The side-scrolling beat ’em up revival continues, this time with G.I. Joe: Wrath of Cobra.
G.I. Joe: Wrath of Cobra, in the works at Monster Harvest developer Maple Powered Games and published by Freedom Games, is due out during the first quarter of 2024 on PC via Steam, Epic Games Store, GOG, and Nintendo Switch.
It features famous G.I. Joe characters such as Duke, Scarlett, Snake Eyes, and Roadblock, who battle Cobra Commander and his goons across the likes of Cobra Island and the Pit. There are Troopers, Ninja Vipers, HISS Tanks, the Crimson Guard to fight. There’s a story mode and arcade mode, solo play and online and couch co-op for up to four players.
The debut trailer is below:
Gameplay revolves around combos, dodging, and parrying. There’s hand-drawn pixel art and classic cartoon cutscenes, with an arcade-inspired soundtrack from Tee Lopes (Sonic Mania, TMNT Shredder’s Revenge, Streets of Rage 4 – Mr. X Nightmare DLC) and Crush 40’s lead vocalist Johnny Gioeli (Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020).
“G.I. Joe is one the most iconic brands from the 80s and it was the golden era of arcade games,” said Eugene Evans, SVP Digital Strategy and Licensing at Hasbro.
“To celebrate the growing popularity of retro themed games we’re thrilled to partner with Maple Powered Games and Freedom Games to bring G.I. Joe fans our first ever Hasbro Retro Arcade experience in this exciting interpretation of a classic 2D beat ‘em up.”
The announcement of G.I. Joe: Wrath of Cobra follows the success of recently released side-scrolling beat ’em ups, such as Streets of Rage 4, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Shredder’s Revenge, and Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.