The G.I. Joe franchise is beloved by so many people, young and old. Few toy franchises have continued to grow with five generations of fans. Additionally, as action figures goe, G.I. Joe has the distinction of being the first. The impact of G.I. Joe on society can’t be understated. Everyone knows G.I. Joe, but how many people are aware of the franchise’s history of video games?
In this second article of our two-part feature on G.I. Joe video games, we’ll explore the history of franchise’s forays into the world of video games. By my research, there have been 10 G.I Joe video games, which includes a highly regarded fan creation. I’ve included all of them below. I haven’t played every one of these games so I rely heavily on reviews and fan comments that I found during my research. Let’s start at the beginning.
G.I. JOE: COBRA STRIKE (1983)
In 1977, the Atari 2600 became the first commercially viable mass market home video console system, selling around 30 million units. More than 500 games were created for the Atari 2600. One of those games was G.I. Joe: Cobra Strike, which holds the honor of being the first G.I. Joe video game, even though the gameplay had very little in common with the franchise.
The concept involved a giant cobra drooling venom and shooting lasers over a constant parade of troops marching from one side of the screen to the other. The player used paddles to move shields over the troops to protect them. There are also two cannons that can be fired at the giant cobra, but a player couldn’t use the paddles and fire at the same time.
In two-player mode, one player could use the cannons and the other could move the shields. Still the game was pretty boring. The game ended when enough troops got doused in venom. If the player was lucky enough to hit the cobra enough times, they got 1,000 points, and then it started all over again, but more difficult. Not exactly a game that would keep one’s interest for long, but then most of the games for the Atari 2600 were pretty basic.
In the UK and Europe, the game was retitled as Action Force because why would they play a game about American troops? The interesting thing about the marketing for Action Force is the giant cobra is a robot created by Baron Ironblood, who gets renamed as Cobra Commander in later iterations of the G.I. Joe franchise.
G.I. JOE: A REAL AMERICAN HERO (1985)
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero was published in 1985 by video game developer Epyx for the Commodore 64 and Apple II. God, how many discs did it take to load this game? Anyway, this game was a step up from the Atari game in terms of graphics and gameplay. And it actually used characters and vehicles related to the G.I. Joe franchise.
A player chose one of 16 members of the G.I. Joe organization to battle one of eight members of Cobra. The game included two modes: vehicular combat and one-on-one combat. Combat vehicles included those from the animated series including the Dragonfly helicopter, Rattler plane, M.O.B.A.T., and others.
Playable characters included Duke, Snake Eyes, Scarlett, Gung-Ho, Ace, Recondo, Roadblock, Torpedo, Snow Job, Stalker, Blowtorch, Spirit, Zap, Clutch, Steeler, and Wild Bill. The Cobra team was made up of Cobra Commander, the Baroness, Zartan, Destro, Major Bludd, Firefly, Scrap-Iron, and of course, Storm Shadow.
ACTION FORCE SERIES (1987-1988)
The Action Force series consisted of two games: Action Force: International Heroes (1987) and it’s sequel Action Force II: International Heroes (1988). The games use the UK friendly name for G.I. Joe as the games were developed by Virgin Games, a subsidiary of the massive British conglomerate the Virgin Group. The first game was published for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and Amstrad CPC systems. The second was produced solely for the Amstrad CPC.
The plots were much more developed for this game series. In Action Force, Cobra attacks the fictional island of Botsneda and the populace evacuates. However, classified information is left behind, so the Action Forceteam is sent in to retrieve it. The gameplay was not as sophisticated as the plot, but this was par for the course in the 1980s. The player flies a helicopter that clears obstacles from the terrain so a A.W.E. Striker can proceed to the target.
Action Force II involves the rescue of hostages from Cobra. The gameplay is similar in that the player must clear a path, but this time the player operates as G.I. Joe team member Airtight, taking out enemies in a helicopter while the Joe’s martial arts expert Quick Kick scales buildings to rescue hostages.
G.I. JOE NINTENDO ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM (1991)
A few years later, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero debuted on the Nintendo Entertainment System. The run and gun game was published by Japanese tech company Taxan. The game starts with five initial G.I. Joes to choose from: Duke, Snake Eyes, Capt. Grid-Iron, Rock ’n Roll, and Blizzard. General Hawk becomes a playable character in the final stage of the game.
The player selected three of these characters to form a team, which can be switched up throughout the game. There are six stages that players must run and gun their way through while collecting power-ups, and occasionally operating vehicles. Each stage has three segments with the final segment involving a fight with a Cobra stage boss including Destro, Metal-Head, Overlord, Range-Viper, Voltar, and Cobra Commander.
The player navigates their way through six locations: the Amazon, Antarctica, New York City, the Black Hills (South Dakota), the Sahara, with the final stage being Cobra Headquarters.
G.I. JOE: THE ATLANTIS FACTOR (1992)
The following year, G.I. Joe: The Atlantis Factor was published as follow-up sequel on the NES. It was developed by the same team, but published by Capcom instead of Taxan. The storyline was straightforward with Cobra Commander surviving the battle from the last game. He raises the lost Island of Atlantis and makes it his base of operations. Cobra plans to use Atlantean tech to take over the world.
In this platform game, the player starts out with General Hawk as their character and unlocks more playable characters as they progress (Duke, Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow, Roadblock, Wet Suit.) Other Joes can be summoned to provide support (Big Bear, Gung-Ho, Spirit), but each must be unlocked by rescuing them at various points in the game.
