A playthrough of Capcom's 1988 platforming game for the NES, Bionic Commando.

Bionic Commando is a highly regarded classic on the NES, and in my view, it's also one of the strangest. Of course, that's a large part of what makes it so memorable.

You take on the role of "Ladd Spencer" (later re-translated as Rad Spencer), a heroic amputee with a mechanical arm that doubles as a grappling hook. This hook allows Ladd to latch onto anything above or on the same level as he stands. Once attached, he has a couple of options: he can reel himself in, useful for shortening jumps or climbing to a higher platform; and he can swing back and forth, which is often necessary for gaining momentum in order to launch himself across gaps. The arm allows for far more freedom than you'd get in your typical side-scrolling platformer, but it comes at a price: there is no jump button.

What is that chorus of gasps I hear? No jumping!?

The lack of a jump button might make Bionic Commando among the most difficult platformers to come to grips with, but the grappling hook allows for an entirely unique and satisfying way to get around a game world. The angle and momentum at the time that you hook on and release is key, and at the beginning, you'll find yourself regularly plummeting like a rock into hazards. With a bit of patience and gumption, though, you'll find one of the most intuitive and empowering control schemes in an NES action game. It's Bionic Commando's defining feature, and the game would lose much of its identity without it.

That's certainly not the only thing of note, though. Though there's generally a clear "next destination" you should be going for, it's not entirely linear. There is a map that allows you to choose your path, whether it be to an action stage, a neutral zone (where you'll collect most of your major items), or a sortie with the enemy troops milling about (done in the style of Commando, an older Capcom game). It's definitely a cool way of breaking things up, and it does allow for a few (very minor) puzzles to be incorporated. Certain items are needed to progress in different areas, so you might find yourself returning to a few of these stages over the course of the game. Kind of like Strider, though I'd argue that the NES version of Bionic Commando is significantly more polished than Strider was.

And of course, we can't forget one of the game's hallmarks - it's presentation. The story was altered for censorship purposes when brought to America, but it's clear what was originally there. Representatives of a Neo-Nazi nation have begun to develop WMDs, and resistance-member Super Joe (the guy you played in Commando) has been captured in his attempt to infiltrate the organization. Ladd regularly has to tap into enemy communications - always accompanied with some hilarious Engrish and derpy portraits - to figure out what's going on. These scenes look great and make the story (no matter how ridiculous it might be) pretty engaging. But - the real kicker that nobody expected by in the late 80s - is the way the final boss meets his demise.

Since the original Japanese game's name translates to English as "Hitler's Resurrection: Top Secret," his identity isn't really a surprise, but the "OMG holy Jesus WTF was that?" level of gore when the dictator meets his demise is magnificent. It also makes one wonder how the hell that ever made it through Nintendo's review board. I mean, Maniac Mansion had to be censored so you couldn't microwave the hamster, but Bionic Commando allows this?

That scene is at 1:08:17 if you'd like to see it.

Bionic Commando is an amazing game, and one of Capcom's best on Nintendo's 8-bit system. If you find yourself hankering for a unique take on the modern platformer, Bionic Commando is a great go-to.

That is, unless you have the Game Boy version, which really improved on the NES game in just about every way possible. But then, the Game Boy version is nearly four years newer, so I guess that's not a huge surprise.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

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