Buichi Terasawa’s iconic 1978 manga Cobra blasted its place in cartoon history with a unique blend of spaghetti western, dramatic storytelling, and sci-fi adventure. For decades, this swashbuckling space opera, featuring the titular Cobra and his psychogun, has captivated audiences through its original anime series and film. Its influence led to the creation of characters such as Trigun‘s Vash the Stampede to Devil May Cry‘s Dante. The legendary space pirate makes his debut appearance on modern consoles and PC with Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening.
Developed by Magic Pockets and published by Microids, Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening aims to transform the original anime series into an action-packed 2D platformer. The plot follows Johnson, an average man who suddenly finds himself with memories of the wanted space pirate Cobra. But in a chance encounter with rival pirates looking to cash in on the bounty, Johnson springs into action as Cobra and resumes his clash with the Space Pirate Guild. This story faithfully adapts the first 12 episodes of the 1982 anime, which follows the Captain Nelson’s Treasure arc. The game uses the original artwork and anime scenes as cinematic cutscenes, allowing players to feel as if they are experiencing a full episode.
The gameplay in The Awakening combines tight, run-and-gun combat with light exploration, with a heavy focus on the Cobra’s iconic weaponry. The control scheme is inspired by modern titles like Metroid Dread, giving Cobra fluid movement options, including running, jumping, sliding, and ledge-grabbing. You can find permanent upgrades and revisit previous levels with new gear to collect health and power-ups that were initially inaccessible. The standout feature is Cobra’s Psychogun, which offers both standard rapid fire and a unique “Psycho-shot” that slows down time, allowing you to guide a laser to chain multiple enemies or hit hard-to-reach targets. This comes in handy when taking out enemies all at once or solving puzzles by shooting at inaccessible targets. This arsenal is supplemented by other tools, such as a revolver for breaking enemies with glowing red shields, melee attacks for blue barriers, and explosive cigars that you toss like grenades.
While the core combat is enjoyable and the boss fights are visually impressive spectacles; however, the experience has some noticeable snags. The platforming can feel clunky at times due to the floaty physics. Jumping and grappling-hook launching can feel inaccurate, leading to quick deaths. You can mostly run-and-gun perfectly fine, but occasionally you will need to manually aim to hit an enemy shooting from a particular that is angle. It does take some time to master the flow of mixing the different attacks to stun enemies and defeat them, especially if you want to earn a high rank in the levels.
Overall, Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening stays true to its roots and offers solid gameplay elements for players to enjoy. Levels feel alive, with tons of shifting backgrounds and environmental movement, plus variations in navigation layouts and terrain. Controlling Cobra does take some adjustment to quickly change weapons and reaction, but once players get the balance, it’s fun to quickly blast their way around like a true legendary space pirate. There are a few unlockable characters to check out, each with some slight attack variations. There is an additional multiplayer mode that allows two players to take on a series of challenge levels together in local co-op. The camera work is a little jumpy as the two players share the screen. You always have to follow the same path together, and the camera will do its best to keep both players in frame. But if you are a big fan of daring, heroic characters with wise-cracking attitudes, then check out Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening. Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening was released on August 26th and is now available for Switch, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox X|S, and Steam.
