G.I. Joe: Cobra Strike | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Developer(s) | Parker Brothers |
Publisher(s) | Parker Brothers [1] |
Designer(s) | John Emerson [2] |
Platform(s) | Atari 2600 |
Release | |
Genre(s) | Action |
Mode(s) | Single-player, cooperative, competitive |
G.I. Joe: Cobra Strike is an action video game written by John Emerson for the Atari 2600 and published in 1983 by Parker Brothers. [2] The game is loosely based on the G.I. Joe franchise and is the first licensed G.I. Joe video game. [3] There are three game modes: single-player, two player cooperative, and two player competitive. The UK version was renamed Action Man: Action Force. [4]
Parker Brothers held a contest in which a player could win a Black Cobra Cap by reaching the 16th level of the game. [2]
In the single-player mode, the player controls a G.I. Joe training camp on the bottom of the screen protected by a barrier and armed with two laser cannons. In this mode the goal is to keep the giant Cobra-operated robot snake from destroying the shield and thus the training camp by hitting it eight times. The Cobra robot shoots venom and laser beams.
In two-player cooperative mode control of the G.I. Joe training game is split between two players as they work to destroy the Cobra robot. In the two-player competition mode one player controls the Cobra robot and another player controls the training camp.
Based on the European version of G.I. Joe known as Action Force , the game was published by Parker Brothers as Action Man: Action Force in PAL format for European markets. [5] In the game, the Action Force training camp is under siege from a giant Cobra Combat Machine built by the evil Baron Ironblood. Baron Ironblood was the leader of the Red Shadows in the Action Force comic book universe, before changing his name to Cobra Commander and creating the Cobra Organization later in the series.
In a 1983 review, Video Games magazine wrote that G.I. Joe: Cobra Strike, "looks far better than it plays". [6] The reviewer concluded, "As a one-player game, I found that this cart doesn't sustain much interest....It may work as a two player game". [6]
In 2009, Jeremy Parish of Retronauts blog wrote that this game "had about as much to do with G.I. Joe as any other licensed game from that era, which is to say not a whole hell of a lot", comparing it to E.T. for the Atari 2600. [3]
Cobra Commander is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero franchise. He is the supreme leader of the terrorist organization Cobra and the archenemy of the G.I. Joe Team. He was portrayed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, and by Luke Bracey with the voice of Robert Baker in the 2013 sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation.
Star Wars is a first-person rail shooter designed by Mike Hally and released as an arcade video game in 1983 by Atari, Inc. It uses 3D color vector graphics to simulate the assault on the Death Star from the 1977 film Star Wars. There are three connected gameplay sequences: combat against TIE fighters in space, flying across the surface of the Death Star, and the final trench run. The sequence repeats with added complications and the Death Star regenerating for each. The player's X-Wing fighter has a shield which only protects against damage a certain number of times, then the next hit ends the game. Speech synthesis emulates actors from the film.
Demon Attack is a fixed shooter video game created by Rob Fulop for the Atari 2600 and published by Imagic in 1982. The game involves the player controlling a laser cannon from the surface of a planet, shooting winged demons that fly down and attack the player in different sets of patterns.
The TV Boy, and its successors TV Boy II and Super TV Boy, are handheld TV games sold by many different companies, including Systema, Akor, and NICS, based upon an unlicensed clone of Atari 2600 hardware. They were released around 1992 and three years later, an improved version of the TV Boy 2, the Super TV Boy, was also made by Akor. They were widely available across Europe. In the UK, they were most visibly available through Argos.
Robot Tank is a first-person shoot 'em up written by Alan Miller for the Atari 2600 and published by Activision in 1983. It is similar in design to Atari, Inc.'s Battlezone tank combat arcade video game and more so to its 2600 port. Robot Tank adds different systems which can individually be damaged—instead of the vehicle always exploding upon being shot—and weather effects.
Super Cobra is a horizontally scrolling shooter developed by Konami, originally released as an arcade video game in 1981. It was published by Konami in Japan in March 1981 and manufactured and distributed by Stern in North America on June 22. It is the spiritual sequel to the Scramble arcade game released earlier in 1981. Super Cobra contains eleven distinct sections, versus six in Scramble, and is significantly more difficult, requiring maneuvering through tight spaces early in the game.
