Post by wafflerevolution on Sept 10, 2013 18:18:59 GMT
by totalgridlock
With a seventh-gen remake on the horizon, it's time to hook up with a swingin' oldie...
Capcom are famous for a wide variety of games, many of which have gone on to achieve classic status. Mega Man. Street Fighter. Resident Evil. Devil May Cry. The list is long. One title that is often overlooked - except by nostalgics, retro gamers and collectors (i.e. everyone here) - is Bionic Commando.
Bionic Commando was released in several forms on a number of formats, including an arcade release (later ported to various home computers) and the Famicom/NES. A sequel-of-sorts to the multi-platform title Commando, and featuring that game's protagonist Super Joe as either the player character (arcade version) or the poor chump who needs rescuing (NES version).
On first glance, Bionic Commando appears to be like any other vaguely sci-fi 8-bit platform action outing. But the moment you boot it up and hit B, you come to a rather awesome conclusion. You cannot jump in this game. That's correct: a platform game in which you can't leap! Instead you are gifted with an extendable robotic arm, a sort of grappling hook with which to swing, swivel and hoist your way around a variety of levels like some sort of futuristic, combat-clad, Guns & Ammo-subscribing Tarzan. Needless to say, this is not only very inventive for its time, it's a shedload of fun throughout the game.
The levels are about as varied as you'd expect. Indoors, outdoors, bases, bunkers, caves you can parachute into... all good. Of course, there are some areas which are downright infuriating, but what NES game didn't feature those? Ninja Gaiden 6-2, I'm looking at you. Generally you can tackle the main areas in Bionic Commando in whichever sequence you choose, and aside from the side-scrolling levels, there are also a couple of top-down shooter levels reminiscent of the original Commando.
In addition we are blessed with several Neutral Zones, just in case we wanted to hang out with the friends and colleagues of the baddies we've been blasting away for the past hour.
Weapons include your basic blaster rifle, a 'wide rifle', a machinegun, a rocket launcher and the way cool '3-way rifle': which emits fireballs straight ahead, above and below... just in case.
One notable aspect is the changes that were made in the localisation of the game from the original Japanese release to the version that most of us will be familiar with. Titled 'Top Secret: Hitler's Revival' in Japan, this version featured a plot that saw the player character doing battle with futuristic Nazis - under the command of the resurrected Adolf Hitler Obviously this would not have gone down well at all with western publishers - it's debatable whether the target market of 8-15 year-old males would have cared - so significant changes were made for the North American release. Swastikas became albatrosses. Nazis became generic Badds [sic]. Hitler became some short guy with a mustache...
One d'oh moment: while the altered version was released in Europe, the game manual actually mentions Nazis as the enemy. If you can figure out what the manual is actually saying, that is. Worst grammar ever (a choice quote being, "Player: moving in eight directions, wave wires"). In fact the entire game features plenty of mostly unintentional humour, mistranslations and the sort of general pigeon-English that flash movies are made of.
Several quasi-sequels were made over the years. There is a GameBoy version of the game, with a more generic futuristic setting and a different plot. Then in 1999 Bionic Commando: Elite Forces was released for the GameBoy Color. Gameplay remains similar, but again there is a different setting and plot, as well as some changes to the controls. Don't worry, you still get your swingin' claw.
And of course, most recently, a 7th generation remake has been announced for X360, PS3 and PC. Some very nice screenshots and whatnot are trickling out... but in the meantime, why not break out an old great?