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/ ____/ / __ \ / __ ) / __ \ / |
/ / / / / / / __ | / /_/ / / /| |
/ /___ / /_/ / / /_/ / / _, _/ / ___ |
______ \____/ \____/_/_____/_/_/ |_| /_/ |_| __ ____
/ ____/ / __ \ / |/ / / |/ / / | / | / / / __ \
/ / / / / / / /|_/ / / /|_/ / / /| | / |/ / / / / /
/ /___ / /_/ / / / / / / / / / / ___ | / /| / / /_/ /
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Final Version
A FAQ By
glass_soul, Copyright 2008
===========================================================================
Well, I'd wanted to be the first to post a FAQ for Data East's Cobra
Command, but someone beat me to the punch. Oh well. At least you've got
some variety for your gaming assistance now.
===========================================================================
1) Introduction
2) Controlling the Chaos
3) Weapons, Equipment, and P.O.W.s
4) Bad, Bad, Men
5) The Facts of Life
6) The Walk-Through
7) Any Secrets?
8) In My Opinion...
9) Acknowledgements and Legal Mumbo-Jumbo
===========================================================================
1) INTRODUCTION
The world is in an uproar! An evil terrorist organization, determined to
rule the world (think Cobra from G.I. Joe... that really wasn't meant to be
a pun considering the name of the game and all, and- oh all right, I'll
shut up) is rising and making trouble in Indonesia. All attempts to bring
these bad, bad men to justice have failed, with the allied armies being
decimated. Those who aren't killed taken have been taken hostage. The
powers-that-be have decided on a last-ditch attempt to end the threat and
bring peace back to the world.
Their plan: send in an experimental helicopter, called the Cobra, with one
daring pilot to see if one person can succeed where armies have failed.
Yes, you are General Powers, and you have been selected to pilot the Cobra.
Your mission is two fold: rescue all the hostages, and end the terrorist
threat once and for all! (And what the hell kind of organization sends a
freaking GENERAL into front-line combat?)
2) CONTROLLING THE CHAOS
There are two main screens you're going to have to deal with through Cobra
Command; the main screen and the sub screen. Let's start with the main
screen, since that's where most of the action takes place. The following
section details all of the controls you'll need to navigate through the
gauntlet of enemy hardware that the forces of darkness are going to be
heaving in your direction.
PRIMARY CONTROLS
----------------
Control Pad - Use this to move your helicopter in any direction you feel
like. And I do mean any direction. The Cobra is a very nimble
craft to pilot; you can fly in virtually any direction as you
battle the evil terrorists.
Start - Pressing start calls up the sub screen. Much more on that in
a minute.
Select - Because you will need to backtrack in several areas, pressing
the select button will make the Cobra turn around and face
the opposite direction. Considering the mechanics of the
game, this is an extremely useful command.
A Button - Pressing the A button fires the Cobra's selected missiles.
B Button - Pressing the B button fires the Cobra's selected guns.
Your Cobra 'copter is also equipped with a rescue device (first a rope,
later a ladder) for saving the multitude of hostages that are scattered
throughout the game. Your rescue device will automatically deploy when the
hostages come out to flag you down.
NAVIGATING THE SUBSCREEN
------------------------
The sub-screen has a wide variety of options for you to screw around with.
In order, the options are as follows.
Guns - Allows you to toggle between the various kinds of gun-weapons
you'll pick up as you cruise through the levels of the game.
Missile - As with the description above, except with your missile weapons.
Armour - Note the British spelling. Anyhoo, armor (hotdogs) is the only
thing you don't have to directly equip; armor is activated the
moment you pick it up.
Engine - Allows you to switch between the different speeds your Cobra can
fly. An invaluable asset, as you'll soon learn.
Rescue - Allows you to toggle between the rope or the ladder for rescuing
hostages.
Score - Checking your score will tell you how many points you've earned,
how many lives you have left, and how many hits are left on your
armor before you'll be shot down.
Hostages - This will tell you how man total hostages are on the stage
you're currently on, how many you have saved, and how many are
left.
Messages - When you pick up the solo hostages on each level's overland,
they'll often have information for you. After plucking one from
the jungle, go to your sub-screen and check your messages to
hear what they have to say.
Exit - Selecting this exits the sub-screen and returns you to the
action.
