I'm glad you enjoy the manual scans... manuals are such a big part of my gaming experience that I have a hard time ignoring them when it comes time to review the game. I was thinking this game would've made for a good Manual Gaming episode had I not been set to stream the game. I'm glad I got to spend some time talking about it nonetheless!
Awwww thanks very much! I still haven't gotten around to the other games yet, but I did recently find out about a game called Streemerz. It was originally on the Action 52 cartridge and apparently plays a lot like Bionic Commando. Have you heard of that one before?
Darn good review. This was the second game my brothers and I got for the nes way back in 1990. Suffice it to say this is one of my absolute all time favorite games. That soundtrack alone is great.
I had a feeling I might find you here :) I think I might've really loved this one as a kid if I'd had the patience to sit down with it. I guess I would've had to since we didn't have a lot of games growing up. It's definitely something I can see myself coming back to!
Your story with this game is pretty much the same as mine. I rented this game more than I liked to admit until I finished it. I already had my snes when i beat this one. It worth every drop of sweat and tears. Great game.
Right? I'm glad someone else had a similar experience to me here. It was a fantastic game once you could finally get moving! I'm glad you were able to make it through eventually. A very late congratulations :)
Another game that I used to love. In fact, this was one of those games I don't even remember getting into. I probably saw the artwork as a child, thought it was cool, and wanted to play. I still own this title and the grappling hook still gives me a time from time to time. Excellent review!
I've been scared to try the game again or other games in this vein just for how hard the learning curve was. It's been so long! I have no doubt I'd be casting myself into the dark waters all over again! I have a friend who speedruns this game and it's a feast for the eyes!
There's so much to enjoy about this vid. I know that I've never been able to get too far into Bionic Commando, but it never stopped me from loving the game. Yes, the frustrations are plentiful, but I think that it's definitely got some charm and nuances that are 'less' frustrating once you learn the ropes, so to speak. Another fabulous review, Hungry!
Great review on this one! I like how you incorporated elements of the manual into your review and showcased the lack of...pardon my pun....direction. my big hurdle with this game is the lack of jumping. I just cant get behind this kind of gameplay long term. I play for a few mins and get kinda bored.
So little direction, right? It was far from what I would've needed to be successful playing on my own time, but I streamed this one and got a lot of great help from my audience. I don't think I would've pushed through it without that encouragement (and patience!) I will say that I can see how it might feel boring, but every single screen becomes a bit of a puzzle in a sense since you're constantly searching for a way forward. It's a little silly that a military man holding the power to obliterate an entire army can't step over a crate in his way, but that's a story for another day :)
This is one of my favorite games of the console. If we had TH-cam back when this was new, I could have gotten some notoriety for beating the game in one life back then. Sadly, my reflexes now are not what they once were.
I used to own an NES as a kid. First console and because the games were bought used I didn’t have a manual to even tell me what I can do. I think most of the NES-games (atleast the good ones) are build to show you how the game works in the beginning and I used to borrow this game from my neighbour all the time. I much prefer this approach in games but I also understand that people would like the game spelling it’s rules out for them before they start. This game is pretty hard and when I play it today, I usually save state after a level so it balances out the difficulty. I never knew you get more continues from the top down stages tho. Me few years back would have been really glad to know that when I beat the game legit for the first time.
I suppose a manual for me just lets me know what's available so I'm not playing the game in super hard mode by accident. I've still done that even when a manual doesn't quite go over all of the moves/mechanics though... and holy smokes! I can't believe you made it through the whole game without getting any extra continues. That's awesome!
The GameBoy Color version gives more control over grappling, allowing (if I remember correctly) letting go anywhere in a swing. It makes it more controllable without breaking the basic mechanic, allowing grabbing on more quickly when swinging through the air. This is one of those games I didn't appreciate as a kid, but later the unique mechanic grew on me. One key when losing control is to hold up when extending so it goes vertical rather than diagonally. You can grab quicker.
I'd love to one day become Heavy Object Throwing Soldier. Those instructions looked straight up confusing, which is sad for something that looks so good for an NES game. Good to see you got over those bionic struggles!
I have mostly a helpful stream chat to blame for my good luck finishing this one! Someone pointed out that even A and B were switched! There were two buttons! Howwwww?
Bionic Commando is one of those early experiences for me with video games that really opened up my eyes to the possibilities of what games could be. How novel it seemed that you couldn't jump and had to navigate an entirely new way! The exploration and RPG elements also made it easy to fall in love with alongside games like Rygar, Battle of Olympus and Castlevania II. I hope you did eventually get to play the GBC release of Bionic Commando. It does a few things different to the NES version, but overall I really enjoyed my experience with it as well.
Well done as always! Bionic Commando is my all-time favorite NES game. I think I had the manual, but got it used so maybe not. I know I had a good Nintendo Power on it. Like you mentioned, I didn't figure out the bullets until much later. There was a lot of speculative learning for me. At first when I blocked a shot due to the helmet I thought it was my arm blocking it. Then later in a similar scenario I died, without knowing why. Eventually I pieced it together. Mostly I loved using the arm to shove enemies off the edge or shoot it straight up to knock them down into shooting range. I think the level designs hold up quite well. The map sequence, unique ways to earn continues, special devices like heath via or flare... all were neat, especially for that era. Those flames looked great! And as you covered every now and then a leap (or fall?) of faith was required to advance! Did you know about hitting Start + A + B to exit a level? I don't remember how I learned it, but sometimes it was the only thing saving me so much frustration.
There was definitely lots of trial and error for me as well, just getting to know the ropes of this one. That was the beauty of playing these games for the first time. Figuring that stuff out was fun! I can't recall if I ever used the escape combo to leave a stage. I must have though... I feel like I went into a level with the wrong weapon one time and left to change what I wanted to bring in. I might've also just jumped on a bunch of spikes though, haha
This was a hot title on the cousin/friend NES game exchange network back in the day. It was pretty difficult, but the movement is so satisfying. A lot of Capcom games from that era have really fun movement, even though they're all different. DuckTales, Rescue Rangers, Little Nemo, even (as jank as it is) Strider.
Wow, what a thorough review! The review went into the poetic realm starting at "I hurled myself into walls..." Great game with great music. Another great review in the can Goriya.
That's awfully kind of you to say. I'd like to think that my writing is getting better with practice. It's always nice to talk about hurling :) I completely forgot to mention the music here, but I think in this case it definitely speaks for itself. Thanks for your continued encouragement and support! It means a lot to me!
The Capcom's unhappy didn't a big attention to this franchise would like Megaman and Strider, for example. NATHAN "RAD" SPENCER is my predilect character into publisher protagonist and deserve it so much game series, also, with more titles... Today he's totally forgotten character!
Because of the ability to stock up on continues, I made it further into this game than in most (where you had to cross a section that the helicopter couldn't go through).
Excellent review of an awesome game. I originally experienced Bionic Commando with its kinda/sorta GameBoy remake and it immediately became one of my favorite games on that system.
I really need to get around to picking up the other game for the Game Boy. I just have the GBC one but I think there's one for the original Game Boy too.
