Twin Cobra

The Good
I like that I will never have to play this game again. I like that I can play the GOOD version of this game on the PC Engine (Turbo Graphics 16).

The Bad
The graphics are some of the worst on the Genesis ever. It does not look like a 16 bit game. It looks like a Master System game. Seriously, the graphics are THAT bad.

The control is good, and there is no slow down. Unfortunately enemy characters move about 4 times faster than your little helicopter and can predict your movements instantaneously. Even the tanks move faster than your helicopter!!!

Even on the lowest difficulty level, while cheating with a game genie you will get blown out of the sky about every four minutes. It crosses the line beyond challenging to tedious and implausible. Tanks cannot cover distance faster than helicoptors. Other helicoptors should not be able zip across the screen in less than a quarter of a second.

This game was obviously rushed through production so that it would be ready to go so that Sega would have more arcade ports to compete with the Super Nintendo which had just come out in 1991. Not only are the graphics terrible, but it was obviously never tested by game players.

To be frank, this game should NEVER have been released. Its a joke and not worth of its namesake. Twin Cobra (Tiger Heli) was a good arcade game and did not deserve this disgraceful translation.

Its a shame because the Mega Drive could have handled and excellent translation of Twin Cobra.

The Bottom Line
The only way you will know how bad this is, is if you play it yourself. It defies discription. However, don't let your experience with this version color your perception of the arcade game or the excellent Turbo Graphics 16 port.

Usually the Mega Drive versions of shooters were as good or better than their PC Engine counterparts. This is not the case with Twin Cobra and it also was not the case with Raiden Trad (although Raiden Trad was still a very good game).

So try the PC Engine version of this game "Tiger Heli" its decent.

There are several top down shooters for the Genesis / Megadrive that are pretty good. Fireshark, Elemental Master, and Truxton immediately come to mind.