3) WEAPONS, EQUIPMENT, AND P.O.W.S
As you fly through the terrorist strongholds, you will come to enemy supply
depots that you can land on to gain more powerful equipment. Landing on
these depots will also repair any damage your helicopter has taken, so it
is important to the success of your mission to secure all depots. All new
weapons and upgrades (except armor) must be activated via the sub-screen in
order for them to take effect.
MEET YOUR UPGRADES
------------------
GUNS - Single - Your basic gun, fires a single bullet in a straight line.
Not too powerful, and requires you to repeatedly press the
B button for continuous fire.
Dual - Fires two bullets at a time, widening your firing arc a bit
and doing double the damage that your single guns do.
Anti-Tank Gun - Look and fires like your typical Single shot gun, but does
three times the damage.
Rapid Fire - Want to shoot fast? No problem! Each single bullet fired by
Rapid Fire does no more damage that your starting gun, but
the selling point is holding down the B button sends out an
endless stream of fire.
3-Way - Fires bullets in a three way arc, covering both high
targets and low targets.
MISSILES - Single - Your starting Missile selection. Fires a single missile
in a straight line. Firing rate is rather slow; you
can't shoot another missile until your first has either
impacted a target or flown off the screen.
Twin - Just like the single shot missiles, except you can have
two of them on he screen at the same time.
Firebomb - One of the most useful things in your arsenal, the
firebombs drop out of your chopper in a low arc,
devastating anything below you.
Homing Missiles - Sort of a misleading name, these missiles don't
actually home in on anything. Rather, holding the A
button down will allow you to drop the missile to any
height. Releasing the A button will then send the
missile hurtling in a straight line. Very useful in
certain situations.
Mines - Firebombs with a twist. Dropping a mine on land results
in instant detonation. Dropping one in water will
result in the mine floating on the waves a few moments
and then exploding... or destroying any boat that runs
into them. Need I say primo for taking out surface
vessels?
Homing Missiles 1 - Ahhh, now THESE beauties really do track targets. As
with your single missiles, you can only have one of
these on the screen at a time. Also their tracking
abilities are not infallible, as multiple targets tend
to confuse them. Still, they're probably better than
anything else you've got in your arsenal when you get
them.
Homing Missiles 2 - Homing missiles squared. Essentially a "twin" version
of Homing Missiles 1.
ARMOUR - Normal - Your standard armor plating, you start with his. It
allows you to absorb 4 points of damage before going down
in flames.
Armour - A step up from your regular protection. Raises your
damage quotient from 4 to 5.
Super Armour - The next level of protection, this raises your damage
rating from 5 to 7.
Hyper Armour - The best protection you can get, this defensive item
raises your damage rating to the maximum level of 9.
ENGINE - Normal - Your standard engine setting. You don't move like a
snail, but quicker enemies and heavier barrages of
gunfire will necessitate an upgrade before too long.
Turbo - Effectively doubles your speed and maneuverability. Once
you get this engine setting, it should become your
default setting when maneuvering about inside enemy
installations.
Super - Doubles the speed of your turbo engines. Great for out
flying enemy jets and ditching enemy homing missiles.
Hyper - Want to fly fast? No problem! Equip these babies and you
can essentially out run or out maneuver anything. Though
great when used on the over-world of each level, I'd
advise against keeping hyper engines equipped while
inside enemy bases; it's far too easy to fly yourself
into a wall.
RESCUE - Rope - You start with this item to help you rescue the hostages.
Though much longer than the ladder you get later, hostages
climb it much slower.
Ladder - Hostages scale the ladder very quickly, shortening the time
you need to spend hovering in place to pick them up. The
trade off is the ladder is less than half the length of
your rope.
EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT P.O.W.s BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK
------------------------------------------------------------------
Of course, blasting the enemy to bits isn't your only goal. You also need
to rescue all of the friendly prisoners scattered throughout hostile
territory (somehow shoving 29 plus people into one helicopter). When one of
these green-clad friendlys needs a lift, he'll pop out of the background
and wave to your copter. All you do then is fly over to him, and your
rescue implement will automatically deploy. If you're close enough, the
P.O.W. will grab onto our rescue item and climb aboard.
