not having RPG-style stat-based character development.

pheriannath at 09:34 AM on 11.8.2009

Story? Really, Marc?

I played the crap out of this as a kid in the arcades, and I've still got my copy of the NES port. So much fun!

DjinniMan at 09:44 PM on 11.8.2009

I think you are missing the point guys. I was being overly critical on my playthrough, and expected modern things like cutscenes, etc. That's not the best way to look at classic games. The problem was me, not the game itself. I thought I pointed that out later on in the article, but I guess it wasn't as clear as I had hoped.

ong_elvin at 10:20 PM on 11.8.2009

The way you've written the article, one could be forgiven for thinking you are criticising old games for not being as technologically able as modern games, or being poor in plot development. Really, just read your opening and concluding paragraphs. You make it sound like the only redeeming factor of old games is the nostalgic connections.

In most games, current and previous generations, you only need about half-a-page of backstory following a cookie-cutter mould (alien invasion, zombies, ancient evil, etc), another two pages worth of in-game cookie-cutter plot devices to progress the game (get to Alpha before enemy, guard a VIP, assemble ancient artifact, etc) and that's really all you need for a story. The only genre that wants a story is the RPG, for obvious reasons. Note the word "want" rather than "need." Even in RPGs, there need not be a deep plot for the game to be exciting, as Pokemon, Diablo, and other dungeon crawlers have shown.

Any story beyond a thin skeleton serves to enrich the universe, provide some atmosphere for the setting, and ease casual gamers into the game.

DjinniMan at 09:08 AM on 11.9.2009

I only mentioned the lack of story in passing, about half a sentence. Lack of story is not the primary reason Twin Cobra was underwhelming to me; it's because it's an average shoot em up. I have played and enjoyed many games quite like it. I shouldn't have mentioned the lack of a story at all, it seems to have pushed a few buttons I had no intentions of pushing!

ong_elvin at 09:07 AM on 11.10.2009

It's not so much that you criticise the lack of story; it's that you also don't make one of two appropriate concessions, combined with (as mentioned) opening/closing paragraphs that mention "nostalgia goggles." You could have acknowledged it was an old game, or that shmups aren't played for their story anyway.

Total Comments: 6

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