Twin Cobra

For the 2024 re-release by Retro-bit, see Twin Cobra Collector's Edition.

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Twin Cobra
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Sega of America (US), Treco (JP), Tec Toy (BR)
Developer: GRC
Distributor: Tec Toy (BR)
Licensor: Toaplan, American Treco (US)
Original system(s): Arcade boards
Developer(s) of original games: Toaplan
Genre: Shooting
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code JP 1991-02-22 ¥7,500 (7,725)7,500e T-24033 US 1991-06 1128 BR 199x
Non-Sega versions Arcade FM Towns Nintendo Entertainment System PC Engine X68000

Twin Cobra, known in Japan as Kyuukyoku Tiger (究極タイガー), is a Sega Mega Drive vertical shoot-'em-up developed by GRC. A port of the titular 1987 Toaplan arcade game Twin Cobra, it was first published in Japan by Treco in Feburary 1991, and was later brought to the United States by Sega of America four months later. Some time later, it was also also published in Brazil by Tec Toy.

Gameplay

Bomb

The game is a military-themed vertical shoot-'em-up in which players take control of the titular attack helicopter through ten increasingly difficult levels, each with a boss at the end that must be fought before progressing any further, in order to defeat an assortment of military enemy forces like tanks, battleships, and artillery as the main objective. Players control the craft over a constantly scrolling background, and the scenery never stops moving until a helipad is reached.

The Twin Cobra is moved in any direction using the D-Pad. The playable area is somewhat wider than the screen, so moving to the left and right sides of the screen scrolls the view sideways slightly. The Twin Cobra fires its primary weapon with , which can be held for rapid-fire (though using a rapid-fire controller can be faster). This weapon has unlimited ammunition and can be powered up by collecting items. It is additionally armed with a limited supply of bombs, which are dropped with or . These bombs have a large radius and do high damage, in addition to absorbing all bullets while the explosion lasts. There is a small delay between dropping the bomb and the bomb detonating.

The Twin Cobra is destroyed if it takes damage from an enemy, and it respawns at a predetermined checkpoint, with the starting weapon at baseline strength and with the starting complement of three bombs. The game ends if the player runs out of lives, but it can be continued as long as there are credits remaining. The player earns an extra life at 70,000 and 200,000 points and then every 200,000 points after that. This can be changed to 50,000 and 150,000 points or to 10,000 points only in the options, as well as changing the starting lives to 3, 4, or 5. There are eight selectable difficulty levels (Easy A, B, C, and D and Hard A, B, C, and D), which affects the number of credits given.

After completing the last stage, as with previous titles from Toaplan, the game begins again with the second loop, increasing in difficulty.

Weapons

	Red
	The starting weapon. A straight shot that becomes wider as it powers up.
	Green
	A narrow, strong laser.
	Yellow
	A cross-shaped shot that fires in the four cardinal directions.
	Blue
	A spreadshot.

Items

	S
	Powers up the currently equipped weapon.
	B
	Adds another bomb to the supply.
	P
	Awards 3,000 bonus points at the end of the stage. These bonuses are lost if the player loses a life.
	Weapon
	Equips a different weapon. The item cycles through the four different colors, each representing a different weapon.
	1-Up
	Gives the player an extra life.

Stages

	Stage 1
	Stage 2
	Stage 3
	Stage 4
	Stage 5
	Stage 6
	Stage 7
	Stage 8
	Stage 9
	Stage 10

History

Legacy

The game was also ported to the NES, FM Towns, and PlayStation. The PlayStation port, part of Toaplan Shooting Battle Vol.1, is the most faithful conversion.

In 1995, it received a sequel, Twin Cobra II or Kyuukyoku Tiger II, which would be ported exclusively to the Sega Saturn and released in Japan as Kyuukyoku Tiger II Plus.

A boss in Namco's shoot-'em-up Dangerous Seed is called "Ultimate Tiger", which is a direct translation of the Japanese name of Twin Cobra. This could be a deliberate reference.

Versions

By default, the Mega Drive port of Twin Cobra is harder than its arcade counterpart, but the difficulty can be adjusted in the options menu. Its overall presentation (complete with the "Insert Coin" screen), gameplay, levels layout and enemy patterns are faithful to the arcade original, unlike the rival PC Engine version, which stripped its gameplay down and offers simplified presentation and stage design.

The Mega Drive Twin Cobra has a very simplistic way of handling colour, choosing a 64-colour palette at the start of the game and sticking with it regardless of what is happening on screen. This leads to some curious design choices, such as the tanks in Stage 1 being bright yellow, as their palette is shared with explosions. On top of this, 16 of those colours are reserved for hit confirmation effects (yellow/red flashing when hitting an enemy), giving even less choice for stages and objects.

