Bionic Commando Arcade

[Jacquelyne Betance]

Thegame was advertised in the United States as a sequel to Commando, going as far to refer to the game's main character as Super Joe (the protagonist of Commando) in the promotional brochure,[8] who was originally an unnamed member of a "special commando unit" in the Japanese and international versions.[9][10]

The protagonist is a commando equipped with a bionic arm featuring a grappling gun, allowing him to pull himself forward or swing from the ceiling. Despite being a platform game, the player cannot jump. To cross gaps or climb ledges, the hero must use the bionic arm.

It was later released for several home systems (ported by Software Creations and published by Go!). Capcom later produced a home version for the Nintendo Entertainment System, also titled Bionic Commando, that was drastically different from the arcade game.

The story takes place ten years after an unspecified World War between two warring factions.[11] The game follows a commando who must infiltrate an enemy base and foil the enemy's plot to launch missiles. The hero must stop a missile from launching and then fight the final boss, the leader of the enemy forces, guarded by an armed bodyguard.

The game is presented in a side-scrolling format, with eight-way scrolling.[12] Unlike most platform games, the player is unable to jump, instead navigating the level via the use of a mechanical arm that can pull him up ledges. The arm may also be used to collect pickups.

Prizes like points and power-ups can only be obtained from crates that come on the screen in a parachute, which can be revealed by shooting them. Unlike most of the later games, the player cannot use the arm and shoot at the same time, the arm cannot be used in the air and the only power-ups are weapon enhancements.

There are home ports for MS-DOS, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amiga, and Atari ST. For the Commodore 64, there are two distinct versions: a US version by Capcom, and a UK version by Software Creations. In some versions, there is an additional level between levels 3 and 4, featuring enemy helicopters.[citation needed] The UK home computer versions were published by U.S. Gold.[12]

In Japan, Game Machine listed Bionic Commando on their April 15, 1987 issue as being the fifth most-successful table arcade unit of the month.[20] U.S. Gold's release for home computers sold 70,000 copies in the United Kingdom by 1989, becoming their best-selling Capcom release up until then.[12]

Home versions generally received average or decent reviews, apart from the ZX Spectrum version which was greeted by some critical praise, receiving ratings of 9/10 and 92% from Your Sinclair[16] and CRASH.[21]

Vintage Arcade Superstore welcomes our customers to check out our Bionic Commando arcade game. You play the game as Super Joe from The Speed Rumbler. Use your bionic arm to climb through levels and shoot enemies. Collect parachuting weapons and bonus point items that fall from the sky. This game was also released under the name Top Secret.

Twenty-two years later, to be exact, and not much has changed since Capcom's original 'Bionic Commando' graced arcade screens across the world. While the game has transitioned from 2D 8-bit to Blu-Ray splendor, the formula has remained intact...for better and worse. Same clever concept, albeit bogged down with a generic storyline and often confounding control scheme.

'Bionic Commando' for the PS3 picks up where its NES predecessor left off, with Super Joe a distant memory (although appearing via in-game cameo) and replaced by Nathan 'RAD' Spencer. Spencer, the pixelated equivalent of a angry hippie Oregonian on a strict workout regimen, is rescued from death row to again tackle a renegade army hellbent on global domination via sinister means. He's being blackmailed by knowledge of a missing lover for which agreeing to tackle the baddies serves as appropriate barter.

If this plot sounds familiar, it's the same damn one for literally every game in the series. I'm not asking for the a Bionic 'Young and the Restless,' but some character development would be nice. Even more so when the series is derived from comic book origins.

Visually, 'Bionic Commando' is rather stunning. Developer GRIN certainly maximized its Diesel Engine, as post-apocalyptic Ascension City looks fantastic. Accompanying audio is appropriate although not memorable. Music changes when enemies appear, sound effects average, voice-overs typical over- dramatic, shooter genre flair. Last, Faith No More's Mike Patton grunge acts the lead protagonist; my inner 90's angst is alive once more.

