Super Cobra

Name:	Super Cobra
Company:	Parker Brothers
Model #:	9550
Programmer:	Unknown
Year:	1983
Released?	Yes
Notes:	Port of the 1981 Konami coin-op

Sequel to the 1981 arcade game Scramble (which only appeared on the Vectrex system), Super Cobra is a side scrolling helicopter game in which you must fly through a mountain filled with deadly missiles and guns to grab a big bag of booty (yes they actually call it booty).  Why would they take a helicopter into a mountain you ask?  Why not?

Because it was ported to just about every system on god's green earth (even the Odyssey^2!), you'd think that Parker Brothers would have gotten it right at least once.  But then again this is Parker Brothers we're talking about.  Sadly Super Cobra sucks on just about every system it was ported to, and the 5200 was no exception.  This is sad because the arcade game was actually very good, too bad the lousy home versions soiled its reputation.

The main problem with Super Cobra is the controls.  The 5200 stick isn't all that great to begin with, but why on earth would anyone attempt to port a game that requires pinpoint precision to a console like the 5200?  Good luck trying to get through those tight twisty caverns in one piece.  It's a constant struggle between you and the joystick...

While the graphics and sounds are adequate and get the job done, but they could have been alot better.  Many of the graphics are very blocky and the color scheme is questionable.  It seems that minimal effort was put into porting this game.

If you're able to tolerate all its shortcomings, Super Cobra can be a fun game (in the same way that Russian Roulette can be a fun game).  It's a shame that Parker Brothers never took advantage of the 5200's power, as it was fully capable of a near arcade perfect version of the game.  Shoddy third-party efforts like this are one of the reasons the 5200 never gained the popularity it deserved.

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