Some of these P.O.W.s have "useful" information (note the sarcasm) to share
with you. usually, when you pick up a solo prisoner from the over-world,
he'll have something to tell you. In order to access this info, after the
hostage has climbed aboard open the sub-screen, highlight Messages, and
press A.
4) BAD, BAD, MEN
Of course, the terrorists have plenty of men and machines ready to take you
down. If they didn't, this game wouldn't be much fun would it?
INCOMING!
---------
There are several kinds of ammunition that the terrorists will be throwing
at you.
Bullets - Cousins of what your own copter fires out of its nose,
being hit by these will knock off one damage point per
hit.
Everything Else - Missiles, artillery shells, grenades, etc. If it's not a
bullet, it usually does 2 points of damage.
Traps - There is also a charming variety of ordnance that will
kill you on contact. Gigantic fireballs, huge missiles,
and those stupid, slinky-looking things on the final
level all fall into this category.
STUFF YOU CAN BREAK
-------------------
Now that that's out of the way, here's a complete breakdown of all the
different, fun little things that will be trying to kill you.
Armored Car - 200 pts -
These are wheeled tanks that are basically armed with an enemy version of
your three-way guns. They're a touch faster and a bit tougher than your
typical tanks, and their gun spread makes them a bit more dangerous.
Artillery - 200 pts -
Thee guns have no visible wheels, but otherwise are identical to the mobile
artillery in that they fire shells in an arc. Why that makes them worth
more points, I have no idea.
Destroyer - 200 pts -
These are the biggest water-borne foes you'll face in the South China Sea.
The destroyers launch homing missiles at you, one after another, making
themselves a huge pain in the ass from the get go. The good news is, if you
don't backtrack, you'll only ever encounter one of these bad boys
(sometimes it won't show up even). It also moves like a slug and is a nice,
big target.
Frigate - 200 pts -
Frigates are slightly larger than the tiny missile boats and they fire
artillery shells rather than missiles. Still, they're not very fast, and
since they present a larger target than the missile boats, frigates are
debatably half as deadly.
Grenade Soldier - 100 pts -
Patrol set areas like all infantry enemies do, but instead of shooting
missiles or bullets, they heave grenades in an arc. Grenades knock off two
points of damage if they hit, and are a little trickier to dodge due to
their arcing trajectory.
Helicopter - 100 pts. -
This is the first enemy you'll encounter in the game. Though cannon fodder
on the first two stages, they wise up on the third level and start
maneuvering all over the place making swatting them out of the sky a bit
harder. Enemy choppers attack with bullets.
Jet Fighter - 150 pts -
After stage 3, these take over the roll of the helicopters as your basic
enemies de jour. They only fire bullets, but they're much faster and way
more maneuverable than the choppers. Their most annoying attack is simply
running into your helicopter.
Missile Boat - 200 pts -
The smallest of the surface vessels you'll encounter on level 4, these
little ships fire a constant barrage of missiles at your helicopter.
However, the boats aren't fast and their shots don't have homing
capabilities, so they really aren't that much of a threat.
Missile Car - 200 pts -
A missile truck squared. It essentially has the same capabilities as the
missile truck, but it carries heavier armor, allowing it to take a heftier
beating.
Missile Carrier - 200 pts -
I'm really not sure why this thing is called a missile carrier. It looks
like an elongated tank, and maybe it carries missiles, but it only fires
bullets.
Missile Soldier - 100 pts -
Another infantry enemy, these guys fire missiles at you from
shoulder-mounted rocket launchers. Though their missiles will put the hurt
on you quickly, they don't have any tracking abilities.
Missile Truck - 150 pts -
It looks like a truck, and it shoots missiles (c'mon people, this isn't
brain surgery). Though it has he ability to shoot missiles at you in
several angles, its missiles won' home in on you.
Mobile Artillery - 100, 150 pts -
Any artillery with wheels counts as mobile artillery. There are two
different kinds of this enemy. The first kind just sits there, even though
its wheels would seem to indicate that it COULD move if it wanted to. The
other kind does, in fact, move. Both varieties fire shells in an arc.
Rifle Soldier - 100 pts -
A guy with a gun. Rifle soldiers patrol a set area and fire bullets at your
helicopter. As far as threats go, these guys are at the bottom of the totem
pole.
