So we had to wait until September 2024 for Microids to finally deign to show the first images of Cobra, the work of Buichi Terasawa who left us last year, a little suddenly. Since the announcement a year and a half ago, fans of the manga have been wondering what type of game Microids was going to offer us and it is now official, it will be a horizontal scrolling game, a bit like Metroid, Contra or more recently Prince of Persia The Lost Crown. I went to take a look at the comments on our site, on our Twitter account and our Facebook page and what comes out is that people were expecting anything but a Metroid game. It is certain that in 2024, in the era of the PS5 Pro and Unreal Engine 5, we want to have games that tear our retinas. Except that unfortunately, the budget and the know-how have to follow too. And I don’t think I’m wrong in saying that despite all their passion and all the desire to do well, Microids is blocked by a glass ceiling, that of the budget. I don’t know the one that was allocated for this Cobra, but by choosing the 2.5D horizontal scrolling game, we are clearly making economies of scale. It requires fewer resources than the TPS which would have also required cutscenes and mocap, which would have cost millions and millions of euros. But let’s ask ourselves the question differently. If Microids wasn’t interested in Cobra, who else would have done it very sincerely? Nobody really. It’s like Goldorak. If the game of 2023 exists, it’s because there are lovers of this bygone era at Microids. Mind you, I’m not saying it’s good and that given the result that Goldorak was, we would have refrained from ruining the license, but despite this artistic failure, there are desires, unfortunately blocked by insufficient budgets.
So, what about Cobra? Cobra is even more complicated. Because Goldorak is about childhood, not to mention that it’s the hero who shaped all Japanese animation in France afterwards, but Cobra… Cobra, we’re touching on the sacred… The characters, the universe, the story, the jazzy-funky music, the memorable action scenes, the psychogun or Delta Ray in French, Cobra’s bastard flow, inspired by our own Jean-Paul Belmondo… No, Cobra is part of the sacred and indeed, seeing it arrive in video games through the back door is a bit disappointing.
What you need to know is that Microids has entrusted the development to a French studio called Magic Pockets. It is a studio that is little known to the general public and yet has existed for over 20 years. The company is based in Torcy in the 77 and Cobra is their first real major project, the studio having only made adaptations of titles that were not always very exciting in mobile or portable console versions. Like Léa Passion, Tim Power, Bakugan, Mini Ninjas, Popeye, Catwoman, only adaptations and orders for big publishers, and this is precisely the opportunity for them to get out of their usual routine. It is the same creative pattern as the Nantes studio Endroad with Goldorak…
What we know for now is that the game will follow the first 12 episodes of the animated series, which means that we will go to the planet Zados where this incredible treasure is hidden, the one hidden in a pyramid, but also that we will not be able to have the right to rug-ball and that, it is already a disappointment. Those who know the manga and the anime by heart know that Cobra will face Sandra, in search of the supreme weapon, which is in reality an egg-shaped eye, and which will allow her to become a golden colossus, which will force Cobra and Armanoïde to redouble their intelligence to overcome her. A strong, powerful moment that we hope to find in the Microids game, but with such a rendering of the Metroid game, we wonder how a character like Sandra will be able to explode all her rage. But let’s keep our fingers crossed that the passion of Microids and the developers of Magic Pockets will at least allow us to have a good game, because the potential is enormous.
As I said at the beginning of the video, some journalists had the opportunity to test the game during gamescom on the Microids stand and what comes out is that the game manages to immerse the player in the nostalgic atmosphere of the 80s anime. All the characters that appear in the first 12 episodes are in the game, this was confirmed by the game’s producer, Nouredine Mohammed Saad, who was a producer on Goldorak with Julien Hubert, whom you know under the pseudonym Julo. So yes, the glass man will be in the game and I hope that his treatment was done with the greatest fidelity and care, him whom I consider to be a crazy-sick antagonist. Obviously, who says Crystal Boy necessarily says the Royal sisters and there too, it was confirmed, Dominique, Jane and Catherine and their back tattoos will be in the game.
In the Famitsu articlewe learn that Microids has had the green light from the rights holders to use the images as is, that there will be cutscenes to link the missions, but the question I ask myself here, now, right away, is whether these are animated and worked cutscenes or soporific static dialogues as was the case in Goldorak. The question deserves to be asked. Otherwise, the game will include 20 missions that will take up major scenes from the anime, such as Cobra’s base, the city, the prison or even the cemetery.
In terms of gameplay, Famitsu tells us that Cobra will be able to use his Delta beam of course and that the latter will be able to change trajectory. We can also see in the teaser that it is capable of being directed like a guided missile and take down several enemies at once. There will also be a charged attack for more damage and explosion. But the Psychogun will not be Cobra’s only weapon, since he will also be able to use his classic pistol, while other gadgets have been made available, such as Cobra’s cigar can also be used as a lamp. Moreover, in one episode, Cobra uses his cigar as an oxygen bottle and I wonder if this mission will be in the game… Among the other juicy information revealed by Famitsu, we learn that the Cobra game will be playable in co-op and the 2nd player will embody the original Cobra, the one before his surgical operation.
Finally, know that the game will be available in 3 languages: Japanese, English and French and for the moment, I can’t tell you if Jean-Claude Montalban has been cast to do the iconic voice of Cobra in French… Space Adventure Cobra Awakening by Microids and Magic Pockets is planned for 2025 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch and even PS4 and Xbox One. We keep our fingers crossed that the game will be at least fun to play, if not the game we were all waiting for…