@@hungrygoriya The OG GameBoy one is the one I had, it's kind of a "deluxe" version of the NES game with different music, better graphics (imo), and a handful of other changes that are significant enough to make it a unique experience, but not enough to make it an entirely different game. I'd definitely recommend checking it out if you liked the NES version.
Thanks so much! I've been trying to improve my reviews here and there, so I'm glad you're enjoying them. I'll have to take a look at the PS3 game sometime. It must've been a real treat for people that had played this game when they were younger!
This was always one of my favorite games as a kid. I was really into Spider-Man growing up and this was the closest I could get to having web swinging in a game lol. And that ending made my jaw drop when I first saw it. It's something that's always stuck with me. I know it's difficult to get into older titles nowadays, what with the lack of information being fed to you and most of it being in the manual, but it looks like perseverance paid off for you. Really glad you ended up enjoying one of my favorites!
You know how sometimes a game just clicks with you right away? This one's controls just didn't. I'm glad I stuck it out too because it was really good once I got going with the controls. I've been meaning to play the GBC version but haven't quite gotten around to it. And I can't even imagine how an ending like that stuck with you... I was even a little shocked by it when I played, haha
@@hungrygoriya seeing something like Master D’s head blowing up when I was only about 4 years old was just so shocking at the time. I never thought I’d see something like that in a game. There’s also an original Game Boy version of Bionic Commando you might want to check out alongside the GBC game. The Rearmed games are fun, and the 2009 game is a guilty pleasure
@@hungrygoriya I've only tried the arcade version a couple times. And was terrible at it because I'm used to this version. Didn't even know there was a GB version until this video, lol. Also, not sure of your music tastes, but this channel did an awesome cover of the game music - th-cam.com/video/R5mDnE_xQoU/w-d-xo.html
This was so much fun. Fantastic review. One of my favorite NES games. I agree that the scans of the manual were a great touch. Just found your channel. Looking forward to checking out your other videos.
Right on! I'm so happy you landed here, and it's great to meet another Bionic Commando fan. I hope to replay this one soon, or tackle some of the other games in the series. Thanks so much, and enjoy the rest of the channel :)
I remember this being a game that I thought was cool, but was also extremely frustrating. I was probably 9 or 10 whenever I rented this, and I thought that maybe I was just bad at it, but when friends came over and tried, we were all at kind of a loss to explain why the game was seemingly so difficult, haha. I remember thinking that it, "was by the same company as Mega Man 2, so why does it control so badly? AND WHY CAN'T I JUMP?!" lol. I gave up on BC until probably college, when I would play around on emulators till all hours of the morning. I finally invested the time to get through the game, now that I had adult dexterity, and I still view it as one of my favorite games on the NES.
It's such a great experience once you have some time to practice! I could see it being awful when you're little because when I first tried it it was so tough to get used to. I was livestreaming it too, so I felt very embarrassed to be playing so badly at the time... I'm glad it got better and got GOOD eventually!
I haven't played much of the NES original or the GB follow-up, but I really enjoy Bionic Commando: Elite Forces. Swinging around in that game is is so much fun! The biggest drawback is that you cannot see very far horizontally, which is a fairly typical critisism of these older handheld adaptations. But apart from that is is thoroughly enjoyable!
Handheld stuff always feels too zoomed in... I totally understand. At least if you ever do get the opportunity to try the NES or GB ones, you'll already have a good feel for the game!
This one always defeated me back in the day but not in a way that I didn't enjoy it & always want to come back some day. Eventually I finished it in like 2010 and the ending was hilarious!
No Hitler head exploding?? :P Lovely video, Hungry Goriya. We were trained to jump with platformers, so this game forces us to rethink the entire concept of platforming. I enjoyed that challenge, but I think I got overwhelmed by the open ended level layout. Another game I need to replay for sure.
I feel like every review out there shows Hitler's head exploding... I decided to keep it classy :) And thank you! I totally know what you mean... it was a crazy game to adapt to. There were a few times where I had a hard time seeing where to go next, but that was the beauty of streaming: people were always there to gently push me in the right direction. If you do replay it, I hope you have fun with it!
Fascinating - i had no idea that there was a sequel. But i never had a GB or a GB color, so i wouldn't have had access to it anyway. There's a remake on steam called Bionic Commando: Rearmed. It seems to be basically one to one with the original with improved graphics, though it apparently requires some patches to work on windows 10 (i played a few years ago before the problems surfaced). As i don't believe i ever beat this on the original NES when i was youngster, the remake was fun to discover. Thanks again for your great videos.
@@hungrygoriya Well, i appreciate that you are engaging with me in the comments here. I've been working my way through all your videos, and i think you've responded to almost everything i've said. That's convinced me to join as a patron. I know it's not much, but hopefully it shows that i'm impressed with your consistency and the quality of what you produce. Nice job!
@@justavian I did see you join up over there, and it's very much appreciated! I'm glad you're enjoying the channel, and having these pleasant exchanges with folks like you are a great reason to keep making these videos. Thank you so much!!
Thanks very much! I felt really, really proud of myself getting to the end considering the struggle I had. Now that I know what I'm doing, I'm excited to try out the other games!
Loved this game. After the initial learning curve of swing from the grapple arm, the only thing that really gave me trouble was matching the right radio frequencies to the right stages.
Soo many hours of my childhood spent mastering this amazing sleeper title! Really challenging yet rewarding when you make headway through difficult areas. Thanks so much for the review!
I'm happy to know so many other people also put their noses to the grindstone and saw this one through. I'm finally a part of the club, many many years later! And you're very welcome. Thanks for watching :)
This game baffled me as a kid. I only rented it once, and it didn't include a manual. I had little patience with the bionic arm, and I didn't understand the map and zones at all. I eventually revisited it a few years back and found it much more enjoyable thanks to decades of game experience to tap.
I never knew Commando and Bionic Commando were related games! Learn something new that is video game related everyday! :) Based on the lack of useful in the manual you would be hard pressed to figure out what to even do! I am not sure how they approved such an awful manual, shame on Capcom. I bet you are glad this game wasn't part of the manual gaming series! This game has always scared me since it has no jump and looks the part of a standard platformer. Did the bionic arm feel similar to the grapple hook in Super Metroid? It appears like the pyshichs are very similar. Nice review as always and it gives me hope that if I do try it in the future I can manage my way through (with the aid of farming the items and continues of course) :)
Yeah apparently they are related! I haven't tried Commando yet and I'm not sure it's my kind of game. There are many more things wrong with that manual... I think someone pointed out that even the basic controls are inverted. Nice, Capcom... nice. Honestly, the arm feels WAY better than the grapple in Super Metroid. I strugged so much with that stupid grapple... Bionic Commando's a lot more fluid. I look forward to seeing you tackle this one sometime!
The game design was really good for it's day. But it did suffer from repetition in "boss battles." As in, you had to kill the same bad guy type to many times. But killing Hitler at the end - Rambo style, never get's old.