Submarine - 200 pts -
These are probably going to be the biggest thorn in your side while on
level 4. The subs will surface, spit a few missiles at you, and then
submerge again. Unlike the missile boats, the subs' shots will home in on
you, making dodging their rocket powered death a difficult task indeed. On
the plus side, you can see and destroy the submarines while they're
submerged, and they can't fire at you until they surface.
Super Tank - 200 pts -
These are the toughest ground-based enemies you'll encounter in the game.
Looking like a large tank with a double barreled square turret, they're
fast, they can take a decent amount of punishment, and they're armed with
the same three-way guns that grace the armored car. Take them out fast or
you'll be in for a tough time.
Tank - 150 pts -
I seem to remember the instruction manual for this game claiming that there
are two different kinds of tanks; tanks that carry shells and tanks that
carry missiles. No. There are only tanks that carry missiles. Sometimes the
missiles will track, but other times they won't. That's the only variable
here.
5)THE FACTS OF LIFE
Your helicopter starts out being able to take a certain amount of
punishment before exploding. For example, you begin the game with a damage
rating of 4. Being hit by enemy fire reduces your damage rating. Most shots
will only tick off one point of damage. However, some more powerful things
like missiles, grenades, and artillery shells do 2 or more points of
damage. When your damage rating has been reduced to 1, your helicopter will
catch on fire and won't be able to maintain altitude, making it harder to
control. At 0, you're dead. Running into walls, buildings, or anything else
results in instant death, as do certain traps that the enemy employs.
You begin the game with 4 lives. You earn an extra life each time you
secure an enemy depot and get new weapons. Dying, of course, causes you to
lose a life. Losing all your lives results in the infamous Game Over. You
have the option to continue, which will start you back at the beginning of
the stage you were currently on. But it also makes you lose any weapons,
equipment, and hostages you may have acquired before you continued. Three
continues is all you get, and then you have to start the game from the
beginning again.
5) THE WALK-THROUGH
Okiee dookie artichokiee, here we go. Cobra Command spans what seems to be
a scant six stages. Ah, the golden age of home video gaming, where less
than ten levels was all you needed. We're going to move on quickly before I
start waxing nostalgic and begin sounding like the old maid I'm becoming.
STAGE 1: SUMATRA
HOSTAGES: 20
EQUIPMENT: Turbo Engines, Dual Guns, Twin Missiles
--------------------------------------------------
Take off from your conveniently-located helipad and fly to the right. Soon
you'll come to a lake, and your first rescuee will flag you down. Pick him
up, talk to him if you'd like then proceed on your merry way. On the other
side of the lake, you'll get your second hostage. See the building to your
right? It's the first base. Shoot the circle-shaped structure on top of it
until it explodes, then fly on down.
Blast the wall you come to apart by aiming for the bright yellow square and
go on to your left. Take out the missile truck and then land on that rosy
red platform to get your first upgrades; Dual Guns and Turbo Engines. Then
go down the shaft to your left.
Down here, you'll be greeted by what the instruction manual called a
missile carrier. It's not, it's just a weird shaped tank, so you won't have
to worry too much about it. Blow it to pieces and then fly up to the red
platform that it was guarding. Three hostages will come out and flag you
down. Once you've picked them up, the tank will reappear. Kill it again,
pick up three more hostages. Repeat until the music speeds up; that's your
cue that you've saved everyone there is to save around here. Time to leave.
Once back on the surface, head fly right again, wasting things as you go.
Your next hostage is at a small, brick structure that looks like a well to
me. Grab him and continue. Once past the radar array, you'll come to a
series of missile launchers that fire in a timed fashion. One hit from
these babies kills you instantly, so slip through between blasts.
Aim for the star-thingy atop the next structure to blast your way into the
second base, then enter and head left. You'll come to a great big missile.
Shoot this thing in the circle area that looks kind of like a porthole, and
when it's wasted, fly back to the entrance. Well look at that! There's now
a hole in the floor! Fly down it and land on the red platform to your right
for Twin Missiles, then go left.
It's the same set-up here: kill guardian, pick up three hostages, repeat.
Except this time, you'll be facing a missile car, which actually does fire
missiles, so you'll need to watch yourself. Also, be careful when you fly
back to take the car down again that you don't accidentally back into the
grenade-tossing soldier who has an ugly habit of appearing directly behind
you. Pick up 10 more hostages and you've beaten stage 1.
