Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure

Cosmo’s Cosmic Adventure is a side-scrolling platform game developed and published by Apogee Software and released for DOS in 1992. The game has many references to another Apogee title, Duke Nukem (one of my favorites), throughout.

It’s Cosmo’s birthday and his birthday wish is to go to Disney World, which apparently appeals to aliens as well. His parents decide to take him, but on the way they end up suffering ship damage causing them to make an emergency landing on a nearby planet. His parents set to work fixing the ship and Cosmo goes to check the place out. When Cosmo comes back to the ship, his parents are gone. He notices monster size foot prints and assumes his parents have been captured by some unknown creature. The brave alien kid sets out to explore the unknown planet and rescue his parents. Cosmo can walk, jump, and stick to walls with his hands. He can kill enemies by jumping on them or using bombs. Bombs also come in handy to reveal secrets hidden around the levels. Watch out for that blast radius though or Cosmo will be dead-mo. Explore varied environments, smash enemies, and get that trip to Disney World!

Due to its similar play style as the game Super Mario Brothers 3, Cosmo was seen as direct competition for Nintendo. A risky move that paid off in the end, as the game was well-received. With bright, cartoony graphics and a simple interface, the games is as playable as it is cute. Cosmo is classic 2-D platformer fun at its best.