Once you get really proficient at the bionic arm, this game becomes so addictive to play through just for the movement. It's not without its quirks, but even then, some of the quirks end up being exploits that let you do things like pass through ceilings that you shouldn't, etc (most notably in the 'Donkey Kong' level). It does suffer from some other issues though. The dialogue is unintelligible for a lot of the game and really doesn't serve to steer the plot (maybe translation issues). Those communication rooms are a mystifier, as is knowing which communication device you need to bring to each level (basically trial and error). I also fondly remember playing it for the first time over a buddies, and we got to that level with the red barriers that can only be destroyed with the 3-way flame shot. We either didn't have it, or didn't equip it and basically soft-locked the game, because we didn't know about the button combination that warps you back to the overhead map (start+select at the same time if memory serves). Lastly, a lot of the weapons and items end up being of little use. Once you get the bazooka, there's basically no reason to choose any other weapon. All of the 'protection' items (cross, helmet, vest) are just slight versions of one another, and there's no reason to use the early ones once you get the best one. All that said I still love this game, warts and all. The quirks make it almost more endearing in a way. Would love to see a remake/remaster of the original where they clean up some of my gripes above -- would vault this title into the pantheon of some of best NES games of all time, IMHO.
Have you ever played the Game Boy remake? It's virtually the same in many ways, except the plot is brand new and so are the graphics! If you really like this game, you might not have to hold your breath for too long since a remake already exists!
Great review of a classic! I eventually became an expert at this game but the learning curve to master the bionic arm is no joke. I play it now and then to keep my skills sharp and to remain humble - this game can put even the best player on their rear in an instant. I remember finally beating it not too long after it released and staring at the date in the ending...2010 seemed like a million years in the future to a kid in the 80s. :)
Hahaha yep... this one definitely knocked me down over and over again until I shaped up! I've been wanting to play it again since I finished it just to keep those skills up, as silly as that sounds. It felt like so much work to get it to feel playable! And yeah... back then the 2000s felt like a real lifetime away. Somehow we're almost 20 years into them now... time flies.
I understand the sense of accomplishment you felt at beating this. As a kid, my friend across the street had it. When I finally got an NES, it was the first game I borrowed, and ended up being the first game I ever finished. I even blew up Hitler - excuse me - Master D's face on the first try. Which, knowing both how righteous yet simultaneously inappropriate to grownups it was, was about as grand an emotion as a little boy could experience at that age. (My favourite factoid about this game that I only just recently discovered is that its Japanese title is 'Hitler's Resurrection: Top Secret.' Ironically, it was the former Axis country that made no bones about the subject matter). Somehow, after all these years I've never managed to play the later Gameboy, Gameboy Color or PS3 games. I need to rectify that.
Oh you got him first try? NICE! I think I had to take two leaps to land the shot where it needed to go, and that was pretty thrilling. I hope you'll try out the other games in the series someday. I fully intend to down the line at some point as well. Thanks for sharing these memories with me!
Incidentally, the next game in line is NOT Elite Forces.... its Bionic Commando for the original Gameboy. That's not just a port of the NES game (Although a lot of the levels are carried over, its got a completely different storyline, set in the future rather than this alternative 1940s thing the NES had going).
Great watch! I completely agree that the movement takes a lot of getting used to, but is sooooo satisfying once you get it down. Keep up the great work! :D
Fancy meeting you here :) Thanks for checking this out. And I know, right? I was pretty embarrassed streaming this when I first got started because I was AWFUL at everything. Toward the end though, I felt like a champion.
I'm surprised you didn't mention blowing up Hitler's head. Boy, that manual is atrocious! It has the A & B buttons switched! It was fun watching you go through this one -- well, not the first hour, ha ha! I also need to play the Game Boy one. It's the only one in the series that I haven't really played other than testing it out. It's great to hear the perspective of someone playing the game for the first time. After 30 years, it's hard to remember how it was playing this the first time around. Great job with this video. I've noticed that you've been putting more energy into your voice overs and the results are excellent!
Thank you! I've been working hard on the voice part... I think there was a lot about this game that roused some serious emotion in me since it left me hanging in so many ways (pardon the pun)... it's easy to get a little fired up! But I was happy for the help and having you and others there to see the dumpster fire that was the first hour or two of my playthrough unfold. The support and encouragement was wonderful. I'm pretty sure had I been playing it alone, I would've never bothered to finish it. So thanks for hanging out with me!
Capcom manuals seemed to be confusing and leaving out things you needed to know. Gun. Smoke is a good example. Its manual didn't tell you how to buy anything from the shopkeepers. Took me forever that you just pressed A.
Loved this game back in the day, except for the levels with the man-eating plants and insects. For some reason my favorite areas were the neutral towns. I would explore every bit of those places as a kid. Plus I loved the map music. Great Review 😎👍👍
Thanks so much! Yeah, that vertical level with the plants that eat you was super frustrating! I also enjoyed the serenity of the towns but really hated when I'd press the wrong button and accidentally fire my weapon and get attacked, haha... what a weird little game :)
@@hungrygoriya Haha! I know exactly what you mean. Do you remember that one Neutral Town, where there was a guy throwing grenades inside the house? He says something like "Go ahead shoot me!" It took me forever to realize that you can actually shoot him without getting attacked. I kept trying to reflect his grenades back at him and dying.🤣
@@hungrygoriya He was an optional thing, you could get a powerup for him. I couldn't find a video of it but here's a screenshot: portforward.com/games/walkthroughs/Bionic-Commando/Bionic-Commando-large-264.jpg
Excellent review, HG! I've seen folks mention this game plenty of times and never had any interest in it, but seeing your review actually makes me want to give it (and the GBC sequel) a try.
Hooray! I hope so much that you have some luck building up some confidence with it. I wanted to crawl into a hole and hide streaming it because I was so embarrassed at how badly I was playing when I first got going, but by the end of it all, I was feeling a lot more in control! It was a great feeling to make it through.
@@hungrygoriya Sounds like me when I try to play Contra. Not that I think Contra's controls are hard but I just didn't grow up with it and I'm embarrassed how not good I am at it :D
@@newwavejunkie I'm in the same boat for Contra. I struggle so much in those stages where you're facing forward... I can never tell what plane anything is in!
Definitely in my top 10, the arcade version is Brutal! Once a person gets some good experience with the grappler its kinda fun to try in a few levels at least if you can get through a level just with the grappler without walking, I seem to always forget which communicator to bring personally 😁
I think the arcade version would've been deliberately horrible to eat all of the quarters in the entire world... I've never had the pleasure of playing it or even seeing much of that version at all. I can't imagine having to pay to continue. Even playing the NES version, I think I would've gone broke pretty quickly if I had to pay to keep going. I thankfully had a great chat full of people while streaming Bionic Commando to set me straight on communicator orders and things I needed help with if I asked. This game was definitely better with company.
I wish I knew more about Commodore 64 stuff! Commando looks like the kind of game that would make me want to tear out all my hair because I can't concentrate on that kind of gameplay for too long... these little bites of Commando in BC were juuuuust long enough!