STAGE 2: JAVA
HOSTAGES: 28
EQUIPMENT: Super Engines, Firebomb, Armour, Homing Missiles
-----------------------------------------------------------
Take off and fly right, as is your wont. Before long, you'll come to a
green ruin that has your first hostage waiting for pick-up. Grab him and
continue on. Shoot the circular object on the next building (are we
detecting a pattern here yet?) and fly inside when it collapses.
Hit the ball on the pillar to destroy it and head to your right. Shoot the
circular object on the next building and go down when it explodes. Land on
the first blue building you come to for your next set of upgrades
(Firebombs! Oh hell yes!), then keep going left. Now a quick word about the
Super Engines. While the extra speed does help when out- maneuvering
enemies outside, I find that anything above turbo is a no-no when you're in
a base. It's just too easy to get going too fast and slam into walls (and
other things).
Now, the next blue building is guarded by a missile firing tank. You know
the drill. Destroy the tank through several bouts and save all the hostages
before backtracking to the surface.
Fly right (don't hug the ground; there's a trap that will spring up out of
the sand and kill you if you're not careful). Your next hostage is waiting
for you atop a cylindrical pink building that looks like nothing so much as
a grain elevator made of bricks (he's another chatty one, if you're
interested). Pick him up and keep on a-going.
When you get to the long, pink building, hit the circle thingy again to
open it up like a bean can and then dive right in. Shoot the winged lion in
the head to blast yourself open a path, then head left. Be careful of this
next cage-looking thing; you'll be safe if you pass through it from the top
but you can run into it and die from the sides. Land on the blue building
for your second dose of power-ups this level, then blast the pillar in the
circle and keep moving.
Now here you have a situation identical to the last complex except for two
minor differences; the ceiling is falling and the guardian tank fires
homing missiles. Despite those two minor problems though, this should still
be a snap to complete. On to stage 3!
STAGE 3: BORNEO
HOSTAGES: 27
EQUIPMENT: Hyper Engines, Mines, Ladder, Anti-Tank Gun, Homing Missile 1
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Start by heading right again (big surprise, eh?). The enemy helicopters are
going to start flying a little better from here on in so you'll have to
watch out. Keep flying until you come to a small, pink structure with three
divots in the top of it. Don't fly over; those divots will launch missiles
at you that track, and are very hard to avoid. Switch your missiles to
Firebombs and hit each one with a bomb; this will prevent any rockets from
firing. Proceed.
Your first hostage is just past the cabin. Grab him and go (talk to him, if
you'd like). The first base in Borneo is directly in front of you, but
there's a bit of a twist first. You have to double back to the small pink
building just after the missile platform for the next hostage before you
can enter. Once that's done, fly back to the base and shoot the cone-shaped
protrusion near it's top (this particular complex spits out an endless
stream of missile-firing helicopters, so you really do want to make quick
work of it). Once that's done, descend.
Blast the small, raised platform to your right to create yet another hole
to go down, then do so. Destroy the armored car and land on the building
down there for your next set of new equipment. Then take back off and hit
the cone-shaped protrusion sticking out of the wall to your left. Once
that's blown to bits, proceed down the tunnel. Use your Homing missiles to
take out the crate blockade and the artillery gun beneath you from a safe
distance, then fly upwards.
Again, it will be tanks with missiles guarding the hostages in here. Beat
the tank, rescue a trio of captives, and repeat until you've got them all.
Then make your way back to the surface.
As you fly, the woods beneath you will suddenly burst into flames. So don't
go too low. The next complex you come to isn't going to have an obvious
weak-point. Instead, hit the central, cylindrical part of the structure.
That will open up and allow you to descend.
You need to be careful here, because this place has a few more tricks up
its sleeve than most. Blast open the wall to your left (hit the red part)
and fly down the tunnel. Here, you'll encounter a trio of barriers that
will try to crush you as you fly past. Scoot close enough to trigger them
one by one (they only activate once) then continue on your way.
