Bionic Commando

"Best.. Ending. EVAR."

Ah, who doesn't remember playing Bionic Commando as a kid? I sure as heck did...unfortunately, I didn't have the quicksilver timing this game requires to beat it back then. Thanks to an emulator and save states, I was able to likc this game in one night. Upon seeing the ending, I found out exactly why Capcom made it so difficult...so the censors at Nintendo couldn't spoil the game more than they already did by getting to the end. Of course, anyone can figure out who the bad guys are SUPPOSED to be, who the end boss REALLY is...and oh, the glorious victory you receive upon completion! Of course, I won't spoil it for you, but moving right along to the review...

Plot:

The evil Imperial Army has discovered the plans to a weapon of mass destruction code-named Albatross, built by the fallen Naz..err...BADD army and their nefarious leader, Hitl...errrrr...I mean, Master-D. ;) Of course, we're talking about the American game so the names have been changed to protect the guilty. The good guys send in their top hero, Super Joe, to stop their plans of activating the weapon and reviving Master D, but he is captured. So they send you, a tough soldier with a bionic arm. Can you stop their nefarious scheme of resurrecting the most evil man who lived and his ultimate weapon? You bet!

Graphics: 8/10

Considering this was a first-gen NES game, these graphics are stellar. The sprites are well-detailed, and man stages (the evil forest in particular) have outstanding use of color for the 8-bit NES. The only thing it loses points for are the ugly overhead ''convoy'' stages, which look terrible IMHO. The game isn't quite as detailed as Capcom's best NES series either (Mega Man), but all things considered, they're pretty good.

Sound: 9/10

I can't fault the game in this category at all. The music and sound is very similar to the Mega Man games, and some of the tunes sound straight out of that series. Bearing that comparison in mind, BC has some of the best-composed, catchiest tunes ever to come out of your grey box. The only problem? There aren't nearly enough of them! That is the single thing which prevents the audio from getting a 10 in my book. As far as the sounds, they're straight out of Mega Man as well, so no complaints there!

Gameplay: 8/10

Talk about games that test the heck out of your reflexes! This is a side-scrolling platformer with one exception; our commando can't jump. Instead, he uses his bionic appendage to swing from ledge to ledge, pull himself up, even snag powerups and stun enemies. Of course, he's also equipped with a radio which he can use to patch into enemy communication terminals to talk to HQ or even wire-tap to gain helpful info. Being a commando, he of course has a gun, which you find upgrades for over the course of the game, as well as a slew of other helpful items that can help reduce damage from enemies, light up dark areas, or replenish life. While the inability to jump is frustrating at first, it forces you to be quick and masterful with the grappling hook arm, and once you get the hang of it the game is quite fun. The other really innovative concept about this shooter is when you dispatch enemies, they'll drop bullets. You collect these as a kind of ''experience points'' and when you collect enough, your life bar is permanently extended. You also get 10 of these upon completion of a stage. So by the end of the game, your wimpy commando who couldn't take getting pistol-whipped by a grunt without dying is capable of taking up to 7 hits of enemy fire. Nifty, eh? Trust me, you'll need it. A good index of difficulty of this game is the original Mega Man...tough and unforgiving, especially with the grappling segments near the end of the game. However, it's this kind of old-skool tough-love gameplay that gives Bionic Commando its charm.

Ending: 10/10

I won't spoil it in this review, but I will say if you play this game for one thing...play it for the ending. You will be amazed that Nintendo Of America let it slip past their iron grasp of censorship.

Strap on your steel boots, bust out that swingin' prosthetic and prepare to blast some Schutstaffe...err, some Imperial forces! Yeah!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/16/04