Nathan "Rad" Spencer

The series started in arcades, with a 1987 released called Bionic Commando (released as Top Secret in Japan). This game introduced the grappling mechanics that the series would become famous for, but it was otherwise a standard (and difficult) shooter. This version would come home for various machines, including the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amiga, and Atari ST. In a weird twist, there are actually two different ports of the arcade game available for the C64.

In 1988, Bionic Commando was released for the NES. This game is technically a sequel to the arcade game, going by the name of Top Secret: Hitler's Revival in Japan. This game ditches the simplicity of the arcade version for a more open-ended approach, where the player would visit areas multiple times, unlock equipment, and so on. At the end of the game, the player faces off against Adolf Hitler, though in the US version, all mention of Nazis and of Hitler were replaced with less controversial names.

Four years later, Bionic Commando was released on the original Game Boy, and for the first time, the Bionic Commando name was used worldwide, marking the end of the Top Secret line. The Game Boy version has many similarities to the NES game, mechanically, but the story is new.

Bionic Commando would stay handheld with the 1999 release of Bionic Commando: Elite Forces, this time appearing on the Game Boy Color. Nintendo's US-based NST division developed this game under license from Capcom, perhaps signifying the popularity for the series in America. This game again retained some of the same gameplay mechanics and style of the past two games, but again this game had an all-new plot and additional moves.

After letting the series lie dormant for nearly a decade now, Capcom has once against revived the franchise. The imaginatively-titled "Bionic Commando" is planned for a 2008 release on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. This game will change everything, going from the side-scrolling sprites that every other game has used to a behind-the-back third-person camera. The game is being developed jointly by Capcom and GRIN, a Sweden-based developer who previously worked on PC ports of Ubisoft's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter games.

GRIN is also working on a game called Bionic Commando Rearmed, which is an updated remake of the NES game. It is scheduled to be released as a downloadable game on PC, Xbox Live Arcade, and PlayStation Network in 2008. The game will also feature a multiplayer component, comprising of online competitive matches and local co-op play.