The helicopter in all home versions of the game is grey as opposed to the original red colour scheme. There is also some noticeable load times before boss fights

Localised names

Also known as

Language	Localised Name	English Translation
English (US)	Twin Cobra	Twin Cobra
Japanese	究極タイガー	Kyuukyoku Tiger
Portuguese (Brazil)	Desert Attack Helicopter	Desert Attack Helicopter

This Mega Drive variant of the game is slightly misleading. The name "Twin Cobra" (or Twin Cobra: Desert Attack Helicopter as listed on the packaging) originates from the localised arcade name for Kyuukyoku Tiger, but the "twin" implies "two", when it is in fact only a one-player game. In Japan, the arcade Kyuukyoku Tiger was originally released in a single-player only-form - a product which did not make it to the US, but is what this Mega Drive port is derived from.

In Brazil, this was partially rectified by simply calling the game Desert Attack Helicopter on its packaging, though it uses the Twin Cobra name in-game.

Production credits

Kyuukyoku Tiger

• Publisher: Hajime Satomi
• Producer: Hiromitsu Kususe
• Assistant Producer: Tatsuhiko Tsuchida, Takashi Ohga, Midori Sawada, Takashi Kuroda, Akihiro Murayama
• Program Designer: Hyakumangoku Hamada, Oshiete Kawacyan
• Art Creator: Numataroh, Etoh Shiwasu, Kencyan Arumon Mark-2, Harada Riku-Shicyoh, Arumon Puls, Hashiuri Yuki, Kidokoro Mai
• Music Arranger: Raika no Papa
• Super Data Maker: Dotsukanpo Itoh
• Executive Director: Yoshiaki Sawada
• Special Thanks: Damenanoyo-N Shigecyan, Silpheed, Silence Takahashi, Dadida Syohji, Tetorisu Kudasai Maccyan, Bakkin Tamayama, Yukimi Papa, Urakureani Man 7, Egawa Bucyoh, Yamanaka San, Hex Dec Bin Imoto
• Presented by: Treco

© 1991 All Rights Reserved

Source:

In-game credits

Twin Cobra

• Publisher: Hajime Satomi
• Producer: Hiromitsu Kususe
• Assistant Producer: Tatsuhiko Tsuchida, Takashi Ohga, Midori Sawada, Takashi Kuroda, Akihiro Murayama
• Program Designer: Hyakumangoku Hamada, Oshiete Kawacyan
• Art Creator: Numataroh, Etoh Shiwasu, Kencyan Arumon Mark-2, Harada Riku-Shicyoh, Arumon Puls, Hashiuri Yuki, Kidokoro Mai
• Music Arranger: Raika no Papa
• Super Data Maker: Dotsukanpo Itoh
• Executive Director: Yoshiaki Sawada
• Special Thanks: Damenanoyo-N Shigecyan, Silpheed, Silence Takahashi, Dadida Syohji, Tetorisu Kudasai Maccyan, Bakkin Tamayama, Yukimi Papa, Urakureani Man 7, Egawa Bucyoh, Yamanaka San, Hex Dec Bin Imoto
• Presented by: Sega Enterprises Ltd.

© 1991 All Rights Reserved

Source:

In-game credits

Magazine articles

Main article: Twin Cobra/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1990-12: "December 1990" (1990-11-08)
also published in:

• Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1991-01: "January 1991" (1990-12-08)
• Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1991-02: "February 1991" (1991-01-08)
• Mega Drive Fan (JP) #12: "January 1991" (1990-12-08)
• Mega Drive Fan (JP) #13: "February 1991" (1991-01-08)

Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1991-03: "March 1991" (1991-02-08)
also published in:

• Mega Drive Fan (JP) #14: "March 1991" (1991-02-08)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 70 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 40 Aktueller Software Markt (DE) 67 Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J 60 The Complete Guide to Sega (UK) NTSC-J 88 Console XS (UK) NTSC-J 80 Computer & Video Games (UK) 66 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 75 Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU) 60 Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK) 78 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 53 Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J 20 Joystick (FR) NTSC-J 78 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) NTSC-J 55 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) NTSC-U 39 Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J 65 Mega Play (US) NTSC-U 75 MegaTech (UK) NTSC-J 81 Mean Machines Sega (UK) 81 Power Play (DE) 80 Sega Power (UK) NTSC-J 63 Sega Power (UK) NTSC-U 50 Sega Pro (UK) 87 Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-J 54 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 50 Sega Force (UK) PAL 71 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 54 Tilt (FR) 70 Tricks 16 bit (RU) NTSC-U 46 Tricks 16 bit (RU) NTSC-J 70 Video Games (DE) 80

	65
Based on 31 reviews

Twin Cobra

Mega Drive, JP
Cover
Cart Manual PCB

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, BR
Cover
Cart

Technical information

Main article: Twin Cobra/Technical information.

References

NEC Retro has more information related to Kyuukyoku Tiger