Twin Cobra, known as in Japan, is a vertically scrolling shooter developed by Toaplan and released for arcades in 1987 by Taito in Japan and Europe, then in North America by Romstar. It is a sequel to the 1985 arcade game Tiger-Heli. Controlling the titular attack helicopter, the players must fight endless waves of military vehicles while avoiding collision with their projectiles and other obstacles. It was the fourth shoot 'em up game from Toaplan, and their tenth video game overall. It was ported to multiple platforms, with each done by different third-party developers that made several changes or additions. Twin Cobra was a success for Toaplan, garnering positive reception from western critics and earning several awards from Gamest. The game was met with mixed response from magazines, specifically the home versions. In 1995, the sequel Twin Cobra II was released. The rights to the game are owned by Tatsujin, a Japanese company formed by Masahiro Yuge. Gameplay Twin Cobra is a military-themed vertically scrolling shoot 'em up game, in which players take control of the titular attack helicopter through ten increasingly difficult levels, each with a boss at the end that must be fought before progressing any further, in order to defeat an assortment of military enemy forces like tanks, battleships, and artillery as the main objective. The title initially appears to be very standard, as players control their craft over a constantly scrolling background and the scenery never stops moving until a helipad is reached. Players have only two weapons at their disposal: the standard shot that travels a max distance of the screen's height and three bombs. The bombs are powerful weapons capable of obliterating any enemy caught within its blast radius and collecting "B" icons adds an extra bomb stock. A new gameplay addition compared to its predecessor are power-up items that appear via enemy carriers; There are four types of weapons in the game that can be switched between after destroying incoming carriers by picking up color-changing icons ranging from red, blue, green and yellow, while "S" icons increases the helicopter's firepower. Other items scattered throughout the levels such as 1-ups and star-shaped gold medals, which grants a 3000-point bonus by collecting them, can also be picked up along the way. Players are given two lives initially and bonus lives are awarded at certain point thresholds and every point threshold thereafter. Depending on the region,