Cosmic Avenger
Cosmic Avenger — frequently asked questions
- Is Cosmic Avenger on Steam?
- No. Cosmic Avenger is not distributed on Steam, so there is no Steam Charts or SteamDB player count for it. Its live popularity is tracked here via Twitch viewership instead.
- What platforms is Cosmic Avenger on?
- Cosmic Avenger is available on ColecoVision, Arcade.
- When did Cosmic Avenger release?
- Cosmic Avenger was first released on December 31, 1981.
About Cosmic Avenger
In this side scrolling shooter you have to kill as many enemies as possible to raise your high score.
Summary via IGDB.
Cosmic Avenger on Wikipedia
Cosmic Avenger is a horizontally-scrolling shooter developed by Universal and released as an arcade video game in July 1981. It is part of the first-wave shooters with forced horizontal scrolling which followed Konami's Scramble and Super Cobra from earlier in the year. It was released the same month as Vanguard. The final installment in Universal's Cosmic series, players take control of the Avenger space fighter and, as in Scramble, use bullets and bombs against enemy air and ground forces. The world is one continuous level made up of different areas.
Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0).
Game details
- Platforms
- ColecoVision, Arcade
- Developer
- Universal Co., Ltd.
- Publisher
- Coleco
- Game modes
- Single player, Multiplayer
- Themes
- Action, Science fiction
Details via IGDB.
Reception
Every version compared
Prices, contemporary reception and the studio credited for each release
| Platform | Year | Loose | Complete | Sealed | Period reviews | Built by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ColecoVision | 1982 | $5 | $22 | $34 | 3 reviews | Nuvatec |
Also released on: Arcade. We haven’t priced or authenticated that version yet.
Collector value & authenticity
ColecoVision · PriceCharting sold data · Verified 2026-10-19
How often it sells
- Loose: about once a week
- Complete: about once a month
- Sealed: about 2 times a year
Sales frequency from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, as of 2026-10-19.
Price over time
- Loose
- Complete
A loose copy sold for about $2.74 in Jul 2009, $5.49 five years ago, and $7.07 as of Oct 2026.
Show as table
| Month | Loose | Complete |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 2010 | $3.99 | — |
| Jan 2011 | $1.25 | — |
| Jan 2012 | $3.50 | — |
| Jan 2013 | $3.00 | — |
| Jan 2014 | $2.96 | $3.99 |
| Jan 2015 | $3.92 | $10.00 |
| Jan 2016 | $3.99 | $14.94 |
| Jan 2017 | $4.95 | $7.52 |
| Jan 2018 | $4.56 | $13.95 |
| Jan 2019 | $6.33 | $13.93 |
| Jan 2020 | $5.97 | $13.82 |
| Jan 2021 | $4.41 | $12.19 |
| Jan 2022 | $6.42 | $9.78 |
| Jan 2023 | $8.70 | $19.14 |
| Jan 2024 | $5.40 | $17.99 |
| Jan 2025 | $5.89 | $18.67 |
| Jan 2026 | $4.70 | $16.25 |
| Oct 2026 | $7.07 | $25 |
Monthly price estimates from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, sampled quarterly, through Oct 2026.
Release record
| Territory | Label | Model # | Barcode |
|---|---|---|---|
| North America Coleco | End label: for ColecoVision | 2434 | 076930024348 |
| Europe CBS Electronics | — | — | — |
- North America: Model number confirmed by Coleco's 1982 cartridge catalogue and the UPC barcode, which encodes it.
- Europe: Sold in Europe by CBS Electronics; the ColecoVision FAQ lists its model number as 4L2023. CBS carts have black labels and a differently shaped top end.
- Region
- NA
- Released
- 1982
- Controller
- Hand controller
- Players
- 2 players, alternating turns
- Authenticity
- Low
A launch-year Universal shooter that became a bigger hit on the ColecoVision than in arcades, and one of the cheapest carts to own loose.
Cosmic Avenger was one of the ColecoVision's first cartridges, in a line-up Coleco announced alongside Lady Bug from the same arcade maker. Wikipedia credits the ColecoVision port to Nuvatec and notes it found a wider audience than the arcade original, which did not become a hit.
Period reviewers liked it. Video's Arcade Alley column of December 1982 called it great fun and noted that its graphics do credit to the Universal coin-op, with two players taking turns and four difficulty levels, the top one far harder than the first. JoyStik's January 1983 review called it a faithful home version, but warned that the left and right fire buttons often must be pressed together, which cramped the reviewer's hand on the stock controller.
How it was made
Wikipedia credits Nuvatec with the ColecoVision port and gives a European release in 1983; Coleco published it.
What the press said at the time
| Arcade Express Vol. 1 No. 4 | September 1982 | Rating: 9/10 |
| Computer Entertainer Vol. 1 No. 7 | October 1982 | Graphics ★★★½ · Play-Action ★★★★ |
| JoyStik Vol. 1 No. 4 | January 1983 | ★★★ (3 of 5) |
“Anyone who liked the Universal coin-op game — and probably most of those who never even saw it — will love this home edition.”
“The graphics are typically very good, with bright colors and good detail. Play action is quite challenging, especially at the higher skill levels.”
“Cosmic Avenger, based on the Universal commercial arcade game, is hardly less of a success than the ape game.”
“the game packs more than enough excitement in its three screens to satisfy any lover of arcade-style action games … Great fun.”
Computer Entertainer rated graphics first and play action second, from four symbols (excellent) to one (poor) — diamonds through early 1987, stars after — comparing each game only with other games for the same system. JoyStik’s capsule ratings run from one star to five. Arcade Express rated games out of 10.
How the ColecoVision version differs
Coleco also advertised 2600 and Intellivision versions of Cosmic Avenger, but neither was released, so the ColecoVision cartridge is the only home version.
The ColecoVision port was a launch title in August 1982. It did better than the arcade original, which never became a hit.
Worth knowing
- A first-wave cartridge. JoyStik (January 1983) named Cosmic Avenger with Donkey Kong and Venture among the first few cartridges available from Coleco, and Coleco's 1982 annual report counts nine cartridges introduced that year.
- From the ColecoVision manual. With the stick in neutral your fighter keeps drifting right at constant speed; pushing left slows it and pushing right speeds it up.
- From the ColecoVision manual. The right side button fires a missile and the left side button drops a bomb.
- From the ColecoVision manual. A bonus fighter is awarded when the score reaches 10,000 points.
Before you buy
Play it with the original Coleco controller: it uses the side fire buttons, and Video warned in 1983 that plain Atari-style joysticks lack the second fire button some ColecoVision games need. No keypad overlay is documented for it. Loose copies are among the cheapest in the library, and the box and manual add a clear step in value, with a factory-sealed copy higher still. A Telegames-era pressing is not documented for this title, so a US Coleco label is the expected one.
Cosmic Avenger screenshots
Watch on YouTube
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