Twin Cobra, Taito's helicopter shoot'em up on Famicom. Intense action, two switchable weapons, explosions everywhere. Well adapted from the arcade. Solidly enjoyable for genre fans.
Your verdict
Category
Shooter1 player7+
Co-op
Description
Vertical shoot-'em-up featuring two military helicopters destroying enemy armies. Published by Taito, released in Japan in 1987. Helicopters in top-down view with missiles and bombs, varied enemy formations and massive bosses. Famicom port of Taito's Kyuukyoku Tiger arcade.
Kyuukyoku Tiger review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
1/5
Story
★★★★★
"Anecdotal"
The player's helicopter is drawn with its blades in permanent rotation above land battlefields: bases, convoys, rivers, forests. The palette of greens and browns is held throughout, and short explosions punctuate the scrolling without ever masking the enemy fire, plentiful on screen.
The writing stays martial and direct, a main theme in a sustained march, synthetic brass forward, snares cutting the tempo. The loops are short and return without notable variation, setting a mission routine rather than a dramatic progression, a choice consistent with the rigour of the run.
Gameplay
"Solid"
Fun
"From the very first minutes"
Addictiveness
"Engaging"
Difficulty
"Punishing"
At the controls of a combat helicopter, the player faces relentless hordes under a deluge of fire typical of the Toaplan school. Keeping your power-ups, aiming true and memorizing the order of assaults become vital, as the slightest loss costs dearly. Harsh and uncompromising, this vertical shoot-'em-up satisfies purists after an authentic old-school challenge.
Complete: box, manual and disc/cart very clean. Lightly handled.
Q1 damagedQ6 completeQ10 new
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Is Kyuukyoku Tiger still worth playing in 2026?
A vertical shoot 'em up from Toaplan, Kyuukyoku Tiger, known in the West as Twin Cobra, has you pilot combat helicopters against enemy armies, in snappy shooting punctuated by bombs and power-ups. Toaplan's shmup craft shows in the pace, the readability and the well measured challenge, and the co op mode strengthens the appeal. The NES conversion pares down the arcade but keeps the intensity. For a fan of retro shooters or someone curious about Toaplan heritage, the title keeps a solid arcade pleasure, especially in twos.
