Bionic Commando

Bionic Commando is a video game that consists of 10 releases

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Bionic Commando follows hero Rad Spencer as he fights through enemy territory to rescue fellow commando, Super Joe. Though similar to other platformers of the time, Bionic Commando puts a huge twist by not allowing Rad to jump; he can only get around by using his bionic arm.

Overview

"Let's make a platformer where the player can't jump."

That sentence may sound like the ravings of a madman, and indeed there were few developers in 1988 that could pull the concept off; Capcom was one of them. Tying together the upgrade concepts gleaned from Mega Man, while continuing the story of the Commando series, Bionic Commando still stands as one of the most unique, difficult, and fun games from the NES era.

In August 2008, Bionic Commando got a remake in the form of Bionic Commando Rearmed and it will be followed by a sequel (to the original game) simply called Bionic Commando, both games are developed by GRIN.

Plot

The story begins with Rad Spencer, the titular Bionic Commando, being tasked with rescuing Commando's protagonist, Super Joe from the "Badds," an evil empire bent on world domination. Super Joe had been sent in to stop the Badds' top secret superweapon, dubbed "The Albatross." All contact with Super Joe was lost, and Rad was sent in to go get him back.

Gameplay

Capcom took a page from Mega Man by giving the player the ability to choose which levels to tackle in which order. Players are initially presented with an overhead map of the game, divided into 16 levels. Players make their way from point-to-point, choosing whether to dive into the level and fight off the Badds and collecting powerups, or moving onto the next level in your quest to rescue Super Joe. Of course, some powerups are required to progress through certain levels, while others simply make it easier to take out more of the Badds.

Once in the level, the game has a very similar look and feel to other Capcom platformers, like Mega Man, DuckTales, and Ghost 'N Goblins. Like those games, Rad will have to climb up towers, cross spiked pits, and shoot his way through wave after wave of enemy en route to the stage's boss. Oh, but he can't jump. Instead, Rad is armed with a bionic arm, which can cling to practically any surface, allowing him to swing his way across the level's hazards. Though difficult to truly master, using the momentum from swinging quickly becomes second nature, though it's still pretty common to miss a crucial jump and fall to Rad's death. Being an old-school NES game, Bionic Commando doesn't forgive mistakes.

Bionic Commando is one of the Trinity of Capcom game series focused on disabled characters. These are: B.C.- cannot jump, Rockman/Megaman- cannot duck/crouch, Biohazard/R.E.- characters physically incapable of the act of sidestepping. It is possible Capcom is not confident their gameplay would 'stand up' with fully functioning protagonists (R.E.4 was tested with strafing, but it was then removed to add 'drama').

Though extremely difficult, sometimes frustratingly so, many people think that Bionic Commando still holds up today. There simply aren't any other games like it out there.

General Information Edit

Game Name	Bionic Commando
Platform(s)	Amiga Amstrad CPC Atari ST Commodore 64 ZX Spectrum NES Arcade PC
Publisher(s)	Capcom
Developer(s)	Capcom
Genres	Add a new genre Action Platformer
Themes	Add a new theme Alternate Historical
Original US Release	Dec. 1, 1988 need a fuzzy date?
Original US Release	know the real date?
Aliases	Top Secret: Hitler's Revival