I'd love it if you had gone into the fun story more, especially the stuff about Hitler and the Albatross or whatever it was called, it's been a long time. Honestly I can't stand to play it now, but we loved how we mastered the controls as kids. We figured out all that farming stuff straight away. NES kids from the 80s were geniuses, not to blow myself up or anything:) This was mind blowing as a 6 year old kid when it came out, but when my brother and I finally beat it in 1990 it was super exhilarating. We took turns on stages and strategized together and it was super fun. I beat it the first time on the first day my brother took me to ride dirt-bikes in the drainage ditch in the town we lived in. Also if I remember right there is a bit of crossover if in nothing else the style of infiltration and talking on a comm system that is reminiscent of Metal Gear games, and as a kid I always wondered if this was meant to be one of those at one time or was meant to compete with it and then they changed one part of it to make it unique i.e. the bionic arm, but either way it's a very unique game. They made Bionic Commando Rearmed as well for PC which is pretty true to the original and has new stuff to offer in the way of visuals and slightly better control.
I try not to spoil the story too much in these reviews, as basic as some of them might be. That's one of my favourite parts of most games and I would hate to watch a review and get spoiled on the best head explosion in an NES game, ever! I still need to play the sequels/remakes, but I do have a friend who speedruns this game and got through it not only fast, but completely passively. He just bopped a bunch of bad guys around instead of killing them, and it was an amazing feat to behold.
@@hungrygoriya I need to see that. My brother could do that a bit back in the day. He was 12 when I was 6. Please post a "no spoilers" in your video title so I know what to expect. Sorry, it's not that big of a deal but I was just trying to be nostalgic and was looking for comprehensive review. You're one of the only people to even review this game basically ever, so it's nice either way. I don't understand why more people don't talk about this great game, especially the Metal Gear fans. Seems right up they alley. Or Just Cause 2 fans. It is sort of Metroidvania before that was a thing. Sort of not. Thanks for responding! Peace.
Not being able to jump would take some time for me to get use to, it just goes to show how conditioned we are to that particular action. Take it away and I am blind! I'll have to check this out soon, good stuff as usual!
You know, I've seen that sequence in various reviews/parodies over the years, but this was the first time experiencing it for myself. It was pretty intense! At 10, that must've been either really jarring or really awesome :D
Final base theme is my favorite... and it's amazingly satisfying shooting Hitler... sorry Master whatever... in the face. This game gave me problems, but happy I stuck with it. Great video!
The whole soundtrack's great, but you're right: the final base theme is fantastic! I think it's a pretty steep learning curve but it's great when things finally click, you know?
@@hungrygoriya Agreed. It was definitely more a thing of the time back when this (and some other NES titles) came out (Dragon Quest/Warrior, etc.) where it started off super hard, or easy then hit a sharp difficulty spike. Have you tried the remake for this? If not, it's not terrible... but this is still THE classic. Stay safe!
@@peacefuldoubt8238 I have not played the remake... this iss till the only Bionic Commando game I've played. I still need to try the GBC game! I'm slow at getting around to these games!
@@hungrygoriya Hey that's okay. If you take longer to do them, you tend look forward to the experience more and more. I myself have never played the GBC version, so the only one outside of NES is Rearmed. Looking forward to eventually seeing your GBC experience - whether played or told. Appreciate your videos lots, thanks!
All of this is so true; I HATED this game the first time I played it, but after giving it another shot (because of hearing its music in I Wanna be the Guy, of all things), it became one of my favorite games on the system. I loved the different tools and weapons you could find, and nothing, NOTHING feels like mastering the bionic arm and pulling off a particularly over-the-top maneuver. Maybe you've already finished Elite Forces by now, but I think you'll like it; I didn't think it was quite as good as the NES original, but you will definitely be able to put your grapple mastery to the test!
It’s absolutely insane how much extremely important stuff they left out of the manual. If I hadn’t seen a how to guide when I decided to play this, I would have quit after ten minutes. Knowing how to gain HP and continues is extremely important. If you know the mechanics it goes from one of the worst games on the system to one of the best.
I agree! I couldn't believe how much was missing either so I'm glad I got that all sorted out so I could enjoy the game without being perpetually dead.
I loved Bionic Commando!! Your experience seems to match my memories of this game regarding challenges with the grappling hook and progress. The end boss was supposed to be Hitler, but changed for US port. Funny, because we laughed that he looked like Hitler (a true wanker). I played the arcade version first. And it def didn't seem the same. Well, graphics are obvious. But I don't think it had the map sections. But also, maybe I didn't get very far due to lack of quarters.
I was really surprised that it was actually his face and that it exploded so graphically. I have no idea how that got by the censors! I'd like to see what the arcade version's like sometime. Or even what the Game Boy games are like!
@@hungrygoriya oh. Never played any game boy versions. For sure had less than ten gb games. Maybe five? And don't think any place rented them, at least not near us. NES version seemed like a cheap knock off at the time, as many ports did, I guess, given the lesser hardware capabilities. But I did grow to like it. And me and friends did pass it.
I'm surprised you didn't mention the arcade game, or the amiga port . . . which is most notable for Tim Follin's awesome composing work B) The series as a whole is filled with questionable design choices, and I don't really have much to add beyond that.
Bravo, GG! Was nice to see a breakdown of the faulty manual here.. I never realized how lacking it is, and am I nuts, or does it mix up the A and B button function? I am quite sure the arm is used with the A button, and weapons are with the B button.. and I had to do a double-take when I saw it's the opposite in the manual. Either way, another wonderful episode for a wonderful person on a wonderful game!
You're totally right... even the most basic of controls is wroooong! It's unfortunate that so much of that flew under the radar and that they put out such a terrible manual. I really think people would've fallen in love with this game a lot more if it had been a little more sound in its explanations and presentation! And as always, thank you for your kindness and for your encouragement! I made sure to put in the stage 5 music just for you since it's your fault I played this game to begin with. Thanks again for suggesting it and poking me out of my comfort zone regularly :) I appreciate it so much!
@@hungrygoriya I feel like erroneous info in manuals wasn't all that uncommon during this time, and we as kids never read much of them anyway, so it all worked out ok! haha.. but that is pretty head-scratchy that they didn't have better quality control. Oh, I had quite the nice reaction to that tune, and knowing you thought of me makes it all the sweeter! I bet it would sound nice on a piano *scratches chin* Thank you for your constant entertainment! I'm so so happy you liked this one!
"Quality control? What's that?" they said as they scratched their heads and chins profusely. A piano rendition of Stage 5 eh? I don't know what's it's called, so it will forever be known as Stage 5. I hope you'll do it!
@@hungrygoriya Their beardless chins, that is. Oh yeah.. that's it's name to me too. "Stage 5, Red Sky".. that one and "Stage 2, Slime Taxis" would be a good one too.. :)
I can see your frustration with this game and is definitely warranted. But the original Gameboy version was actually much better than the NES version even the manual seemed better. The rare case of the 4MB hardware being better than the 8 bit NES. You actually had a decent life bar and the truck scenes were all side scrolling view not top down Super C style. Overall everything was just better about the Gameboy game. Everything seemed to be better laid out and had some unique bosses, a prison break and a decent story with a satisfying ending. But if you struggle with the grappling you would hate the Albatross stages near the end of the game. I never played the Gameboy color Bionic Commando and only played the NES version 1 time and struggled with the 1st stage as well compared to the Gameboy one. I also always used the extra health bar especially for a 2 form boss late in the game.