Hit the red part of the wall again, and very carefully maneuver your way
down the narrow corridor (switching to normal engines helps immensely). Now
we're back to the kill-tanks-rescue-hostages part of the game. But before
you get too involved with saving people, see that small red section of the
wall above you? Fly up there, and CAREFULLY nose forward into it. It's the
last depot of this level and it gives you some nifty stuff. Also, be warned
that when you come out of the depot screen, BOTH the tank AND the artillery
guns will have returned. Once all the goodies are in your possession, go
ahead and complete the level. I'd suggest switching to Homing Missiles and
hovering over the spot where the hostages come out to be rescued. When the
tank re-spawns, simply drop a missile on it's head. Repeat ad infinitum and
it's on to the next level!
STAGE 4: SOUTH CHINA SEA
HOSTAGES: 29
EQUIPMENT: Rapid Fire, Homing Missiles II, Super Armour
-------------------------------------------------------
Before we get started here, there's a little quirk about your Mines that
might be helpful for you to know. Though they will explode immediately,
acting just like the Firebombs, if dropped on the ground, when dropped in
water, they'll stay there for a moment or two before detonating. At any
rate, let's get started.
Fly to your right and when you come to the first big ship, drop down and
shoot its front (bow for those of you with a nautical turn of mind) until
it blows open. Fly inside of it, save hostages, kill tank, blah blah blah.
Then leave and continue to your right.
Keep on keepin' on to the right, and eventually, you'll come to an island
with a fort-like structure built on it. Aim for the green square on the
left side of the structure to open the base up, then proceed inside. Head
to your right, descend a level, and land on the pink building to get some
more weapons for your collection. And now get ready for an extremely
annoying obstacle. Flying to your left will bring you to an enemy
submarine. An enemy submarine which launches an ENDLESS STREAM OF HOMING
MISSILES. UP TO FOUR OF THEM AT A TIME. AND THERE'S N*O*T*H*I*N*G YOU CAN
DO ABOUT IT. Dropping mines or firebombs on the sub's missile hatches does
nada to stem the flow of explosives aimed at your face. I advise the
following: switch your engines to Hyper, and make a kamikaze run to the
sub's conning tower. Once you reach this spot, land as close to it as you
can. The homing missiles get fired upwards a bit before their tracking
abilities kick in, and with you directly next to their launch point, they
won't have time to target and hit you. Rescue the here hostages held on the
sub, and then get the hell out of there.
Once back to the surface, head right again. After fighting your way past a
bunch of warships and super, SUPER annoying jet fighters, you'll come to a
battleship. Ignore it. It's a pretty large and detailed sprite for an old
Nintendo game, but you can't hurt it and it's got absolutely nothing to do
with finishing the level. You'll next come to a mountain with an active
volcano at the top. Avoid the magma, blast the green square under the radar
array, and enter the next enemy installation.
Head down, down, down. Break the armored car, blast the pink building to
open the next hole in the base, and head down, down, down some more. Blast
the pink panel with the twin circles to open the way forward. Destroy the
super tank, and land on the pink building to secure this next enemy depot.
Once you've been equipped with your new weapons, you'll automatically go to
the next area of the base. Blast the pink panel again, nose forward
carefully into the pink building ahead of you, and get ready for some fun.
And if you didn't notice the sarcasm, you need your ears checked.
The last room in the South China Sea is guarded by a missile tank. No big
deal right? You've been dealing with those since the second stage. Ah, but
complicating this charming room is the fact that three of the four corners
of the room are going to be constantly firing missiles at you. Thank God
they don't have homing capabilities, but they fire about twice as fast as
normal enemy missiles. Equip firebombs since the tank will be below you,
and I'd go as high as super engines to out maneuver the missiles, but Hyper
is probably still too fast. There's no easy way through this one, you will
likely lose a life or two. Once all the hostages are safe, it's on to the
next level.
STAGE 5: SIAM
HOSTAGES: 7
EQUIPMENT: 3-Way Guns, Hyper Armour
-----------------------------------
Alright! We're almost done here! Fly right (as usual) shooting anything
that moves. Once you reach the hole in the clouds, you'll automatically
descend to the ground level. Keep on flying right. On this charming stage,
you'll encounter several entertaining obstacles, such as zeppelins that
drop bombs at you as you fly under them, and blue cones that are actually
missile silos which launch those damn, agile homing missiles at your head
as you pass. After playing with enough of the enemy's hardware, you'll come
to a big, brown, temple-looking structure. You know the drill by now. Hit
it at it's top, where the circle is to open it up, and fly inside.