Related, 'Bionic Commando' shines is an area oft-ignored in next generation gaming, that being in-game menu and general interface. The game cleverly integrates the bionic arm throughout these areas, likewise features a fairly intuitive feature navigation system. In many ways, this aspect of 'Bionic Commando' is where homage to its legacy becomes most apparent.

Most importantly, however, for a game whose legacy and brand lies in the funkiness of novel additional control input - that being a robotic arm - 'Bionic Commando' has consistently struggled in implementing this feature. The game's transition into 3D only exacerbates this problem, as environment manipulation, wall grabbing, object throwing and hand-to-hand combat must now be implemented in a 360 environment.

No where is this flaw more apparent in the required 'flashback' tutorial, where what should be a fairly innocuous control indoctrination devolves into an hour-long frustration session. Citing grappling targets, swinging across obstacles, pulling objects and fighting enemies are all victims of questionary physics requiring peculiar timing for maximum effect.

An additional head scratcher is the dichotomy between an ingenious use of trophies, challenges, and retro collectibles acting as gaming progress meters versus rigid savepoints requiring challenge completion repeats with every death. In particularly tough areas, this becomes old rather quickly. Simply put, it's a massive pain in the ass to re-do 5 disparate tasks...then die via a difficult enemy and/or control flaw. Rinse, wash, repeat over and over again.

Still and with this a pre-release review, I'm curious to see how multiplayer eventually pans out. Deathmatch featuring dozens of players swinging up and down platforms - despite control flaws - sounds ridiculously cool. Freeing players from stairwells and static physical heights is a formula for replayability...if executed properly.

SUMMARY: 'Bionic Commando' for the PS3 continues the legacy of its predecessors, strengths and weaknesses included. Control and design flaws unfortunately overshadow the game's better elements, making this an arguable rental at best.

The Good

The hero got a gun in one hand, and the other is a bionic arm that can extend very far. It can kill enemies, pick up collectibles, and acts as a grappling hook. Instead of jumping, you use the grappling hook to climb higher. The swinging mechanic is fun!

Tim Follin handled the sound. There are no sound effects, but the soundtrack is so intense that I can't even mind it! The tunes are coming from the arcade original, but with unique twists. Tim really rocked off the SID chip here, wow!

The Bad

The sprites are small and somewhat ugly.

This is not like the Japanese NES version where the main boss is a regenerated Hitler, and at the end his face shown in close blowing up. That is ridiculously awesome. It should have been included in every version!

There are two separate C64 ports of this game. The UK got this good one. The USA got the lame one. Poor americans.

The Bottom Line

Just wanted to point some of the wins out of the usual crud of arcade conversions.

The arm is really useful as it lets you destroy soldiers at long distances. As you can't jump in this game, you will also use it to grab onto ledges and pull yourself up. We might see a bionic arm being developed in the future. It would be useful to add to a human if they have lost heir arm. It might also be used to punch someone at a fair distance, then get away before the recipient decides to punch you back. You can control the arm in all directions, except downwards.

You can also make use of your default weapon, which is the crappiest weapon that you can use in Bionic Commando, but you have the opportunity to get a better weapon, but you have to shoot its parachute before you can get it, otherwise it will continue going downwards into the screen.

The graphics of the Amiga/ST versions of Bionic Commando are better than its 8-bit cousins, giving them the same detail as in the coin-op version. Each character is drawn nicely, particularly the large enemies. I like the huge enemies that ride around in helicopters and mechs in the last two levels.

The environments in each of the game's five levels are interesting to pass through. The animations are quite good. The way that you parachute down to the surface after losing a life is cool, and the animation of you swinging left or right with your arm is very good. The music in the game suits the gameplay and is easy to listen to. It is quite different to that of the coin-op version.

Controls are easy to get used to in the game. You simply move your character left, right, up, and down using the joystick, and its fire button to either fire your weapon or extend or contract your bionic arm.

The Bad

Nothing.

The Bottom Line

In Bionic Commando, you can only use your bionic arm to either destroy soldiers or grab onto a platform. No jumping is allowed in the game. There are five levels, and the environments in those levels look good as you pass through them. It is faithful to the coin-op version, because of the similar gameplay and graphics, but the music is much different and much better than the music that the coin-op version has.

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