Cobra Command (NES)/Upgrades

Guns

Guns are your primary weapon against the enemy. Upgrades to the gun increase the number of bullets, or alter the direction at which bullets are fired.

Single

You start out with the Single gun. It is the most basic gun, and it can fire up to three bullets on the screen at a time.

Dual

Dual guns are the first upgrade to your helicopter's weapons systems. It will fire two bullets at a time as opposed to the one bullet of the single gun, expanding your range of firepower.

ATG

The ATG stands for Anti-Tank Gun. It is three times as powerful as a normal gun, and capable of destroying tanks in a single shot. However, it returns you to the single stream of fire of the Single gun.

Rapid

The rapid gun is like a machine gun, capable of shooting bullets continuously while is held down. Though more effective than the Single gun, it offers less range than the Dual gun, and less power than the ATG.

3-Way

The 3-Way gun fires three bullets in a small spread, expanding the range of your guns even further than the Dual gun. However, as the bullets travel, they fan out quite far from one another, so aiming them at far-away targets can be difficult.

Missiles

Missiles are the secondary weapon of your helicopter. They are more powerful than standard guns, but they are much slower to fire. They are approximately three to four times stronger than a regular bullet.

Mono

You start out with Mono missiles. They launch from beneath your helicopter and travel straight until they hit an enemy or the terrain. You may only have one Mono missile on the screen at a time.

Twin

Twin missiles are the first missile upgrade that you can receive. They are just like Mono missiles, except that you can have up to two of them on the screen at one time.

Firebomb

The Firebomb is a particularly powerful weapon. When fired, it travels down to the ground in an arc, and explodes on contact. It is great for taking out ground targets, but it is particularly slow to fire. You are limited to one Firebomb on the screen at a time.

Homing

Although they are called "Homing" missiles, these are more like guided missiles. When you press and hold , the missiles drop down from your helicopter. They do not begin to fly forward until you release the A button.

Mines

Mines are similar in performance to Firebombs. They are much less powerful than Firebombs, but you can fire up to two of them on the screen at one time. Mines will float on the surface of water.

Homing 1

These missiles are true homing missiles. They will arc and curve through the air in order to find a target. They are not perfect, and some missiles may end up performing circles around a target, but they can reach enemies that other weapons would simply miss. You can only fire one Homing 1 missile on the screen at a time.

Homing 2

This upgrade is identical to the Homing 1 missile upgrade, except that you can fire up to two such missiles on the screen at one time.

Armour

The kind of armor your helicopter has determines how many hits from projectiles you can sustain before the copter goes down in flames. Armor does not protect you from collisions with terrain or an enemy. Unlike other upgrades, you do not have to choose which armor to use. The best armor always replaces the others.

Normal

You begin the game with normal armor. It will protect you from four projectiles before you lose control of the helicopter.

Armour

This armor only increases the number of hits you can sustain by one, but it's still an improvement.

Super

Super armor is a much better upgrade, increasing the number of hits you can survive from 5 to 7.

Hyper

The final armor you can receive, Hyper armor, will allow your helicopter to take hits from 9 projectiles before you are forced to crash.

Engine

The quality of your engine dictates how fast you can move throughout the game. Note that it is not always desirable to move as fast as possible. Many underground situations require precise control through maze-like terrain, so you should select the engine which best suits your ability to safely guide the copter through an area.

Normal

You start the game with the normal engine. It is the slowest engine available, and although you may be happy to receive an upgrade, you might find yourself switching back to this engine under difficult circumstances.

Turbo

The Turbo engine makes your helicopter only slightly faster than the Normal engine, but the boost in speed can make the difference between getting struck by a bullet and dodging it.

Super

The Super engine increases the speed of your helicopter even further, making it ideal for travel through wide outdoor spaces. However, this engine is not suitable for tight spaces underground.

Hyper

The Hyper engine is the fastest engine available. While it's incredibly powerful, some players may find this engine simply too fast to effectively guide the helicopter. Use it strategically when speed is of the utmost importance.

Rescue

Your helicopter comes equipped with a rescue device in order to rescue all of the hostages. There are only two choices, and each have their pros and cons.

Rope

You begin the game with the rope. The rope is quite long, so you don't have to get too close to where hostages are standing in order to rescue them. However, hostages climb up this rope slowly, and you'll have to wait for the hostage to reach the top before a new hostage will appear.

Ladder

This is the only upgrade to your rescue device. A ladder is not as long as the rope, so you have to hover closer to the area where a hostage is waiting. However, once a hostage grabs hold of the ladder, they can climb it much more swiftly, allowing the next hostage to appear more quickly.