Bionic Commando: Elite Forces

"If your cartridge isn't plagued with that save glitch, give it a higher score."

Bionic Commando was a wonderful classic established in 1988. This portrayed you as a guy with sunglasses in a green jumpsuit using a Bionic claw instead of jumping to get around enemy bases. Capcom knew how much of fanbase this game garnished back then, and decided to put a new twist to an old classic.

I bought the game along with a Game Boy Color back in late 2000. This is undoubtedly one of the better Game Boy Color games and did the classic NES game justice. However, the main flaw is that stupid glitch I've found and very few reviewers even brought it up. See, if you load up a saved game game, attack a truck, then attack a stage, the game will lock up. This didn't just apply to my Game Boy Advance, but my Game Boy Color as well. I was forced to play it all the way through without saving (Until I get to the final stage, I'm safe there). While it can be fixed by sending it to Nintendo (And I think your handheld system), I had neither the time or patience, and I don't think I have the money to do it either, so I had to sell it. Which stinks, because I wanted to write a guide for this game (And after 3 years, it could use one right now).

But I digress. Shall we start?

Plot: 6

This plot is basically similiar to the original Bionic Commando in every aspect. Here, Karnia was a peaceful nation, but it's been at war with the Avar army, led by Arturus (Who, in his spare time, hosts a cooking show and struggles how to program a VCR).

The conflict reaches a boiling point when Commander Joe uncovers a project known as the ''Albatross project'' that Arturus is trying to resurrect. Of course, doing so will allow him to become a new leader of the world. During this time, he gets captured and two members of the Elite Forces (A male and/or a female commndo) must save him and stop the Albatross. Sound familiar? I thought so.

Graphics: 9

They are heads and shoulders above the NES's graphics, with solid character designs and detailed cut-scenes (Although they are obiviously motionless). The backgrounds are simply goregous and show great detail, and the scenry in this game is absolutely surprizing. Graffiti in the sewers, tall buildings in the city... heck, I didn't think a sphinx would even appear life like on a handheld console.

Everything is animated very beautifully, and the standing still animations for your commandoes are kind of interesting, such as them loading their gun or looking at their watch, and in snipe mode, you can even see blood (Albeit not much) coming shot when an enemy is shot. This truly takes advantage of the Game Boy Color's capabilites with little or no problems, and no slowdown is on there as well.

Sound: 7

Feh...the music's nice, I'm completely fond of Area 3's theme the best, and I like the intro music. The city stages provide a jazzy beat to the music, while the base music is somewhat techno. However, the music doesn't stack up to the NES's classic tracks, and Area 2's music isn't that great, plus it's played too much.

The sound effects are good though, gunshots and expolsions are nice and crisp. The same can't be said for the voice acting though. It's deep, it's garbled, and it sounds like a glitched version of that little Speak and Spell toy (You owned one. Admit it).

Gameplay: 7 (8 or 9 without that save glitch)

This is like the original Bionic Commando in many aspects. You use your Bionic Claw to move around and fire at enemies. You can enter an enemy's communication room and keep in touch with HQ and wiretap enemy messages for info. And yes, you can also attack enemy trucks for extra lives (Instead of continues, thanks to the save feature)

But while it stays true to the NES classic, there are new things in here on this outing. You can choose from two commandoes, a male and a female commando. The male is more macho while the female is more stealthy, but don't let their stereotypes fool you-they are excatly the same. The only difference in that some of their weapons are different and some stages are different. With that being said, you'll have to name them as well. Yes, only you can name them, but not choosing to will result them being called ''Commando'' for the rest of the game.

Aside from shooting and using their bionic claw, they gain new abilites. They can drop through ledges, look up or down thanks to their Bionic eye, and charge their weapon to fire a more powerful shot. Plus, their Bionic claw will be used in a variety of situations, mainly grappling onto platforms, lights, or anything else it can attach to, and swing across gaps or pull up toward platforms.

More new feautures include snipe mode. In certain areas, a crosshair will appear above a building in background and by pressing up, you'll have to take out a few enemies in certain amount of time or you'll be attacked. By completing it, you'll get a package with health. But this mode suffers from a few problems. In the small window, the screen constantly moves and shakes, making it easy to miss. This isn't to say they are hard (Though the last one may cause problems), but it's hard to aim properly. Not only that, if you do fail, just a single guard appears. Not much of a threat. This mode is optional.

One more thing they've added is promotion points. See, you need to find a secret comm room hidden in a certain stage. Then, you go through an underground base in overhead mode and complete a special stage to earn it. But aside from a color change in your uniform (Which is admittedly better than the one you previously had), it's really nothing special. This is also optional.

The map is almost similar to the original, with a few altered routes and such. But I like the way they've handled the stages, and split the game into four parts. You start off in a jungle, progress through some mountains and caverns, head towards the Avar capital city, and finally end this in the desert. This provides a wonderful flow to the story, and they each have unique traps your commandoes will have to get through.

But the wire tapping is completly predictable. If the enemy knows you're listening, they'll say something like, ''Someone's hearing us! Attack!'' Then two guards who are easy to kill appear, and well, that's it. Not terrifying at all. You'll also know not to listen into enemy messages in that stage, either. It needs to be more unpredictable and more intesnifying when you're caught (And the same can apply to snipe mode when you fail it).

This also has an annoying habit of placing objects for you in the background for you to grapple, because it's hard to tell whether or not you can grapple onto them. This is true, especially for the last few stages wil will cause you tof frequently grapple into ceilings and the like. T

he enemies really aren't that smart. Then again, neither was the original. Both versions of the normal soldiers hardly fire, and it'll take a while to realize you're on a platform below them. The only difference was that there was a little more variety in the NES version, such as bomb throwers, small midgets piloting huge machines, etc. This typically has you fighting just the main soldiers, with maybe jet pack guys, or ceiling guns.

The bosses are more interesting, however. You have to disarm a huge cannon, escape a fuel room before it blows up, work your way through a laser security system, and fight soldiers with different weapons and straegies, making the game more interesting as you won't be fighting the same thing in a different stage (Except platoons).

However that save glitch I mentioned eariler (Should your cartridge have it) may take all of the fun out of this. Believe me, no one wants to spend 2 hours beating game with a defective cartridge with saving problems. This may easily get gamers mad after realizing there's no way to avoid one of the many trucks in the game. If your game doesn't have it, I envy you, and I honestly wish I had a cartridge like this.

Also, the difficulty gradually gets harder as you progress through the game and many stages near the end will have you losing a lot of lives if you don't watch watch what you're doing.

Replay Value: 5 (8 without that glitch)

If your cartridge isn't plagued with that glitch, no question you'll be doing it again. There's not many secrets, but it's sure to bring nostalgia for those who grew up with the NES game over a decade ago. With the glitch though, it won't be around for long...

Buy or leave on Shelf:

Buy. It is one of the better Game Boy Color games, but you may be pretty angry with a defective cartridge (Assuming you have it).

Overall: 7

Bionic Commando: Elite Forces is a great game, and admittedly, it does deserve a higher score, but this stupid glitch just can't let me do such a thing, and I still wanted to write a guide for this game...very badly. Bah...if they redo this for the GBA, this better be removed...

No ending quote this time...

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/26/03, Updated 06/26/03