Yeah! I did it again!

Sorry. Just bragging about Commando, and insanely hard Arcade game developed by Capcom that I just beat... Wait a minute? My first duty? there are more "Dutys"? Well, Here I go.

Alright. That's Enough for me. This game is hard. I mean HARD! Close to impossible.

There is not to much history behind this game. I do find it close to other games I own for the NES like Jakal and Heavy Barrel.

When you insert your credit and start the game a helicopter will fly by dropping off a soldier. You take control of this soldier equipped with an SMG type firearm and some frag grenades. Your SMG has unlimited ammo while your frags are limited. When you shoot only about three bullets come out. You can rapidly tap attack to shoot multiple bullets. You can also throw frags by pressing the other attack button. When shooting you can aim in virtually 360 degrees. You can only shoot in the direction your standing which can get irritating having to run toward your enemies to shoot them. One thing that I find odd is I can not tell if touching the enemies kill you. Sometimes I die sometimes I don't. I't may be the enemies firing right when I touch them. Grenades are useful because you can throw them straight up no matter which way your facing. The grenade has a small area of effect and I mainly use it to attack enemies while running away. You can get more grenades by picking up these flashing boxes that are usually stacked in threes.

There are a lot of unique and awing details in levels that often get ignored due to the high amount of bullets on the screen. It's so crazy all you can think of is dodging. Nothing else but avoiding everything on the screen. It's pretty damn intense. The amount of bullets on the screen will force you to run in all directions. The problem with this as I mentioned before is you can only shoot the way your facing. Running away from enemy projectile while trying to kill them is a challenge every time.

You can't shoot through object which can get tricky. There are a lot of objects on the screen your bullets can't pass though but enemies can mount there gun on and attack. Unfortunately no matter how close you can't to the same. Even if you could you would probably want to avoid doing so because you need to dodge all the time. There is literally no safe point in the levels. Like I said there are projectiles everywhere.

Every level looks different which is nice. Some levels have trenches that enemies can cover in. Other levels have ponds and cliffs that you can fall into. Some have bridges and rivers. Other levels have vehicles with guns mounted on or enemies jump out of. It's really cool but this game barely gives you time to enjoy it. I wouldn't be surprised if this was used as an endurance test.

Graphics,

I gave this a nine because the graphics really impress me. If this seems too high it's because I don't think too many arcade games were released in '85 because the golden age of arcades was over and it was near the end of the video game crash of '83. Capcom had also impressed me with there Megaman graphics on the NES so I think they are pretty good with there graphics which is why I believe this must be good graphics in comparison. You will want to look at all the detail but it's a challenge do dodge and kill. Never mind inspect the graphics. I mean the grass on the cliffs for example has a lot of shade and an overgrowth effect added to it. It's a small yet amazing detail that can be hard to notice.

Sound,

There really isn't much in the sound. I would think compared to the graphics there would be a better sound chip. The music is great though. There are really only three songs I think. The normal game play song and the end of the stage song. The end song kicks in when your at the last area of the map. Your goal here is to kill everybody that comes out. Sometimes there are enemies on turrets that can't be killed. There not much of a hassle though. The game play music is nice. I think it's hard for me to find a song getting old. I can listen to it while playing, but I think if I would just listen to it, it would get old fast. It has a nice drum marching band feel during it. There is a drum solo I believe which adds a nice feel to the war theme. There are gun shots. There is also a mini death song. Nothing much. The third song is the high score song. I think it's a decent song. I also have to say I love having to shoot my letters to enter my name. I also have to say it's awesome being able to enter in my name instead of my initials. It's simple and I wonder why not that many games during the golden age had this feature.

Addictiveness,

If I didn't stress this enough let me say it again. It's hard. But for some reason I really like this game. It's not like Metal Slug but I can enjoy the classic feel and yet it's kind of like call of duty or something. Shooting and dodging. I am pretty sure last time I was at a friends that's all I did, On his Xbox.

Depth,

So far I have found about 5 levels which is enough for me due to the insane difficulty. This game may be a long game. Odds are it's shorter than usual. I only gave this a six because if I threw a quarter in here, I wouldn't get that much play out of this. I usually play Galaga at an arcade. I get a lot of play out of Galaga because I do the no shot glitch (I'm a badass)
but I still think I could get more out of Pac-Man. Oh, I have to brag with my screenshots. Check 'em out. There all mine. I got far in COMMANDO. What did you do today?

Difficulty,

Wait? Do I need to put a category for this? I pretty much said everything because the difficulty is a huge part of the game. I guess I could say it again. Bullets and people everywhere. You die all the time. The end.


Okay. I am getting a bit lazy explaining the difficulty a million times. I think you get the point. I think it's safe to say this is the hardest game I have ever played. Tell me what game is harder. That is a challenge. Find me a harder game and tell me. I have to try it.


Closing Comment,

This is a nice game for it's time but the difficulty is a real turn off. I think it's infamous for the difficulty. I use to play this with my dad and see if anybody could beat the first level. At the time neither of us could, but now sometimes I get lucky. This is a game for anybody who likes a challenge. I wouldn't think of myself as someone who wants a hard game, but sometimes I can enjoy a difficult one.

Oh! I forgot to mention. I think G.I. Joe may have been based on this. I have no idea though.

Commando... Oh, I've played this one a couple of times... Never beat the first stage...

But, at least it was fun to play... Great rob at making this review!

Eddy88 : Thanks!

The first time I beat the first level was yesterday. It's a hard game.