The interior of Siam's base is a maze. Drop your engines down to Normal or
you'll be killing yourself every five seconds by crashing into the walls.
Maneuver your way through this pit, until you reach the second gray
building guarded by a super tank. Blow it to pieces and land to secure that
enemy depot. Then continue weaving your way through this place. Once you
reach the bottom level, be wary of the six gold plates that line the floor
and the ceiling; they fire great big shells, the size of your helicopter,
when you get near them. However, like the bar traps in the last building on
Borneo, they only get one chance to get you before they're safe to pass.
Once that threat is behind you, it's time to break tanks and save hostages
again. This time, the prisoners are guarded by a super tank, but you ought
to be well-enough equipped by now to deal with that threat fairly easily.
All 7 hostage are held in this area, which should make ending this level
pretty simple, right?
Nope, this time you're not done yet. When that last hostage climbs onboard
your helicopter (incidentally, what the hell kind of attack chopper can
hold 42 hostages?) the wall above the building collapses. Like a moth lured
to a bug-zapper, can you resist following the path that has just opened
before you?
What a stupid question. Of course you have to go that way, otherwise you'll
never beat the damn game. Onward.
Heading to your left will bring you to a series of golden panels on the
floor and ceiling. The first one's harmless but the second and third one
will spew fireballs at you. Scoot forward between blasts until you come to
the "boss" of this stage, a doorway guarded by a pair of cougar heads that
breath fireballs at you. What you want to here is advance until the door is
fully on the screen, then retreat to the first, passive panel. Stay towards
the top of the screen; The upper statue won't detect you and this will keep
you out of the lower one's firing arc. Now switch to Homing Missiles and
control them so that they fly into the eye of the lower statue. Once it's
taken enough punishment, the thing will explode, and it's on to the final
mission.
STAGE 6: ENEMY HEADQUARTERS
HOSTAGES: 0
EQUIPMENT: None
---------------
No hostages here. No depots either. Just you, your helicopter, and the
enemy's last bastion of soldiers, tanks, planes, choppers, artillery
pieces, ships, and whatever the hell else they can throw at you. Ready?
Head right as usual, and the first thing you'll encounter are these red
launching platforms that spew gigantic fireballs upwards. These projectiles
are instant death to the touch, and they fire very, very fast. To get past
these damn things, hug the ground and scroll the screen as far forward you
can go without killing yourself. Then, between blasts, rush through, again
staying as low to the ground as you can. I reccommend using normal engines
to get the maximal scroll out of the screen, and then switching to hyper
engines when you need to dart through the fireballs. Once past that hideous
ordeal, you'll come to a pair of statue heads. Blast the lower one in the
forehead until the ground opens up, then fly down to the next level.
Looks more like ancient Rome than a Para-military terrorist's base, doesn't
it. We've got a bunch of more obstacles for you to dodge here. Red towers
shoot fireballs vertically, while it looks like the terrorists have
borrowed those fireball chains from Bowser's castles in Super Mario Bros.
Once past that carnival of idiocy, you'll come to an enemy base. As the
orange cylinder moves in and out of the base, lava balls will spew up from
the ground as well as from the ceiling. These aren't too accurate, however,
so you shouldn't have trouble dodging them. Aim for the red object that
looks like a gun turret on the ledge above the base. Once you've dealt out
enough punishment, the base will explode, opening up the way for you to
continue further into the enemy headquarters. The only direction available?
Why down, of course!
Ready for some more entertainment? See those spooky faces on the tops and
bottoms of this level? They'll swing out what looks like a chain of metal
balls at you as you attempt to fly past. Again, touch these and die. The
first two are located high, so fly low. The last one is low, so, uh, go
high. As you approach the final obstacle, you'll pass a pillar in the
background. Fireball will launch from the ceiling to the floor along this
pillar, but it's only one of the damaging kind rather than the instant
death kind, so you're safe to take a hit from it. Line yourself up with the
fourth segment from the top, counting the capital as one (the capital of a
pillar is, of course what the ornamental top is called, but you all knew
that, right?). Now fly slowly forward. A large, pink, statuesque head will
start hurling huge sparky thingies at your helicopter. THESE are death to
the touch. But wait! Because you followed my advice, you are now not only
in a safe zone where the head's bullets can't hit you! You aren't at the
perfect angle to drill the thing in its noggin, but that can be mitigated
by using Homing Missiles 2. After it's taken enough of a beating, the head
will crumble, and you've won the day!
