The original G.I. Joe cartoon blasted into TVs at the wrong time to support an arcade game, an industry suffering a sever crunch in the mid 80s. A revival of the franchise in the early 90s gave Konami the opportunity to release a game to arcades and fill the Joeless void.

Much like the animated series, the arcade game centered around the ongoing battle between the good G.I. Joe team and the evil Cobra organization. There were four control stations that allowed from 1 to 4 players to wade into the fight at the same time. Players had a choice of which Joe character to handle, from Duke, the leader of the team, Scarlett, burly Roadblock or the mute ninja, Snake Eyes. The good guys faced main Cobra bosses Destro, twins Tomax and Xamot, Metalhead, the Baroness, Major Bludd and Cobra Commander himself, not to mention an army of Cobra foot soldiers.

Action started in a deserted wasteland, not far from the Cobra base and moved forward with a behind-the-back of your character perspective. Play was controlled by an 8-way joystick and two buttons, for ducking, weaving and firing at the enemy. Unlike other games that had inert backgrounds, harmless objects in the scene, like trees, could be blown up or destroyed if enough bullets were pumped into them. Not much use, but if you felt like doing a little pruning with a missile launcher, you could.

Viper troopers attacked the heroes, accompanied by land, air and sea vehicles. After laying waste to the enemy, the Joes faced one of the Cobra bigwigs, starting with Tomax and Xamot. Once the way was cleared, play moved to another battleground and another boss.

Each player-controlled character came equipped with a machine gun with unlimited ammo and a rocket launcher with a few rockets; time-based power-ups could be grabbed throughout the game. G.I. Joe didn't introduce any significant changes from other military-themed shoot 'em up games but the thrill lay in assuming the role of your favorite team G.I. Joe member and finally dealing that ululating Cobra Commander his comeuppance.