@@hungrygoriya you'll find it easier. A lot like the NES game but Rad is a bigger sprite bulkier and looks better IMO. It's just a solid game. I just found it smoother but very well done. Might be something to put on your radar doesn't take to long too finish but still satisfying and challenging.
0:39 ah yes, the ancient art of communi-wire-cate tapping Well let's be fair, in real life you can't jump over anything you can't also step over. it's pretty useless, so if you want some realism in your game, you can just remove jumping.. but I do think it would feel more natural if you had a jump, even a tiny 3-pixel one, which you could then chain INTO the robo-arm.. but of course, that would take up a button.
When bouncing on spikes, hold up and throw the arm. You can often grab yourself out. ;) but yes, spikes.... still.... just.... You can't ALWAYS pull yourself out.... o_o
@@hungrygoriya all about timing. The arm extending straight up, while on the high of the bounce. lol. soooo many deaths. xD. if you liked the game though, check out Bionic Commando: Rearmed. GREAT remake.
I don't have the Game Boy version yet, no. Just the NES and GBC games so far, but I'm hoping to track that one down. I'm kinda hooked on this series, to be honest!
I know that feeling. I used to hate this game as a kid bc it was too hard for me, and I didn't know about the rpg mechanics for the longest time. But once I figured it out, it became one of my favorite NES games ever. Anyway, I'll be looking forward to the review if you ever cover the GB version, and the GBC version too!
I think back in the the day, the writer(s?) for the manual generally got very little information about the game they're writing a manual to; and a lot of the writing involved copious amount of guesswork.
Maybe so, but there are some damn good manuals out there. This one definitely seemed to drop the ball in a lot of places... a lot more than I think were acceptable.
I just saw the manual years later, in PDF format. At the time, rent stores here in Brazil almost never had the manual for the games. Most of the time we jumped into a game knowing nothing! The only NES manual I ever saw were the few games I was able to purchase. It was extremely expensive at the time so we rely mostly on rent stores or bootlegs.
On the bright side, at least in this case, having it didn't even help very much! I don't remember getting manuals with game rentals here in Canada either, at least not very often. Maybe a bad scan once in a while, but it was mostly scrutinizing the back of the box for clues that got me through the weekend rentals.
Could be worse though. If you bought Star Tropics, you got a letter, along with the manual & usual doodads that came with games back then. Midway through the game, you were *required* to dip said letter in water to reveal a code that let you progress. Anyone renting that game was been screwed.
Honestly, it looks like the reason you can't jump is as simple as not having enough buttons. If it was on the Sega Genesis, it probably would've allowed you to jump and use the grapple. Sounds kinda ahead of its time, even if it bungled so much.
Oh what I would've given to jump and grapple at the same time! At least they weren't evil in making up be the jump button here or something... Despite the initial troubles though, it wasn't too bad getting around once I got the hang of things. I was pleasantly surprised at how much thinking I had to do to get over a single barrel in my way.
this game makes us think about the classic nietzschean quandary; if Super Joe got captured and needs to be rescued by us, then is the Übermensch merely fallible and weak? what is it even that makes Super Joe so "super"? are all our role models merely false idols? would a bazooka really explode hitler's head in a three frame animation?
This game relies so much on being good at controlling the arm, like latching onto the edge of a corner of a floor level. This is a classic, but not easy to adapt to the controls.
It's an unique nes game, but worth everyone to play and master. My childhood would be incomplete without beating this game, however the "bosses" were disappointing
I agree with you... I hope everyone will give it a solid effort and hopefully not get too frustrated out the gate. The bosses were pretty disappointing. There was only one fight where I had a lot of trouble getting close to the core, and it was the one level where I couldn't bring the rocket launcher with me. Everything else was pretty easy though.
Every time I've ever tried to play this game, I get to the first stage and the controls feel so awkward and foreign I just can't play it. I don't think I've ever even managed to play enough to finish one stage.
One of my top ten games, it baffles me that there was no sequence for the SNES and Genesis/Mega Drive (I only knew about the Game Boy version later on via emulation). I adapted quite well to the system from the getgoing, but farming for the bullets to increase life was reallyhard and tedious for me, I really enjoy levels 5 and 6 where the swing challenge is at the top (if I remember well level 8 is also pretty hard to go from platform to platform). Lately I have been reading original pdf manuals and I do get disappointed on how uninformative some are, back at the time we only had NES clones and most of teh games didn't bring any decent manual to read.
It really does feel great when there are some tough parts and you finally overcome them. I'm brand new to the series, and I'm also surprised that there were no other iterations for the Genesis/SNES! It seems like a no-brainer, honestly! And yeah, manuals are either really great or really not so great. There doesn't seem to be too much in between.
@@hungrygoriya Yes, cllimbing up area 5 and the dark background of area 6 really got when I was younger, as if I was really there. If you want some challenge by jumping and swinging you shouldl try Konami's Arumana no Kiseki for the Famicom, if you think Bionic Commando is frustrating for beginners Arumana manages to be barely unplayable to the unsuspected beginner. You said you are new to the series, well, if you have the opportunity to play the original Bionic Commando for the arcade and the version found in the Commodore 64 you might get frustrated but these iterations are valid historical reference for the series, unfortunately there seems to be a halt as Capcom tried to revive the series some years ago but seemed to have failed, as I didn't have a seventh generation console I miised out the opportunity of playing Bionic Commando rearmed 1 and 2. Metal gear had the same problems, Metal Gear 2 for the MSX computer could have had a version for Genesis and SNES. When you bring the manuals it is a way to show how people felt at the time as there was no internet around to look up for details, although some will say that games at the time were meant to be self explanatory but again games like Zelda, Battle of Olympus and etc demand some extra info, don't know how I found that I needed a chalice in RoboWarrior to keep going in the game as I didn't get any manual when I got the game.
@@meta2006 I love seeing where series begin and grow out from. I unfortunately don't have much access to arcade stuff at this point since I usually don't emulate too much, but I'd love to see what the arcade version of Bionic Commando brought to the table. I haven't heard anything about the Famicom game you mentioned either. I'll look into it! And yeah, I used to love losing myself in great manuals out there, even if they didn't tell you a lot of what you needed to know. I remember reading the SMB2, Faxanadu and Zelda 1 manuals over and over again in my childhood. So good!
@@hungrygoriya I had the opportunity of having a translated manual for SMB, really appreciated the work they put into that, all details and images, they were an extention of the game for us to read.
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I really appreciate the manual scans! It's such a cool touch
I'm glad you enjoy the manual scans... manuals are such a big part of my gaming experience that I have a hard time ignoring them when it comes time to review the game. I was thinking this game would've made for a good Manual Gaming episode had I not been set to stream the game. I'm glad I got to spend some time talking about it nonetheless!
Agreed
Nice to see SNES Drunk over here!
She deserves way more attention than she's getting.
Quality reviews and a smooth voice to back it up!
Ssssssssssssnes drunk!
This is the best Bionic commando review I have ever viewed. I absolutely love this game to this day and will never tire of that ending! 👍
Awwww thanks very much! I still haven't gotten around to the other games yet, but I did recently find out about a game called Streemerz. It was originally on the Action 52 cartridge and apparently plays a lot like Bionic Commando. Have you heard of that one before?
