Cobra Triangle | NES | Nintendo Entertainment System

About the Game

Cobra Triangle is a single-player boat-racing game that lets you do more than race. It borrows the power-up system from the shoot 'em up genre but keeps the emphasis more on maneuvering than shooting. Since you have a health meter with a dozen bars in it, it's not that important to dodge bullets unless your health is really low, but you should try not to run into too many walls. In order to get very far you need to make use of your power-ups which are TURBO for better acceleration; FIRE for increased firepower; SPEED for increased top-speed; MISSILE for firing missiles as well as bullets; and FORCE which makes you fire tons of missiles and also makes you invincible for a limited time.

Story & Setting

(5) Guard the People - There's a large square filled with 8 helpless swimmers, and for some reason they're all about to be kidnapped.

Gameplay & Core Systems

You get roughly one minute to complete each level. Speaking of which, there are 7 types of levels each with a different objective: (1) Race to the Finish - Shoot other boats along the way to the finish line and avoid enemies like turrets and sharks. Some boats tow power-up pods behind them that you can collect after you shoot them. Watch for the fork in the river; choosing alternate paths takes you to the same levels of the game but in a different order.

Standout Features

• It takes awhile since you can only tow them one at a time.
• You can tow the people back into the square-if you have time-while avoiding the spaceships that fire stunning missiles at you.
• Collect: (2) Collect the Pods - Simply race in a straight path while running over ramps to collect pods and 1UP's in the air.
• You go on to the next level when time runs out.
• Of course, there is an invincible enemy boat that tries to steal them back from you and some guys that shoot at you.
• Monster: (4) Fry the Monster - The 'boss' levels.
• BONUS: He has his own health display right above yours, but it tends to deplete slower. (BONUS) Shoot the Targets - after every boss level you go to an auto-scrolling level where you are rewarded with a 1UP prize if you manage to shoot all the targets along the shore without missing any.
• If you have at least one swimmer left when the timer runs out then you pass.

Modes & Ways to Play

Player support includes 1 Player.

Presentation & Atmosphere

Moving currents, whirlpools, and the violation of several laws of physics makes this more difficult than it sounds.