Bionic Commando (Game Boy)

Bionic Commando

Game Boy - USA - 1st edition.

Developer Minakuchi Engineering Publisher Capcom Published 1992-07-24 Platforms Game Boy Genres Action, Metroidvania, , Platform shooter, Platformer, Shooter Themes Action, Adventure, Science Fiction, War Series Bionic Commando Distribution Commercial

Bionic Commando is an action platform game developed by Minakuchi Engineering and published by Capcom for the Game Boy on 1992-07-24. It is the third game in the Bionic Commando series, and is mostly a remake of the NES version.

The story does away with the Nazi theme from the NES port and sets the game further into the future with more of a science fiction theme. The player controls Rad Spencer, of the FF Corps, and must swing on the grappling hook of his bionic arm to overcome obstacles and defeat enemies. Your mission is to rescue your ally, Super Joe, from the Doraize Army, and destroy the super weapon called Albatross which Director Wiseman is building.

Personal

Own?	No.
Won?	Yes.
Finished	Early 2000s.

While working on my old Bionic Commando web site, I kept seeing glimpses of the less popular Game Boy port. Initially, I just assumed it was a grayscale version of the NES game, and took no interest in it. However, at some point, I decided to play it and found it to be, although clearly based on the NES title, a pretty unique game which I really enjoyed. The developers fixed a lot of the issues of the NES port.

Review

8	7	6	8	7

Best Version: Game Boy

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

• The game's graphics and animations are really good, and the new music composed by Kouji Murata is wonderful.
• Most of the issues I had with the first game have been fixed in this version.
  • The bionic arm is a little easier to learn to use. It swings faster, and you can more easily catch yourself if you make a mistake.
  • You're given hit points right from the beginning, which makes the early part of the game less intimidating. Also, spikes only do 2 damage instead of 3, which makes mistakes a bit more forgivable.
  • The game still gives medicine too soon, but, at least it's after the second level and not the first.
• While it doesn't save your progress, the game at least uses a password system so you don't have to beat it in one sitting.
• Getting caught by the Doraize Army, losing your weapons, and being saved by a comrade, and having to find your weapons again is a nice side-mission.
• The Albatross is a much more epic boss in this game.

Bad

• The guns are still uneven. The wide cannon and machine gun both have really short range making them pretty undesirable while the grenade launcher's power makes it the best by far. At least the Vulcan (3-way) does more damage.
• Defeating a random army isn't nearly as fulfilling as wiping out Nazis.
• I would have much rather this game been a sequel than a remake.
• In the Game Boy version, Albatross is part of the mission objective from the start, but, in the NES game, you only find out about it being near completion halfway through the game. I prefer the NES approach which makes it more of a shock to the player.

Ugly

• Nothing.

Media

Box Art

• 

  The original Japanese box art uses a futuristic looking cartoon Rad on his bionic arm shooting at the Doraize Army with a profile of Wiseman looming in the background and the new Bionic Commando logo at the bottom. It looks great and really conveys the feel of the game. This is my favorite.

• 

  The USA box art uses more of a super hero comics style. Rad is kicking a member of the Doraize Army while his comrades fire at Rad from behind. The art certainly portrays the game's content well, but the logo is pretty lame.

Documentation

• 

  Manual - USA.

Maps

• vgmaps.com/Atlas/GB-GBC/index.htm#BionicCommando - Maps.

Videos

Longplay, Japan.

Longplay, USA.

Play Online

Game Boy (Europe), Game Boy (Japan), Game Boy (USA)

Representation

Strong female character?	Fail	There is a minor NPC woman.
Bechdel test?	Fail	There is only one woman.
Strong person of color character?	Fail	Everyone appears to be white.
Queer character?	Fail	There are no queer characters.

Credits

The game doesn't have credits, but some of the development team has been identified.

Role	Staff
Music and Sound Effects (Uncredited)	Kouji Murata
Original NES Music (Uncredited)	Junko Tamiya
Original Arcade Music (Uncredited)	Harumi Fujita

Titles

Language	Native	Transliteration	Translation
English	Bionic Commando
Japanese	バイオニック コマンドー	Baionikku Komando	Bionic Commando

Links

         

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