@@hungrygoriya I haven't heard of that one. I played the bionic commando rearmed, but for me it just didnt have the same appeal for some reason.
Darn good review. This was the second game my brothers and I got for the nes way back in 1990. Suffice it to say this is one of my absolute all time favorite games. That soundtrack alone is great.
I had a feeling I might find you here :) I think I might've really loved this one as a kid if I'd had the patience to sit down with it. I guess I would've had to since we didn't have a lot of games growing up. It's definitely something I can see myself coming back to!
Your story with this game is pretty much the same as mine. I rented this game more than I liked to admit until I finished it. I already had my snes when i beat this one. It worth every drop of sweat and tears. Great game.
Right? I'm glad someone else had a similar experience to me here. It was a fantastic game once you could finally get moving! I'm glad you were able to make it through eventually. A very late congratulations :)
Another game that I used to love. In fact, this was one of those games I don't even remember getting into. I probably saw the artwork as a child, thought it was cool, and wanted to play. I still own this title and the grappling hook still gives me a time from time to time. Excellent review!
I've been scared to try the game again or other games in this vein just for how hard the learning curve was. It's been so long! I have no doubt I'd be casting myself into the dark waters all over again! I have a friend who speedruns this game and it's a feast for the eyes!
I love this game. It's my favourite on the NES!
This brings back so many childhood memories! What a fascinating game. Thanks for the good overview, quality editing, and manual scans.
It was a really different experience that I wasn't expecting. I'm excited to try the others in the series sometime. Thank you for watching!
Love love love this game. Great job! 🙌 your channel is underrated
Hey thanks very much! I really enjoyed Bionic Commando too despite having so many problems getting used to the controls!
My all time favorite NES game. I still remember when I bought this back in 1991 from a pawn shop along with Top Gun : the second mission .
I need to revisit this one again... I honestly loved it once I got the hang of it. That learning curve though... yikes!
the ways you yeeted yourself to your death in the first part of the vid were beautiful... and relatable
It was my raw, unfiltered experience with the first couple of hours of this game, haha
There's so much to enjoy about this vid. I know that I've never been able to get too far into Bionic Commando, but it never stopped me from loving the game. Yes, the frustrations are plentiful, but I think that it's definitely got some charm and nuances that are 'less' frustrating once you learn the ropes, so to speak. Another fabulous review, Hungry!
Great review on this one! I like how you incorporated elements of the manual into your review and showcased the lack of...pardon my pun....direction. my big hurdle with this game is the lack of jumping. I just cant get behind this kind of gameplay long term. I play for a few mins and get kinda bored.
So little direction, right? It was far from what I would've needed to be successful playing on my own time, but I streamed this one and got a lot of great help from my audience. I don't think I would've pushed through it without that encouragement (and patience!)
I will say that I can see how it might feel boring, but every single screen becomes a bit of a puzzle in a sense since you're constantly searching for a way forward. It's a little silly that a military man holding the power to obliterate an entire army can't step over a crate in his way, but that's a story for another day :)
This is one of my favorite games of the console. If we had TH-cam back when this was new, I could have gotten some notoriety for beating the game in one life back then. Sadly, my reflexes now are not what they once were.
Who knows? If you played again, it might be like getting back on a bike!
I used to own an NES as a kid. First console and because the games were bought used I didn’t have a manual to even tell me what I can do. I think most of the NES-games (atleast the good ones) are build to show you how the game works in the beginning and I used to borrow this game from my neighbour all the time. I much prefer this approach in games but I also understand that people would like the game spelling it’s rules out for them before they start.
This game is pretty hard and when I play it today, I usually save state after a level so it balances out the difficulty. I never knew you get more continues from the top down stages tho. Me few years back would have been really glad to know that when I beat the game legit for the first time.
I suppose a manual for me just lets me know what's available so I'm not playing the game in super hard mode by accident. I've still done that even when a manual doesn't quite go over all of the moves/mechanics though... and holy smokes! I can't believe you made it through the whole game without getting any extra continues. That's awesome!
The GameBoy Color version gives more control over grappling, allowing (if I remember correctly) letting go anywhere in a swing. It makes it more controllable without breaking the basic mechanic, allowing grabbing on more quickly when swinging through the air. This is one of those games I didn't appreciate as a kid, but later the unique mechanic grew on me.
One key when losing control is to hold up when extending so it goes vertical rather than diagonally. You can grab quicker.
It's a really unique experience to say the least. I'd like to find the original Game Boy game too someday.
Great video and a great game. Brings me back to when I was a young teenager.
Hey thanks! I'm happy you enjoyed it!
Very nice complete review, didnt know a lot about it, now know more. Also liked the meatstick on the grapple arm.
That meatstick has been on some wonderful adventures :)
I'd love to one day become Heavy Object Throwing Soldier. Those instructions looked straight up confusing, which is sad for something that looks so good for an NES game. Good to see you got over those bionic struggles!
I have mostly a helpful stream chat to blame for my good luck finishing this one! Someone pointed out that even A and B were switched! There were two buttons! Howwwww?
Awesome review!
The edits were on point!
Thanks very much!
Bionic Commando is one of those early experiences for me with video games that really opened up my eyes to the possibilities of what games could be. How novel it seemed that you couldn't jump and had to navigate an entirely new way! The exploration and RPG elements also made it easy to fall in love with alongside games like Rygar, Battle of Olympus and Castlevania II.
I hope you did eventually get to play the GBC release of Bionic Commando. It does a few things different to the NES version, but overall I really enjoyed my experience with it as well.
I haven't played the GBC version yet, but it's on my list. I loved the NES game so much that I need to!
I loved the arm and mastered it quickly...but my life changed when I found the continues
Right? What a game-changer!
Well done as always! Bionic Commando is my all-time favorite NES game. I think I had the manual, but got it used so maybe not. I know I had a good Nintendo Power on it. Like you mentioned, I didn't figure out the bullets until much later. There was a lot of speculative learning for me. At first when I blocked a shot due to the helmet I thought it was my arm blocking it. Then later in a similar scenario I died, without knowing why. Eventually I pieced it together. Mostly I loved using the arm to shove enemies off the edge or shoot it straight up to knock them down into shooting range.
I think the level designs hold up quite well. The map sequence, unique ways to earn continues, special devices like heath via or flare... all were neat, especially for that era. Those flames looked great! And as you covered every now and then a leap (or fall?) of faith was required to advance! Did you know about hitting Start + A + B to exit a level? I don't remember how I learned it, but sometimes it was the only thing saving me so much frustration.
There was definitely lots of trial and error for me as well, just getting to know the ropes of this one. That was the beauty of playing these games for the first time. Figuring that stuff out was fun!
I can't recall if I ever used the escape combo to leave a stage. I must have though... I feel like I went into a level with the wrong weapon one time and left to change what I wanted to bring in. I might've also just jumped on a bunch of spikes though, haha
This was a hot title on the cousin/friend NES game exchange network back in the day. It was pretty difficult, but the movement is so satisfying. A lot of Capcom games from that era have really fun movement, even though they're all different. DuckTales, Rescue Rangers, Little Nemo, even (as jank as it is) Strider.
