Developer: Rare Publisher: Nintendo Release: 07/89 Genre: Vehicular Combat
Sometimes I miss the days when a game could come along and genuinely surprise me. True, I could completely avoid all information on titles that I am even slightly interested in. But with the insane amount of games released these days on Steam alone it is practically wallet suicide. Back in the day you could go to Toys R Us, see a game about a dude that jumps really high, and come away with a hidden gem. Cobra Triangle falls into that category. Who would have thought a game about motorboats could be so interesting? A few niggling flaws keep it from true greatness but Cobra Triangle still remains a good game in spite of them.
When it comes down to it Cobra Triangle is a hard game to classify. At first it appears to be a racing game with speed boats. While many of its missions are a straight race to the finish it is also more than that. It also tasks you with defusing bombs, protecting children and even defeating bosses. The game spans multiple genres and does all of them pretty well. Were it not for the insanely high difficulty this would be a classic.
Cobra Triangle has similarities to quite a few NES games. The isometric perspective is shared with Rare’s own R.C. Pro AM and the controls are very similar. In fact the controls are one of the best parts of the game. Your speedboat can turn on a dime and is only slightly affected by waves. While you spend most of your time just reaching the finish line you have weapons. The boat has a Gradius style roulette powered by pods. These can upgrade your firepower, speed, grant missiles, a force field or a turbo boost. Not every mission makes use of your weapons but you will definitely need them.
Cobra Triangle offers more than straight up shoot em up action. There are a large number of different mission objectives that keep things interesting. Race to the finish is the simplest and most frequent. Simply reach the finish line before time runs out. Of course you’ll have to contend with rival boats, turrets, and even sharks to accomplish that goal. Disposing mines challenges you to steal mines from rival boats and taking them to a designated point to safely explode. This is my favorite mission type and is always thrilling. Fry the monster is a boss battle against some giant fantastical creature. Reach the finish is an alternative race to the finish, this time featuring different obstacles in your path.
The last two are the most aggravating despite their solid concept. Jumping the waterfall is simple: hit the ramp at the right speed to cross large gaps. The problem is the obstacles blocking your path and the space available are too close and if you miss the first one chances are you’ll miss every one. Guard the People provides you with 8 swimmers that need protection until the time runs out. The number of enemies and especially paralyzing UFOs almost completely ruin these missions. You can cheese it (take one and run out the clock) but you shouldn’t have to resort to that just to progress.
At twenty five levels Cobra Triangle had the potential to grow stale fast. However its diverse mission variety saves it. The game is well paced to an extent. Some of the more difficult mission types such as protecting the children and jump the children are only used a few times. Shooting the targets and collecting pods are more of a bonus round, intended to help you earn extra lives for the pain ahead. When the game isn’t kicking you in the teeth it is insanely fun. Dodging rival boats to dispose of bombs is extremely fun and who doesn’t like a good boss fight?
All of that changes once you reach the game’s midpoint. At this point there is such an insane difficulty spike that I sometimes can’t believe this is the same game. If you think Battletoads is difficult you are not ready for how devious Cobra Triangle can get. Obstacles such as icebergs and logs can kill you in seconds. Extra lives become extremely scarce. Missions such as jumping the waterfall, which were already contentious to begin with, become a nightmare. You have one shot to succeed and if you fail you might as well start over. It’s as though someone flipped a switch and didn’t care. There is no semblance of balance in the game’s back half and it suffers for it. And to top it all off there are no passwords, battery backup, and limited continues. Just to give you the middle finger one last time.
It really is a shame that the game devolves so much in its second half. The pacing of the first stages eases you into its mechanics and a median challenge. Every time I pick it up for a quick session I end up playing longer than I intended. But I inevitably hit that brick wall and the game stops being fun at that point. The difficulty spike does not completely ruin the game but I doubt many will tough it out and see this through to the end.
In Closing
Cobra Triangle is like many of Rare’s NES efforts; a nice concept brought down by its execution. I really like it but at the same time have a hard time recommending it. This is still a pretty unique game but the insane difficulty will turn away many unfortunately.
