Hello everyone, welcome to a new review of mine. This review will be my first of a retro game. Namely, Bionic Commando, originally playable only on the Arcade and was later ported to several home consoles, including the Commodore 64.

Now, I (sadly) never owned a true retro system, nor have I even grown up in the 8-bit era. I do however own the first Xbox, for which Capcom made a collection, namely Capcom Classics Collection. This is a compilation of arcade games all on one disc, for the ‘younger’ generation to enjoy. After playing though them all (and even beating some of them), I felt like, why not? Let’s try to write a review about my personal favourite classic from the bunch.

The Graphics

It’s difficult for me to rate this aspect of the game. I was born just before the discontinuation of the NES, and never really got to play with the SNES. So in terms of visuals, I’m not used to anything earlier than the Nintendo 64 and Sony PlayStation. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have an opinion. Looking at some of the other games the Collections disc has to offer as well, makes me notice that Bionic Commando has a really bright colour palette. Overall, it was just really pleasant to look at. The game also moves wonderfully fluid. The only big flaw I have to point out is that you might get the scenery and background, and the pieces you could actually stand on and hook-shot towards, confused. It’s a tad bit difficult to differentiate. But, on the other hand, I’m diggin’ the mecha designs and the giant red robot!

The Sound

Okay, here’s the thing. The music sounds cool at first. The sound designer did a pretty good job at creating the music, but it got repetitive fairly quickly. I keep music variety in high regard when it comes to immersion in video games. I guess game music wasn’t a big thing in the 80s, because in a lot of Let’s Plays of other games from that era, I don’t notice much variety. Still, I personally prefer listening to more than one tune throughout the entire game. Regardless, the tune does sound awesome. Here’s the thing that ticked me off a bit, though. When picking up a special power-up, I would’ve preferred hearing some sort of sound for me to confirm I actually picked up the power-up. Now there's no way of notice you've just picked up that power-up unless you consciously walked over that thing. It's a little annoying. In the wrong way. I know retro games had that kind of annoyance factor that gave you just the amount of perseverance to keep on playing it, but the little detail of there being not at least a small chime was just... Eh.

The Addictiveness

If there is one thing I’ve learned from Bionic Commando (and from the other games on the Classics Collection), it is that Capcom was darn good at making insanely fun video games back in the 80s! Your guy has this grappling hook, and I want it so bad for myself… You can easily go anywhere that’s within the reach of your grappling hook, and it has a pretty big reach. The hook can be fired in all directions, so it’s possible to swing from left to right, while shooting baddies… It’s so cool! There are power-ups you can pick up as well. This can be done by either simply walking over them, or if it’s in some hard-to-reach area, just shoot your grappling hook at it to pull it towards you. Is there a baddie somewhere above you? Bop him off of his platform to your level, and finish him off with your firearm! It’s just… Gosh, I WANT THAT GRAPPLING HOOK!!

The Story

A compelling story wasn’t a big thing in the 80s, so it’s pretty straightforward. You’re a commando who must infiltrate an enemy base and stop the enemy from launching nuclear missiles. Where to? No idea, but at the end of the game, it says something about the world being able to live together in harmony again, so supposedly there is a World War going on. There weren’t many games at the time who told their story to the player in terms of writing. A lot of video games just made it clear to you by… doing things.

The Depth

It’s originally an Arcade game, so there isn’t much to it. There are only four stages to complete, there are a couple of different weapons to use, and there are pickups which grant you some extra points. Pretty standard retro platformer stuff. Not a lot more to write about.

The Difficulty

It’s dead obvious that Bionic Commando stems from the era in which video games where generally tough-as-nails, not giving you any moment or room to catch your breath. You have three lives, and in these you will have to reach the end of each stage, earning a large amount of points (it was all about the highscores in this age, and I’m liking it!). If you lose all three lives, you will hover down from the skies by means of a parachute. But… you lose… all, your points… And trust me, you’ll die a lot in Bionic Commando. The controls have aged massively, and as such, some parts will prove to be a pain. What’s more, other than the grappling hook which can fired in all different directions, you can only fire left and right with your firearms, and your bullets haven’t even got the reach of your grappling hook, but the baddies' bullets have no trouble reaching the end of the screen! This puts you at a major disadvantage over your enemies. Also, your guy doesn’t jump. He doesn’t DO jumping. Firing big guns, swinging all over the place is no sweat but JUMPING? Still, there’s no way to get a Game Over or anything like that. Because you show up again on the same place you died, no matter how often you lost all your lives, kept me from giving the Difficulty a higher score than an 8.

I loved every minute of Bionic Commando, and it was definitely my favourite Classic in the Capcom Collection. It was overall pleasing to the eyes, the controls took some getting used to but once I did the game played away nicely, and the grappling hook is perhaps one of my favourite video game gadgets of all time. If you’re a collector, I’d say this game would look great in your C=64 collection. For the more casual gamers, I think I saw this game being playable in the Retro Game Room here on Vizzed. Which I recommend trying out. It is ridiculous fun.

Pros:

- very fun to compete with friends for highscores

- colourful visuals

- swinging from the grappling hook and simultaneously shooting a baddie is so COOL!

Cons:

- you can only shoot in two directions

- not being able to jump takes a while to get used to