They definitely enjoyed reinventing things eh? Bionic Commando was such a unique experience and it really stands out as a favourite for me. No doubt!
This was a great game. I rented it once, beat it and always wanted to play it again.
No time like the present! If you do replay it soon, I hope it's everything you remember it being back then!
Wow, what a thorough review! The review went into the poetic realm starting at "I hurled myself into walls..." Great game with great music. Another great review in the can Goriya.
That's awfully kind of you to say. I'd like to think that my writing is getting better with practice. It's always nice to talk about hurling :) I completely forgot to mention the music here, but I think in this case it definitely speaks for itself. Thanks for your continued encouragement and support! It means a lot to me!
Great review and your title card is awesome
Thanks so much :) I was very pleased to find a grapple sprite that I could exploit!
The Capcom's unhappy didn't a big attention to this franchise would like Megaman and Strider, for example.
NATHAN "RAD" SPENCER is my predilect character into publisher protagonist and deserve it so much game series, also, with more titles... Today he's totally forgotten character!
Because of the ability to stock up on continues, I made it further into this game than in most (where you had to cross a section that the helicopter couldn't go through).
Excellent review of an awesome game. I originally experienced Bionic Commando with its kinda/sorta GameBoy remake and it immediately became one of my favorite games on that system.
I really need to get around to picking up the other game for the Game Boy. I just have the GBC one but I think there's one for the original Game Boy too.
@@hungrygoriya The OG GameBoy one is the one I had, it's kind of a "deluxe" version of the NES game with different music, better graphics (imo), and a handful of other changes that are significant enough to make it a unique experience, but not enough to make it an entirely different game. I'd definitely recommend checking it out if you liked the NES version.
I love your reviews. Keep it up!
Thank you very much for watching :)
I really like this game, recently been playing the PS3 remake a bit. Great video, Your reviews are very good!
Thanks so much! I've been trying to improve my reviews here and there, so I'm glad you're enjoying them. I'll have to take a look at the PS3 game sometime. It must've been a real treat for people that had played this game when they were younger!
This was always one of my favorite games as a kid. I was really into Spider-Man growing up and this was the closest I could get to having web swinging in a game lol. And that ending made my jaw drop when I first saw it. It's something that's always stuck with me. I know it's difficult to get into older titles nowadays, what with the lack of information being fed to you and most of it being in the manual, but it looks like perseverance paid off for you. Really glad you ended up enjoying one of my favorites!
You know how sometimes a game just clicks with you right away? This one's controls just didn't. I'm glad I stuck it out too because it was really good once I got going with the controls. I've been meaning to play the GBC version but haven't quite gotten around to it.
And I can't even imagine how an ending like that stuck with you... I was even a little shocked by it when I played, haha
@@hungrygoriya seeing something like Master D’s head blowing up when I was only about 4 years old was just so shocking at the time. I never thought I’d see something like that in a game. There’s also an original Game Boy version of Bionic Commando you might want to check out alongside the GBC game. The Rearmed games are fun, and the 2009 game is a guilty pleasure
One of my alltime favorite NES games. And the soundtrack is killer
Definitely unique and a fun one for NES. Have you played any of the others?
@@hungrygoriya I've only tried the arcade version a couple times. And was terrible at it because I'm used to this version. Didn't even know there was a GB version until this video, lol. Also, not sure of your music tastes, but this channel did an awesome cover of the game music - th-cam.com/video/R5mDnE_xQoU/w-d-xo.html
This was so much fun. Fantastic review. One of my favorite NES games. I agree that the scans of the manual were a great touch. Just found your channel. Looking forward to checking out your other videos.
Right on! I'm so happy you landed here, and it's great to meet another Bionic Commando fan. I hope to replay this one soon, or tackle some of the other games in the series. Thanks so much, and enjoy the rest of the channel :)
Love the energy of this channel
Thanks so much!
I remember this being a game that I thought was cool, but was also extremely frustrating. I was probably 9 or 10 whenever I rented this, and I thought that maybe I was just bad at it, but when friends came over and tried, we were all at kind of a loss to explain why the game was seemingly so difficult, haha. I remember thinking that it, "was by the same company as Mega Man 2, so why does it control so badly? AND WHY CAN'T I JUMP?!" lol. I gave up on BC until probably college, when I would play around on emulators till all hours of the morning. I finally invested the time to get through the game, now that I had adult dexterity, and I still view it as one of my favorite games on the NES.
It's such a great experience once you have some time to practice! I could see it being awful when you're little because when I first tried it it was so tough to get used to. I was livestreaming it too, so I felt very embarrassed to be playing so badly at the time... I'm glad it got better and got GOOD eventually!
I haven't played much of the NES original or the GB follow-up, but I really enjoy Bionic Commando: Elite Forces. Swinging around in that game is is so much fun! The biggest drawback is that you cannot see very far horizontally, which is a fairly typical critisism of these older handheld adaptations. But apart from that is is thoroughly enjoyable!
Handheld stuff always feels too zoomed in... I totally understand. At least if you ever do get the opportunity to try the NES or GB ones, you'll already have a good feel for the game!
Great video as always!
Thanks so much for checking it out. Your support is so appreciated!
I am glad Iam not the only one who had trouble getting the hang of that dang arm. 😅
I think we are part of a community of many :D
This one always defeated me back in the day but not in a way that I didn't enjoy it & always want to come back some day. Eventually I finished it in like 2010 and the ending was hilarious!
It's great that you got through it eventually. I really liked this game and figuring out where to go etc. It was really neat!
Nice review as always! I need to go back to this game, never played it much
Thank you! If you haven't spent a lot of time with it, I promise it gets better!
No Hitler head exploding?? :P Lovely video, Hungry Goriya. We were trained to jump with platformers, so this game forces us to rethink the entire concept of platforming. I enjoyed that challenge, but I think I got overwhelmed by the open ended level layout. Another game I need to replay for sure.
I feel like every review out there shows Hitler's head exploding... I decided to keep it classy :) And thank you! I totally know what you mean... it was a crazy game to adapt to. There were a few times where I had a hard time seeing where to go next, but that was the beauty of streaming: people were always there to gently push me in the right direction. If you do replay it, I hope you have fun with it!
Fascinating - i had no idea that there was a sequel. But i never had a GB or a GB color, so i wouldn't have had access to it anyway.
There's a remake on steam called Bionic Commando: Rearmed. It seems to be basically one to one with the original with improved graphics, though it apparently requires some patches to work on windows 10 (i played a few years ago before the problems surfaced). As i don't believe i ever beat this on the original NES when i was youngster, the remake was fun to discover.
Thanks again for your great videos.
I should play Rearmed someday! That would be a fun time I think!
And you're very welcome. I appreciate your positivity here! Thank you for that :)
@@hungrygoriya Well, i appreciate that you are engaging with me in the comments here. I've been working my way through all your videos, and i think you've responded to almost everything i've said. That's convinced me to join as a patron. I know it's not much, but hopefully it shows that i'm impressed with your consistency and the quality of what you produce.
