Over the years there have been plenty of bizarre ideas for video games, and we can all agree that the weirder a game is the better it is. This is why Mr Moskeeto is highly regarded as the peak of gaming, and why Shower with your Dad Simulator was my GOTY back in 2015. In all seriousness: I am a huge fan of unusual games, even if it’s just the concept of a game that’s weird over the actual gameplay. Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening may look like a normal action platformer at first, but it’s anything but.
You see Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening isn’t just a video game, it’s actually a fairly obscure (or at the very least forgotten) anime from 1982. Following the titular Space Pirate Cobra, it features sci-fi action, campy characters and a badass arm cannon that actually is considered to have inspired Metroid. Why are we getting a Space Adventure Cobra video game in 2025? I have absolutely no idea, but I was happy to give it a go.
Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening follows the first twelve episodes of the anime it’s based on, with episodes split into multiple stages of shooty action. What’s especially cool about how the story is told is the fact that actual scenes from the original anime play throughout, and you get to see this retro anime ridiculousness in all its glory. Before you know it you’ll be invested in Cobra and his robot sidekick Lady, and their interstellar hijinks.
Between these scenes though you’ll need to actually blast a bunch of baddies yourself, with the iconic Psychogun (yes really). There’s a decent amount more combat than platforming in this game, and you have a nice array of offensive abilities at your disposal. It’s not exactly new to have a charge shot, manual aim and melee attacks in your arsenal (especially for a Metroid inspired game) but you’ll need to use them all to succeed in stopping various robo-criminals.
Your attacks aren’t just used for blowing up bad guys either, they’re also used to unlock doors by hitting switches. This is usually where you’ll need to use your special guided shot, which you can bend around corners and through multiple targets while freezing time. It’s a pretty cool mechanic, although controlling it is often pretty frustrating.
What’s also frustrating is how quickly you’ll die, especially when you aren’t used to constantly using your dodge to dash through projectiles and lasers. Something about the slight delay in the time it takes to go invincible with this ability meant I regularly took hits that it felt like I shouldn’t, and it took away from my enjoyment.
There are plenty of other abilities that are more fun to use though, like your grapple and magnetic climbing skills. These allow you to reach all new areas, often with helpful collectibles hidden away there. You don’t start with these abilities either, and have to unlock them over the course of the game. Once you do you can replay older stages to gather the items you missed, which is helpful when facing all the villainous enemies standing in Cobra’s way.
When I think of upgrades in a game like Space Adventure Cobra I think of small boosts to health, and while these are present here there are also gun upgrades which are absolutely massive. Once you collect enough shiny orbs to boost your weapon’s power you’ll be able to kill enemies with half as many shots, and unleash way more projectiles across the screen at once. It’s hard to fully explain quite how impactful this is, but it means exploring for these collectibles is essential.
Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening really feels like a game I should love, but a plethora of issues prevented this almost entirely. Moving around as Cobra just feels loose, and when firing your laser across the screen it feels like you never hit where you want to. All the issues combine when you’re presented with a boss fight, which drag on for ages and are huge spikes in difficulty. Multiple times throughout the game I had to put my Steam Deck down and do something else as I was just not having fun with these fights, and more than anything else it spoiled my time with the game.
Space Adventure Cobra has a whole lot of charm and introduced me to a cool new anime, but playing the game isn’t enough fun. With dodgy controls and frustrating boss fights I found myself regularly wishing I was playing something else, and in the end you’d probably be better off watching this lesser known classic anime than checking out the game inspired by it.