7) ANY SECRETS?
Afraid not. Cobra Command was made back in the good, old days when secret
codes and special modes were a genuine surprise and treat rather than a
standard equipment in video games. There are some interesting Game Genie
codes, but since I've decided not to include such info in my FAQS (these
things are usually too damn long as it is) you'll have to go shopping
somewhere else for those. Sorry!
8) IN MY OPINION...
It's interesting how your perspectives on things change as you grow older.
I remember Mortal Kombat the movie being the coolest flick ever made back
when I was 15. I watched it again at 24 and realized while it was
entertaining, it was also insufferably cheesy. When I was 6 or 7, I loved
the Thundercats. Then I made the mistake of watching it again when Cartoon
Network brought the show back on the now defunct Toonami in '96, and caught
myself wondering what in the name of all that's holy I saw in the show. I
also seemed to think Data East made top-notch games. Oops. Wrong again.
That said, let's take a look at the nearly-forgotten title that I just
vomited a FAQ for into your lap: Cobra Command. (Of course, I guess it
would have been funnier if I'd decided to review Bad Dudes or some other
unrelated game here, but oh well.)
Let's talk about the game's audio/visual package first. There are some nice
visuals in this cart. The different mug shots of the various P.O.W.s that
give you hints are very nice, and the animation of the Cobra turning around
is decent as well. Adding splash graphics for crashing into water is a neat
touch, one the programmers could have just as easily overlooked, and it's
pretty neat when the Cobra catches on fire. The end pic is kind of stupid
though, and everything else you encounter, from all the enemies to the
hostages in the main game, are all rather small and un-detailed. There
isn't much in the way of music here and like most Nintendo games the only
things you're going to be hearing are explosions and gunfire, two sound
effects that are pretty hard to screw up no matter what home counsel you're
playing on.
Cobra Command is not an easy game. Though there are only a scant six
levels, by the time you reach stage three, your patients are going to be
severely tested. The final stage may actually cause you to hurl your NES
out a window after you've been hit by a death trap for the billionth time,
and the limited number of continues ensures that you're going to have to
start the whole thing over a time or two before you get it right. Replay
value stems from playing through each of the levels over and over again
until you know what to expect and can react accordingly. This may be an
antiquated method of game programming, but for old NES titles it's standard
procedure, so no points off for that.
The real innovation Cobra Command boasts is the ability to save your
special weapons and switch back to something less powerful if the situation
requires it. The perfect example of this is the difference between
maneuvering within the enemy bases and flying around the outside levels.
One the overworld, you'll need to move fast in order to dodge the multitude
of gunfire and enemies that will be trying to kamikaze your helicopter.
However, staying on hyper engines while zipping around the underground is a
surefire way to crash into walls. Mines are useful for dealing with surface
ships, but worthless in all other situations, necessitating a switch back
to something you acquired earlier. This was truly innovative for its time.
All and all, Cobra Command boils down to an average action game with a
unique twist to your collecting of power-ups. It's not a bad title. It's
not an excessively GOOD title, either, but for a few hour trip down memory
Nintendo lane, you could do worse.
6 out of 10
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8)ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND LEGAL MUMBO-JUMBO
We'll start by thanking Data East. The designer always deserves premier
credit for making the game in the first place because without the game,
there would be no massive waste of time, energy, and limited Internet space
called this FAQ.
This FAQ was, unlike my others where I had to do some research, entirely
written by me in every way, shape and form. So don't mess with it. Once
again, I did turn to GameFAQS to see if there were any codes or cheats
hidden within the game's plastic hulk, but there aren't.
All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their
respective trademark and copyright holders.
This document is Copyright 2008 glass_soul (that's me). Only GameFAQs,
Neoseeker, and 1-up have permission to post this walk-through on their site
(if they feel like it). Nobody else, person, entity, or otherwise, may post
this document in part or whole on their website without my express
permission to do so.
Comments, questions, corrections and other forms of feedback in general are
all welcome.
I may be reached at elfuego767@yahoo.com.
Next time, my little friends.
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