Cobra Triangle (NES)

Cobra Triangle Box Art

Cobra Triangle

System: NES

Release Date: July 1989

Developer: Rare

Publisher: Nintendo

Genre: Racing

Rare is back with boat racing with Cobra Triangle. I’ll liken this game to R.C. Pro-Am, but boats. There are 25 stages of action for you to race, disarm, jump, protect, and shoot. You accelerate with the B Button and shoot your guns with the A Button. On many tracks, you can find pods, which allow you to power up with the Select Button. You can spend your pods on turbo, better weapons, top speed, missiles, and a force field. It’s kind of like Gradius and other Konami space shooters in that effect.

There are eight different kinds of levels. Race to the Finish is a battle against other boats and the clock. You don’t need to finish in first, but you need to make it to the end before time runs out. Collect the Pods is the level to power up in. You hit jumps to reach pods and 1ups, but touching the pods is quite difficult to do. Dispose of Mines is just that. There is a clump of mines that you have to collect, one at a time, and take to the disposal area. In this level, enemy guards will try to run into you to take the mines back. Beat the Monster is just that, a level where you have to defeat a boss monster before they take you out.

The second half of levels are much tougher. Guard the People tasks you with being the guard. Boats run up on the helpless swimmers and try to take them off stage. UFOs also fly on stage and shoot projectiles at you. If they hit, you’re disabled for a couple seconds. I finished this one with only one swimmer left. Reach the Finish tasks you with overcoming natural obstacles and making it to the finish in time. Hitting the hazards are very damaging. Jump the Waterfall requires you to hit a moving ramp at enough speed to jump over chasms. You also have to avoid whirlpools and fight the current, making this a real test of your reflexes. Finally, Shoot Targets is a relief, as you move slowly and have to take as many targets as you can out. If you hit them all, you earn a one up.

Graphics: 1.5

Graphics aren’t any better than R.C. Pro-Am from a year and a half ago.

Sound: 1.0

Sounds like a poor Rare game, not particularly impressive.

Gameplay: 1.5

You can’t get away with being a good racer with fast reflexes. You have to get power ups and use them correctly.

Difficulty: 2.0

The first half of levels talked about above are pretty easy, but the latter half gets really hard. You’d be hard pressed to make it through all 25 levels with just two continues.

Fun Factor: 1.0

I wouldn’t say this is a very fun game. I was eager to leave it after a couple attempts.

Overall Grade: 1.4

Cobra Triangle earns a D+. They tried to do too much here and didn’t make a very good game in spite of it.

Cobra Triangle Video Review on YouTube