{{Short description|1991 video game}} {{Infobox video game | title = Cosmic Cop | image = Armed Police Unit Gallop.png | caption = | developer = [[Irem]] | publisher = Irem | artist = Akio Oyabu<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://clrc.myshopify.com/products/m_r-type|title=R-TYPE ORIGINAL SOUND BOX|work=Clarice Shop|publisher=[[City Connection (company)|City Connection]]|date=2021|access-date=2021-03-09|lang=ja|archive-date=2021-02-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211103215/https://clrc.myshopify.com/products/m_r-type|url-status=live}}</ref> | release = {{vgrelease|JP|September 1991|NA|1991}} | genre = [[Shoot 'em up#Scrolling shooters|Scrolling shooter]] | modes = [[Single-player]] | platforms = [[Arcade game|Arcade]] | arcade system = Irem M-84 system }} '''''Cosmic Cop'''''{{efn|Also known as {{nihongo|'''''Armed Police Unit Gallop'''''|アームドポリスユニットギャロップ|Āmudo Porisu Yunitto Gyaroppu}} in Japan.}} is a [[Shoot 'em up#Scrolling shooters|side-scrolling shoot 'em up]] [[arcade game]] produced by [[Irem]] in 1991. It is part of the popular ''[[R-Type]]'' video game series.
==Story== Taking place concurrently with ''[[R-Type Delta]]'', ''Cosmic Cop'' sees the player as a member of the like-named private security organization tasked with hunting down autonomous vehicles driven berserk by the Bydo, dubbed "Mad Cars".<ref>[http://www.irem.co.jp/official/r/j/history/index.html Official ''R-Type'' timeline (Japanese)]</ref>
==Gameplay== [[File:ARC Armed Police Unit Gallop (Cosmic Cop).png|thumb|left|Gameplay screenshot]] The player pilots an R-Type fighter, the R-11B ''Peace Maker''. As in most horizontal shooters the screen scrolls continuously to the right, but ''Cosmic Cop'' is unusual in that the scroll rate can be controlled by the player. The further right the player's craft is oriented onscreen, the faster the game scrolls.
Gameplay progresses through five different "zones", each culminating with a [[boss (video games)|boss]]. Significant bonus points are awarded for completing the zones quickly.
The R-11B is armed with forward-firing guns, as well as a lock-on laser that automatically targets enemies, but whose energy depletes as it is fired. These weapons can be powered up twice by picking up a letter "P" and the laser's energy can be quickly refilled by picking up a letter "L".
Picking up a letter "M" will equip the R-11B with a missile unit that will fire one of three types of munitions: anti-air missiles, anti-ground missiles, or napalm bombs. Contact with any terrain will cause the missile unit to be lost.<ref>[http://www.arcadeflyers.com/?page=thumbs&db=videodb&id=1869 Arcade flyers describing game mechanics]</ref>
==References to ''Cosmic Cop'' in other ''R-Type'' media== * The ''R-Type Special'' CD released in 1993 includes arrangements of the music from every ''R-Type'' arcade game, including ''Cosmic Cop''.<ref>[http://www.altpop.com/stc/reviews/rtyps.htm Review of ''R-Type Special'']</ref> * The R-11B has an entry in the library in the ''R-Types'' compilation for [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]]. * The R-11B is once again playable in ''[[R-Type Final]]'', along with its improved successors the R-11S ''Tropical Angel'' and R-11S2 ''No Chaser''. ''Final'' also includes the anti-ground missiles that originated in ''Cosmic Cop'' as a weapon, usable by many of the craft in the game. * The R-11S variant is an available unit in ''[[R-Type Tactics]]''.<ref>[http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/psp/file/939773/51156 Unit FAQ, Earth side]</ref>
== Reception == In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Cosmic Cop'' on their November 1, 1991 issue as being the thirteenth most-successful table arcade unit of the month.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)|magazine=[[:ja:ゲームマシン|Game Machine]]|issue=414|publisher=[[:ja:アミューズメント通信社|Amusement Press, Inc.]]|date=1 November 1991|page=25|lang=ja}}</ref>
== Notes == {{notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist}} {{R-Type series}}
[[Category:1991 video games]] [[Category:Arcade video games]] [[Category:Arcade-only video games]] [[Category:R-Type]] [[Category:Science fiction video games]] [[Category:Video games about police officers]] [[Category:Video games developed in Japan]] [[Category:Video games scored by Takushi Hiyamuta]] [[Category:Video games set in the 22nd century]] [[Category:Video game spinoffs]] [[Category:Single-player video games]]