Space Adventure Cobra - The Awakening Review

You're not the only one who hasn't heard of Cobra. Although it was a foundational sci-fi manga and anime from the late 1970s and early 1980s, it never gained as much popularity as Dragon Ball by Akira. Instead, it became a cult series that quietly changed the medium.

Buichi Terasawa created Cobra, which features a space pirate armed with a psycho-gun on his arm, a flashy revolver at his hip, and a love of danger that prompts him to act without thinking. It became a cult classic, inspiring future anime and video games.

In 2025, Space Adventure Cobra: The Awakening comes out. It's a brave attempt to bring back the first twelve episodes of the anime as a 2D action platformer. There was an anime movie called Space Adventure Cobra in 1982, so the name might sound familiar.

However, this new game doesn't adapt that movie directly. Instead, it retells the first few arcs of the original anime and lets you control Cobra directly. This release is a passion project in many ways. It's a tribute to long-time fans, but it's also surprisingly welcoming to people who might be playing the series for the first time through this game.

The story begins with Cobra living a quiet, everyday life after changing his appearance and erasing his memories to escape the Pirate Guild. This short piece is broken when he remembers who he is and is pulled back into his old life of jumping from planet to planet, seeking treasure, and evading enemies who have been waiting for him to return.

The story unfolds across several stages, each based on an episode of the anime and featuring cutscenes directly taken from the show. These anime clips, which have been re-dubbed to match modern audio quality, bookend the gameplay. It feels like you're playing through an extended episode of the anime itself.

It's incredible how well the story flows for those new to it. Even if you've never heard of Cobra, the game tells you enough to get you interested. You know that Cobra is a wanted man, the Pirate Guild won't stop until they find him, and the galaxy is full of both treasures and dangers. The story has a pulpy charm to it; it's cheesy in some places, but that's intentional, as it fits the over-the-top style of the time it was made.

Every world has its own problems and story beats, like fighting the Pirate Guild, meeting space outlaws, and exploring strange alien landscapes. You're not just running through boring sci-fi backgrounds; you're in a colorful, over-the-top space opera with flashy villains, deadly traps, and a hero who is almost too confident. The game stands out because it combines nostalgia with a campy charm.

You might think that Space Adventure Cobra - The Awakening is a Metroidvania. Cobra's smooth animations, ledge grabs, slides, and even his aiming system all remind me of Metroid Dread. You can move with the left stick, aim in any direction by holding down the shoulder button, and slide under gaps or enemies.

There is no denying that the game bears a strong resemblance to Nintendo's series, but it does its own thing. The Awakening employs separate levels, each with a distinct beginning and end, unlike Metroid's vast interconnected maps. The famous Psycho-Gun is what makes the gameplay so great. This gun is distinct from most blasters in that it slows down time when fired.

This lets you move the bullet around the environment freely. You can bend it around corners, hit multiple enemies in a row, or hit targets that are hard to reach with great accuracy. It transforms combat from a simple run-and-gun game into a tactical playground where your creativity will help you emerge victorious.

There are more weapons in Cobra's arsenal. He also uses a traditional revolver to shoot quickly and even explosive cigarettes, which is a funny nod to his anime counterpart. These extra weapons make the game more interesting because they give you different ways to handle each situation. The revolver is useful when the Psycho-Gun isn't the best choice, and the cigarettes are both weapons and cool throwbacks to Cobra's extraordinary personality.

The game is level-based, but it still makes you want to play it again. The maps have hidden paths, secret items to collect, and optional upgrades. You can go back to levels you've already played and use new powers to find things you missed the first time. It's not a full Metroidvania, but it takes just enough from the genre to make exploring fun without making you feel like you're going back too much.

The central part of the experience is fighting. Most fights are about dealing with groups of enemies who are surprisingly tough. Even regular enemies can take a lot of hits before they go down. Sometimes, this makes battles feel harder than they really are, where winning is more about perseverance than having a good plan.

The Psycho-Gun does help with some of this boredom, though, by letting you do more damage by carefully placing your shots. You can tell that there isn't a melee counter here, which is something Metroid Dread did very well. Cobra does have a melee option, but it lacks the timing and impact that could have made the fighting even better.

Space Adventure Cobra - The Awakening doesn't take itself too seriously when it comes to puzzles. Sometimes you'll come across locked paths that need skill-based solutions, like sliding into tight spaces or using the Psycho-Gun to hit switches that are hidden behind obstacles. These times break up the action and add variety without making the logic puzzles too complex to solve.

You can move forward by finding upgrades that are spread out over levels. These make your weapons better, give you more health, or make your Psycho-Gun better. Even though XP grinding isn't part of the formula, getting better at the mechanics and going back to old levels with new tools makes you feel like you're getting better over time.

The game can be challenging, but that doesn't mean it is. It is easy for everyone to play because it offers unlimited lives, numerous checkpoints, and the option to adjust the difficulty. The real challenge comes from optional goals, such as collecting all the items, finding all the hidden paths, and achieving fast and precise times.

The grading system (from S to D) makes the game more fun to play again and again, and pushes you to get better at it like a speed run. The Awakening employs a diverse range of visual styles. The cutscenes are taken directly from the anime and are filled with the bright colors characteristic of the early 1980s. These scenes are so charming that they take you back to a time when space operas were loud, stylish, and entirely over the top.

The graphics in Space Adventure Cobra - The Awakening, on the other hand, are modern 3D with a cel-shaded finish. They do a good job, but they don't always capture the magic of the anime. The graphics look sharp but not as sparkling as you'd expect from a current-gen game. This detracts from the experience, but the otherwise bright art style appears somewhat muddy.

Level variety helps make up for these problems. Each world is different, from alien jungles to space stations with neon lights, so you won't feel like you're running through the same background twice. The designs of the enemies also fit with the anime's flashy style. The strange cyborgs and huge bosses help keep that retro-futuristic feel.

People naturally have high hopes for the soundtrack of a show as famous as Cobra. The game utilizes the anime's original disco-flavored space opera songs, blending them with remixes and new compositions. When it works, it captures the show's colorful, daring spirit. Unfortunately, the loops are short and play repeatedly, which can cause ear fatigue over time.

The voice acting is good, and the new dub fits well with both the anime cutscenes and the in-game dialogue. Sometimes, subtitles mispronounce or misidentify the names of characters, which can be confusing if the sound is turned off. However, these problems are not very serious.

The sound effects for weapons and explosions are strong enough to make fighting fun. The Psycho-Gun, in particular, has a distinctive sound that lends it a more powerful and unique quality. The revolver makes a clean, sharp sound, while the explosive cigarettes crackle with a mix of danger and humor.

Space Adventure Cobra - The Awakening is not just another video game inspired by an anime. It's a love letter to a cult classic that needs more attention. By turning the first few episodes of the anime into a polished action platformer, it brings together old and new fans.

It borrows a lot from Metroid Dread, but it also reminds you that Cobra was one of the games that inspired Metroid in the first place, which is a significant point. The Psycho-Gun mechanic is new and fun, the levels are well-made, and you can see that it respects the source material in every frame.

That being said, the game isn't perfect. It doesn't reach true greatness because enemies are too spongy, there are minor subtitle errors, the music loops are too repetitive, and the Switch has performance problems. But the project's excitement makes it easy to ignore these problems. Not only does it adapt an anime, it also celebrates it.

It's a nostalgic revival that long-time fans should see. For people who are new to the genre, it's an easy way to get into one of the most stylish space operas ever made. No matter what, it's a brave and thrilling trip across the stars with a hero who has a gun for an arm and a lot of charm.