Cowboy Bebop doesn’t mean a damn thing in Japan. When Millennial weebs finish rage smashing their empty Sobe bottles, we can continue. This anime, which I know was a cornerstone for Adult Swim viewers of the late 90s, is heralded in the U.S. as one of the best of all time. And, as a longtime Japanese resident, I can tell you I’ve never seen hide nor hair of it in its county of origin. Sometimes, creations just do better in outside markets. Like The Ventures: you might only know the name if you’re invested in music history, but, for people of northern Japan, they salivate seeing this 60s rock band come back every single year to perform. This is all to say that Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening is going to be a massively exciting game for some people, but I don’t know who.

Let’s follow the bouncing ball: Cobra is a manga from the 70s that got turned into an anime in the 80s. It got a decent amount of traction in Japan, but the people of France loved the series and the subsequent games and manga reboots that followed. Eventually, the IP attempted to revitalize itself with OVAs, a second anime in the mid 2000s and even a final manga attempt by the original creator (the now deceased Terasawa Buichi) in 2019. Microids, who has done some of the most interesting point and click titles to date, now helms the publication of Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening, which is the only Japanese IP I’ve ever seen that’s dubbed exclusively in English and French. For an IP that’s basically “What if Total Recall was about a space pirate,” it’s quite the adventure.

The Awakening will take you through the entirety of the Cobra storyline, starting from the very beginning. The Cobra that you’re introduced to for the first mission (which is a full half hour of gameplay in a relatively short game) is just a movie that a dude named Johnson is enjoying one afternoon. After that, he can’t help but marvel at how realistic everything felt when he saw the film. Then it turns out he IS Cobra, and the movie was basically an awakening to trigger his true self, which has been in hiding after getting some surgery and a haircut. Having now realized he isn’t an accountant or whatever, Johnson becomes Cobra again and goes off to do space pirate stuff. Pure 80s power story telling.

A side-scrolling action platformer with a fair amount of versatility, Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening has you doing linear missions to steal treasure, attack bad guys and basically survive. You’ll have to do some minor puzzle-solving, like figuring out sequences needed to unlock doors or which of your many weapons will eliminate the enemy. Your Psychogun is really fun and has unlimited ammo, though you will occasionally need to use a traditional revolver (to break down shields) or your fists (when bullets are too dangerous an option). The Psychogun can do a spiffy chain shot where you line up where the trajectory will follow, allowing you to hit multiple targets and foes at the same time. If you get three or more in a single shot, you’re treated to an animation that makes you feel like a comic book badass.

In terms of execution, there’s plenty to like about Space Adventure Cobra. A lot of the combat, even on the harder difficulty settings, is running and gunning like no one’s business. You can get a lot of momentum behind your path, allowing you to dash, blast and explode your way to the other end. If you’re not interested in the collectibles from each stage (which are fairly easy to find and get), then you can burn through several rooms without even wondering what just happened. There’s no score to arbitrarily make you fight everything, so take your lumps as you will.

Additionally, there’s plenty of exciting traversal. Space Adventure Cobra will take you from the futuristic city streets to the rooftops high above, into cavernous lairs and volcanic lava beds, and even an underwater section that is surprisingly competent. Cobra has a grappling shot that lets do you long stretches of gymnastic exploration, allowing you to stay aloft almost indefinitely with your dash as an assist. I’m still not totally on board with the storyline even now, but I could totally jam with the gameplay elements when they worked.

However, the smaller targets that exist can make the game frustrating at times. While shooting stationary targets to trigger door sensors or blast away false walls was simple enough, more than a few enemies and bosses had tiny hitboxes that, for me, were very difficult to lock down for successful elimination. The very first bosses you deal with in the flashback sequence have purple canisters for vulnerability points that pop up and down as the UFO-like drone undulates across the screen, and it was honestly frustrating to get it taken care of. While I got more into the groove of how to deal with enemies like that later on, the bitter taste stayed long into my journey.

It’s pretty incredible that a game can simultaneously feel too long and too short in the same breath. On the one hand, you need to make sure you put aside time for each mission, as there’s no savepoints once you’re in. While respawn checkpoints exist for if you fall off a cliff, get lasered to death or otherwise fail your mission, you really have to take the entirety of the mission in a single setting, which can be a bit hard for players who are busy. This is only worth mentioning because a lot of the fans of Cobra are, conceivably, in their 40s-50s or are a fan of the reboot, which still puts them solidly in the 20s crowd. The Switch at least allows for mid-mission sleeping, but this prevents you from sampling any other games in that timeframe.

On the other hand, Microids is really trying to cram literal years of lore into a game that clocks in at under ten hours, and that can be hard if you’re seriously invested in Cobra’s storyline. It’s great that they want to focus on the action, but it neuters some of the reasoning behind all the invested voicework and animations. As soon as you get the full details of a mission, you’re basically at the end. Take a beat, listen/watch multiple characters banter, do a boss fight and then call it a day. You might find out your percentage for a mission and be tempted to dive back in to find more hidden items, but, if your goal is to beat the game, you can clear this in a day and still have time for early dinner.

Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening is pitch perfect in terms of soundtrack and voicework. I got nervous when I realized the voice options were English and French, but then I remembered that Cobra hails from an era of dubbed-over animation that was my bread and butter. Cobra has a lot of the fluidity that reminds me of the Western cartoons that attempted to ape Japanese conventions, like Thundercats, Transformers and Silverhawks. You get that same sense of over-the-top action and explosive presence in Space Adventure Cobra, from the 80s synthy soundtrack to the dramatic and cheesy voicework. I was utterly enthralled by how it took me back into my childhood, despite having never seen Cobra before this moment. If you were a fan of GoBots, then you’re the right age to appreciate the aesthetic of Space Adventure Cobra.

In the end, Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening is a tie-in game with no current projects to tie it to, and that’s more than okay. It’s a great reminder of something that’s retro and fun, but there’s no need to relaunch the entire franchise again. There’s plenty of ways to view the classic Cobra media, both from the 80s and the 2000s, and we can all enjoy it to different degrees. I think the game is worth a spin, particularly if you love a solid side scrolling power fantasy, but don’t expect it to supplant your GOTY. It’s a great cartoon, and it’ll last you one fantastic Saturday morning, just like it did years ago.

Graphics: 8 Honestly, such a beautiful build in terms of sprites, landscapes and anime sequences. It’s very clear the team is connected to the source material, and the result is Cobra pops in an incredible way with both a classic aesthetic and a modern sheen.	Gameplay: 6.5 When the flow is going, the power fantasy of it all is intoxicating. Cobra shoots and punches through everything with smarmy ease. However, when the targets are more difficult to seek out, players can be frustrated as the momentum grinds to a halt.
Sound: 10 Like being inside a Saturday morning cartoon. Absolutely flawless audio presentation, no notes and it makes this a very enjoyable title to even watch streaming.	Fun Factor: 7.5 While the length of the game is debatable and the appeal is varying for folks who have never experienced Cobra, one thing remains certain: the creation of this title is done with love and certainty, and the execution is on point. I really enjoy things that the creator clearly enjoyed.
Final Verdict: 7.5

Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening is available now on PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

Reviewed on Nintendo Switch.

A copy of Space Adventure Cobra – The Awakening was provided by the publisher.