"RARE does something other than fighting games?"

When you go back in video game history and take a look at the games that powerhouse producers have created, you’ll find a game by RARE that isn’t Killer Instinct and it isn’t Donkey Kong Country. In fact, you’ll go so far back; that the Super Nintendo Entertainment System wasn’t even released yet, to find this little gem of a game, Cobra Triangle! You take control of a super powered boat that can upgrade into a watercraft of ultimate destruction through stages of action and rescuing adventure. Cobra Triangle is a game that is both difficult, and addictive at the same time, featuring different game play options and otherwise in order to make for a hybrid of racing and adventure, all rolled into a little gray cart that is both remembered and played in my library, even this many years later. Once you’ve gotten into the game, and witnessed the challenge in some of the stages, you’ll find that the game has much to offer, even though it is shy of perfect and shows that a video game company can create games that have nothing to do with overgrown gorillas and super human fighters!

The game play is pretty simple when you look at the primary mission, in which you have to make it from one end of the stage to the other without getting yourself killed in the process. The different options of the game come through when you have to pick up distressed swimmers and otherwise, kill off a huge sea monster and just plain beat other boats to the finish line in different races! What RARE does, is create a game that has nothing to do with violence or platforming, and puts in different game play aspects that serve to make a rather interesting action game. The difficulty level of the game is set to an above average level in which you have to be quick on your fingers and in your strategy to get through the different missions that may come up. To help you through these points, you’ll have to collect different power ups that will give your boat different attributes such as speed, a force field and weapons upgrades. All of these options will help you through the later stages in which you have to use force and destruction to get you past the enemies that will try and keep you from reaching your goals in each of the stages. The stages themselves will challenge your strategy and take you through different missions that include jumping waterfalls and killing the oversized lizard in the monster. If you compare this to other action games, you’ll find that it plays just like Captain Skyhawk in most respects, so if you’re a fan and player of that title, then there is nothing here that you can’t get used to.

The control of Cobra Triangle is easy enough to learn and use through a little practice and a basic understanding of what the game offers. Picking up different power up items will add something more to your control, but the only thing that you have to compensate for is the speed of your boat in this respect and the use of the missiles with the other button. Moving your boat requires you to have a good handle on the directional pad, and all you really have to do here is just make sure that your boat is facing in the right direction. The game controls are also easy enough, that anyone with enough skill in different types of action games can just pick this one up and play, while beginners will take probably five minutes to get what the game has to offer!

Visually, the game is clean and crisp with plenty of detail. While the NES has its fair share of hardware limitations and has nothing of the level of detail that other boat games such as Hydro Thunder, you’ll find that the game puts just enough into the stages and the action to leave an impression! The different stages change with the way that they are laid out, other than the fact that they do tend to repeat every so often. Special effects in the game are pretty much limited to small dots in the water that are waving their arms to be rescued, and even the chops in the water that are supposed to represent waves and otherwise while you race through them. Although this may not seem much, the NES isn’t known for having exceptional detail in their games, but Cobra Triangle has plenty to offer. There is nothing like battling against a moving water creature that is firing blasts at you while you fire off at it to really get your interest in the game visually!

The audio of the game is limited to adventurous music that is supposed to instill a certain amount of urgency and action. While it does tend to repeat, you will find that the music changes when you are starting to run out of time, and for an NES game, the music change is something that you will notice. The sound effects though, are your standard fare of action game sounds that are basically placed there to keep the mood and the theme of the game intact. When you boil it down and put it together, it does come across as a rather easy to listen to game that keep your attention long enough with the game and not really bore you to death although you may find that it tends to drone in later stages!

Cobra Triangle is a wonderful action game from RARE that makes you realize that you aren’t playing one of their technological terrors that came with later gaming such as Killer Instinct or Donkey Kong Country. Giving you action, adventure and a huge ass water monster, you’ll find that this title is a wonderful diversion from the norm, and can be rather addicting to play in later stages! If you can get through the difficulty of the later stages, you’ll find that the game has plenty to offer any NES action gamer and should be worth picking up at the used game store for the collection.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/09/01, Updated 12/09/01