Bionic Commando

North American arcade cabinet.

Bionic Commando is a military themed platform shooter developed by Capcom, originally released for the arcade in 1987, but then ported to many other platforms. This was the first title in the series which has spawned several more games including remakes, reboots, and sequels.

In the game, you play a soldier with a bionic arm who is infiltrating an enemy army. You can throw your arm and connect it to various platforms to swing your way around the maps, but it can also be employed as a defensive shield by punching away enemies. You have to make your way through five stages before confronting the enemy general.

Personal

I first learned about Bionic Commando after playing the NES remake. I wanted to create a web page shrine for the game, and learned about the original arcade game and its various ports. Having never even seen the game in an arcade, I played it on MAME, and was quite disappointed by it. The NES remake was markedly better.

Status

I do not own any version of this game and have not beaten it.

Review

3	3	5	5	2

Best Version: Arcade

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

• The game is technically impressive for its time with nice graphics and sound.
• Harumi Fujita's soundtrack sounds properly militant.
• Each stage is pretty unique introducing new enemies, hazards, and mechanics.
• The swing mechanic was certainly a creative concept.

Bad

• It takes a lot of practice to get used to the bionic arm mechanic.

Ugly

• The game is way too hard, even when you set it into easy mode. This is mostly due to a frustratingly slow bionic arm and obnoxiously fast enemies. But there are also sections of the game where you have no choice but to move up to a platform swarming with enemies, which is extremely difficult

Media

Box Art

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  This is the marquee of the Japanese arcade cabinet. It merely feature's the game's logo.

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  North American arcade cabinet.

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  The marquee features the logo flanked by characters from the game in a typical comic book cartoon style.

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  A smaller scan which includes the cropped sides.

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  The side art has a swinging hero surrounded by enemies from the game. This is similar to the Japanese art, but with an American cartoon style.

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  The bezel uses more of the game's content in the same comic book style.

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  The control panel.

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  North American releases for the Amiga, Commodore 64, and DOS (as well as the very different NES port) use this art. The painting is modified from the side art of the arcade cabinet. It's very nicely painted, and features many of the various enemies you meet in the game. It also uses the arcade cabinet logo. My only problem with it is that the main character doesn't look right. My favorite box.

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  European releases for the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, and ZX Spectrum use this art. It's based off the Japanese arcade flyer, only with a more European cartoon style. The painting is pretty good, but the player's faces is pretty jacked. This uses the superior in-game arcade logo.

Documentation

• Bionic Commando - ARC - Manual.pdf

  Manual (Arcade).

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  MS-DOS (USA).

• Bionic Commando - C64 - Manual.pdf

  Manual (European home computers).

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  Manual (Home computers - alternate) - Front.

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  Manual (Home computers - alternate) - Back.

• Bionic Commando - ARC - Flyer - Japan.jpg

  Japanese Flyer.

• Bionic Commando - ARC - Flyer - USA - Front.jpg

  US Flyer - Front.

• Bionic Commando - ARC - Flyer - USA - Back.jpg

  US Flyer - Back.

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  UK Advertisement.

• Bionic Commando - ARC - Poster - USA.jpg

  US Poster.

Maps

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  Arcade - Stage 1.

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  Arcade - Stage 2.

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  Arcade - Stage 3.

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  Arcade - Stage 4.

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  Arcade - Stage 5.

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  Commodore 64 - Stage 1.

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  Commodore 64 - Stage 2.

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  Commodore 64 - Stage 3.

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  Commodore 64 - Stage 4.

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  Commodore 64 - Stage 5.

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  ZX Spectrum - Stage 1.

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  ZX Spectrum - Stage 2.

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  ZX Spectrum - Stage 3.

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  ZX Spectrum - Stage 4.

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  ZX Spectrum - Stage 5.

Screenshots

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  Arcade title screen (Japan).

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  Arcade title screen (US).

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  Amiga title screen.

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  Atari ST title screen.

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  Amstrad CPC title screen.

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  Commodore 64 title screen.

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  MS-DOS title screen (EGA).

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  MS-DOS title screen (CGA).

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  ZX Spectrum title screen.

Videos

Longplay, Amiga.

Longplay, arcade.

Longplay, Atari ST.

Longplay, Commodore 64 (Europe).

Longplay, Commodore 64 (North America).

Longplay, ZX Spectrum.

Logos

There are four separate logos used for the various Bionic Commando arcade versions. The original Japanese Top Secret logo, the arcade cabinet logo, the arcade game logo, and a plural "Bionic Commandos" logo based on the in-game arcade logo.

Titles

Language	Native	Transliteration	Translation
English	Bionic Commando
Japanese	トップシークレット	Toppu Shikuretto	Top Secret

Links

         

• thealmightyguru.com/Reviews/BionicCommando/Wiki/index.php - Bionic Commando Database.