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi: Ewok Adventure, also known as Revenge of the Jedi: Game I, is a cancelled 1983 shoot 'em up video game based on the 1983 Star Wars film Return of the Jedi. The game was developed by Atari Games and was to be published by Parker Brothers on the Atari 2600. Although it was completed, the game was never released for sale, as the marketing department of Parker Brothers considered the controls too difficult to master. A prototype cartridge surfaced in 1997.
Vanguard is a scrolling shooter arcade video game developed by TOSE. It was released by SNK in Japan and Europe 1981, and licensed to Centuri for manufacture in North America in October and to Zaccaria in Italy the same year. Cinematronics converted the game to cocktail arcade cabinets in North America.
Frostbite is a 1983 action game designed by Steve Cartwright for the Atari 2600, and published by Activision in 1983. The game has a player control Frostbite Bailey, who must hop across several ice floes to collect ice while avoiding falling in the water and avoiding the hazardous natural elements such polar bears and snow geese.
The Lord of the Rings: Journey to Rivendell was a video game scheduled to be released in the winter of 1983. Parker Brothers was set to publish it, and advertised it in their 1982 and 1983 catalogues as a game that would be released on the Atari 2600 and Atari Home Computer. The game was originally advertised under the name Lord of the Rings, and in one case as The Lord of the Rings I. It was described as an adventure of getting Frodo from the Shire to the door at Moria, a description which was later changed in the 1983 Parker Brothers Video Games catalogue to have Rivendell as the adventures end point instead. The same catalogue was first time the game was ever referred to as The Lord of the Rings: Journey to Rivendell, and was the last advertisement the game ever received. The game was never released, and it was believed that little or no work was done on the game's coding.
James Bond 007 is a horizontally scrolling shooter published in 1984 by Parker Brothers for the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit computers, Commodore 64, and ColecoVision. It was developed and published in Japan by Tsukuda Original for the SG-1000 under the title 007 James Bond. It was the first video game based on James Bond to be given a worldwide release.
G. I. Joe: A Real American Hero is a 1985 action shoot 'em up video game. It was developed and published by Epyx for the Apple II and Commodore 64.
Tutankham is a 1982 arcade video game developed and released by Konami and released by Stern in North America. Named after the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun, the game combines a maze shoot 'em up with light puzzle-solving elements. It debuted at the European ATE and IMA amusement shows in January 1982, before releasing worldwide in Summer 1982. The game was a critical and commercial success and was ported to home systems by Parker Brothers.
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back is a scrolling shooter video game programmed by Rex Bradford for the Atari 2600 and published by Parker Brothers in 1982. It was the first licensed Star Wars video game. An Intellivision version was released in 1983.
G.I. Joe is a line of military-themed action figures produced by Hasbro.
Star Wars: Jedi Arena is a lightsaber battle video game written by Rex Bradford for the Atari 2600 and published by Parker Brothers in 1983. It is the first Star Wars video game to feature lightsabers. The goal of the game, based on one scene in the original Star Wars film, is to take out the opponent with the Seeker ball while defending oneself from incoming laser blasts using one's lightsaber.
Demons to Diamonds is a fixed shooter for the Atari 2600 produced by Atari, Inc. and released in 1982. It was programmed by Nick Turner with graphics designed by Alan Murphy. Nick Turner previously ported Super Breakout to the 2600. The manual states that the game was primarily designed for children in the 6 to 12 age range.
Return of the Jedi: Death Star Battle is a shoot 'em up video game published by Parker Brothers in 1983 for the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, and Atari 8-bit computers. In 1985, it was published by Sinclair Research as part of a software pack bundled with ZX Spectrum+. It was one of the earliest Star Wars-related video games, following Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back in 1982 and alongside Atari's 1983 Star Wars arcade game. It was the first video game based on Return of the Jedi.
Fire Fighter is a video game written by Brad Stewart for the Atari 2600 published by Imagic in 1982. The player uses fire fighting equipment in an attempt to extinguish the fire in a tall building and rescue the occupants.
Action Force is a British comic war story published in the weekly anthology Battle from 8 October 1983 to 29 November 1986 by IPC Magazines; for most of the period the comic was retitled Battle Action Force. The story is based on the toyline of the same name produced by Palitoy, and portrayed multinational Europe-based anti-terrorist military organisation Action Force's attempts to thwart the ambitions of the Red Shadows and – later – Cobra. "Action Force" ended when the toyline's new owners Hasbro discontinued the licence with IPC in favour of a dedicated title produced by Marvel UK.