The player moves through each map fighting Cobra troops, vehicles, and various autonomous weapons like laser orbs. At the end of each map, the player enters a Cobra base and has to complete a mission like saving hostages, planting bombs, or finding items. Then the player faces a Cobra stage boss: Cesspool, Destro, Firefly, Major Bludd, and Overkill, with Cobra Commander on the final level.
G.I. JOE THE ARCADE GAME (1992)
In 1992, Konami created an arcade video game for the G.I. Joe franchise. Simply titled G.I. Joe, the game was a third-person rail shooter for 1-4 players to play simultaneously. Each player selected one of four available Joes: Duke, Scarlett, Snake Eyes, or Roadblock.
The characters moved through the horizontal scrolling map battling Cobra forces with their primary weapon (a gun with unlimited ammo) or their secondary weapon (missile launcher). Players gathered power-ups to add rapid fire to their guns, replenish energy levels, and add missiles to the arsenal.
G.I. Joe had three missions, each involving entering Cobra’s hidden base and stopping their latest diabolical scheme. Each mission has multiple locations including an air base, a chemical plant, a weapons plant, a jungle, a cave base, and a battleship.
In addition to fighting Cobra infantry, players battled vehicles including a Razorback, Hurricane, FANG II, and HISS II. The stage bosses were Destro, The Baroness, Major Bludd, Metal-Head, and Tomax and Xamot. Not surprisingly, Cobra Commander was the final stage boss.
G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA (2009)
The 2009 movie G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra was the first big budget G.I. Joe film to hit the theaters. Even though it only attained a 34% Rotten Tomatoes score, it did well financially, taking in global box office gross of $302.5 million. (I thought the movie was pretty good, actually.)
The video game adaption of the movie wasn’t received well either, at least for the versions on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. G4TV gave the game a brutal review: “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is the new gold standard for lazy and uninspired cash-in licensed games.” Oof.
Double Helix Games produced the game for PlayStation, Xbox, and Wii platforms. Backbone Entertainment produced the DS version.
The Nintendo DS version of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra received better reviews. The version for the DS, as well as the Wii, PlayStation 2, and PSP, were different than the major console version for some reason.
The video game was a continuation of where the movie left off. Duke and Scarlett head off to the rescue Heavy Duty and Ripcord who were kidnapped when The Baroness’ escaped G.I. Joe’s custody through teleportation. The Joes discover Cobra is building a ziggurat and had stolen an ancient Egyptian gem.
The game allowed players to choose various classes such as Soldier, Commando, and Heavy Weapons. The rest of the game is mainly just shooting members of Cobra and rescuing Joes. The gameplay and game mechanics sucked, and the voiceovers were terrible. The game was just bad.
G.I. JOE: ATTACK ON COBRA ISLAND (2012)
Next up, we have a game that was made by a G.I. Joe fan. G.I. Joe: Attack on Cobra Island was free to download to play on a PC. According to reviews, it was the most faithful representation of the G.I. Joe story despite some weak points like difficulty getting the game to install. Hey, it was fan made and offered for free so they didn’t have any budget. G.I. Joe: Attack on Cobra Island was not endorsed by or licensed by Hasbro.
The game starts with the player selecting either General Hawk or Snake-Eyes. The side scrolling game alternates between brawling and shooter gameplay. The best part, in my opinion, was the use of sounds and music from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero cartoon from the 1980s.
G.I. Joe: Attack on Cobra Island was last updated in 2015. I’m not sure if the game is still compatible for current PC operating systems, but it’s still available for download on Game Jolt. I included a video below so you can check out the awesomeness.
G.I. JOE BATTLEGROUND (2013)
G.I. Joe: Battleground was the first mobile game for the franchise. Battleground was a free-to-play digital collectible card battle game similar to Magic the Gathering, but with Joes. Players could choose between G.I. Joe or Cobra cards that would be organized into decks. The cards could be upgraded with better combat skills and vehicle attacks.
Players battled other players online through the app (iOS and Android). Between its launch in 2013 to when the game’s servers shutdown in 2015, the card list had grown to over 1,200 cards. The publishers of the game, DeNA, tried to include every G.I. Joe and Cobra character from every series. I wonder if they were able to include The Fridge as a card.
In addition to PvP battles, G.I. Joe: Battleground held world events that featured boss battles. As is common with free-to-play games, in-app purchases were necessary to upgrade your decks. Unless one really likes to be beaten again and again by other players who bought the in-app upgrades.
G.I. JOE: WAR ON COBRA (2020)
The final game on the list is G.I. Joe: War on Cobra. This is another mobile (iOS/Android) free-to-play game with microtransactions to beef up your team through loot boxes. Developed by Emerald City Games and published by D3 Go!, War on Cobra was released on Jan. 20, 2020.
The game is base building strategy game. A player can choose to side with the Joes or Cobra, and can switch teams when they want. The basic gameplay involves equipping troops and defending land in PvP battles on land, sea, and air. Players need to collect a variety of resources including heroes/villains and vehicles to handle the different types of combat.
The graphics and gameplay look great. I’m sure that if I started playing the game, I’d end up spending a lot of money on those pesky microtransactions.
Mobile games are great, but we (and many others) are hoping the next big G.I. Joe video game is for the PlayStation and Xbox (and PC, of course). As we wrote in Part 1 of our G.I. Joe video game series, fans of G.I. Joe want a high-quality, high-level game on the level of Halo or Star Wars Battlefront.
If anyone from Hasbro is listening, we promise our team will be first in line to get the game. Hell, we’ll even preorder it before we even know how the game plays.
Until next time, Yo, Joe!