Nice job!
@@justavian I did see you join up over there, and it's very much appreciated! I'm glad you're enjoying the channel, and having these pleasant exchanges with folks like you are a great reason to keep making these videos. Thank you so much!!
Great review!
I really loved this game as a kid, beating it is a top tier accomplishment on the NES.
Thanks very much! I felt really, really proud of myself getting to the end considering the struggle I had. Now that I know what I'm doing, I'm excited to try out the other games!
One of my all time favorite OSTs. So emotional for an 8-bit soundtrack.
Oh definitely! I was really surprised by how deep this game is on several fronts and the music does not disappoint!
Hi HG. Sorry my pro jumping tips were of no help :p
(Great Video!)
They were in the realm of anti-help. It's all good though... I made it anyway! They were a test of trust and naivety and I passed, right?
Loved this game. After the initial learning curve of swing from the grapple arm, the only thing that really gave me trouble was matching the right radio frequencies to the right stages.
That's awesome! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Have you played any other Bionic Commando games?
Honestly I was unaware of the other entries in the franchise until long after the fact!
Soo many hours of my childhood spent mastering this amazing sleeper title!
Really challenging yet rewarding when you make headway through difficult areas.
Thanks so much for the review!
I'm happy to know so many other people also put their noses to the grindstone and saw this one through. I'm finally a part of the club, many many years later! And you're very welcome. Thanks for watching :)
This game baffled me as a kid. I only rented it once, and it didn't include a manual. I had little patience with the bionic arm, and I didn't understand the map and zones at all. I eventually revisited it a few years back and found it much more enjoyable thanks to decades of game experience to tap.
Ohhhh noooo! That must've been a terrible time renting :( It's great that you were able to come back to it later on and enjoy it though. It's awesome!
I never knew Commando and Bionic Commando were related games! Learn something new that is video game related everyday! :) Based on the lack of useful in the manual you would be hard pressed to figure out what to even do! I am not sure how they approved such an awful manual, shame on Capcom. I bet you are glad this game wasn't part of the manual gaming series!
This game has always scared me since it has no jump and looks the part of a standard platformer. Did the bionic arm feel similar to the grapple hook in Super Metroid? It appears like the pyshichs are very similar.
Nice review as always and it gives me hope that if I do try it in the future I can manage my way through (with the aid of farming the items and continues of course) :)
Yeah apparently they are related! I haven't tried Commando yet and I'm not sure it's my kind of game. There are many more things wrong with that manual... I think someone pointed out that even the basic controls are inverted. Nice, Capcom... nice.
Honestly, the arm feels WAY better than the grapple in Super Metroid. I strugged so much with that stupid grapple... Bionic Commando's a lot more fluid.
I look forward to seeing you tackle this one sometime!
The game design was really good for it's day. But it did suffer from repetition in "boss battles." As in, you had to kill the same bad guy type to many times. But killing Hitler at the end - Rambo style, never get's old.
Yeah, definitely. Shoot the core, avoid these slightly different each time enemies... it did feel a little tired by the end.
Once you get really proficient at the bionic arm, this game becomes so addictive to play through just for the movement. It's not without its quirks, but even then, some of the quirks end up being exploits that let you do things like pass through ceilings that you shouldn't, etc (most notably in the 'Donkey Kong' level).
It does suffer from some other issues though. The dialogue is unintelligible for a lot of the game and really doesn't serve to steer the plot (maybe translation issues). Those communication rooms are a mystifier, as is knowing which communication device you need to bring to each level (basically trial and error). I also fondly remember playing it for the first time over a buddies, and we got to that level with the red barriers that can only be destroyed with the 3-way flame shot. We either didn't have it, or didn't equip it and basically soft-locked the game, because we didn't know about the button combination that warps you back to the overhead map (start+select at the same time if memory serves). Lastly, a lot of the weapons and items end up being of little use. Once you get the bazooka, there's basically no reason to choose any other weapon. All of the 'protection' items (cross, helmet, vest) are just slight versions of one another, and there's no reason to use the early ones once you get the best one.
All that said I still love this game, warts and all. The quirks make it almost more endearing in a way. Would love to see a remake/remaster of the original where they clean up some of my gripes above -- would vault this title into the pantheon of some of best NES games of all time, IMHO.
Have you ever played the Game Boy remake? It's virtually the same in many ways, except the plot is brand new and so are the graphics! If you really like this game, you might not have to hold your breath for too long since a remake already exists!
Great review of a classic! I eventually became an expert at this game but the learning curve to master the bionic arm is no joke. I play it now and then to keep my skills sharp and to remain humble - this game can put even the best player on their rear in an instant. I remember finally beating it not too long after it released and staring at the date in the ending...2010 seemed like a million years in the future to a kid in the 80s. :)
Hahaha yep... this one definitely knocked me down over and over again until I shaped up! I've been wanting to play it again since I finished it just to keep those skills up, as silly as that sounds. It felt like so much work to get it to feel playable!
And yeah... back then the 2000s felt like a real lifetime away. Somehow we're almost 20 years into them now... time flies.
I understand the sense of accomplishment you felt at beating this. As a kid, my friend across the street had it. When I finally got an NES, it was the first game I borrowed, and ended up being the first game I ever finished. I even blew up Hitler - excuse me - Master D's face on the first try. Which, knowing both how righteous yet simultaneously inappropriate to grownups it was, was about as grand an emotion as a little boy could experience at that age. (My favourite factoid about this game that I only just recently discovered is that its Japanese title is 'Hitler's Resurrection: Top Secret.' Ironically, it was the former Axis country that made no bones about the subject matter). Somehow, after all these years I've never managed to play the later Gameboy, Gameboy Color or PS3 games. I need to rectify that.
Oh you got him first try? NICE! I think I had to take two leaps to land the shot where it needed to go, and that was pretty thrilling. I hope you'll try out the other games in the series someday. I fully intend to down the line at some point as well. Thanks for sharing these memories with me!
@@hungrygoriya The trips down memory lane seem like one of the core fun elements of this channel!
Incidentally, the next game in line is NOT Elite Forces.... its Bionic Commando for the original Gameboy. That's not just a port of the NES game (Although a lot of the levels are carried over, its got a completely different storyline, set in the future rather than this alternative 1940s thing the NES had going).
Yeah! I actually managed to find a copy of that one a few months ago. I need to play it!
It helps if you've played the arcade game first. Almost every CapCom game was a home port of their arcade games with many modifications.
Yeah, unfortunately I never got to go to arcades when I was younger, at all! I'd like to try more arcade stuff some day though.
The ultimate weapon fired wave wires in 8 directions but was unbelievably well-hidden.
I really enjoyed this one but I agree about Ocarina of Time. It really overstays its welcome.
Weird
Really loved this game as a kid.
It was very unique for it's time.
It's a good one! After I got my head straightened out about the controls, it started to feel a little easier.
Great watch! I completely agree that the movement takes a lot of getting used to, but is sooooo satisfying once you get it down. Keep up the great work! :D
Fancy meeting you here :) Thanks for checking this out. And I know, right? I was pretty embarrassed streaming this when I first got started because I was AWFUL at everything. Toward the end though, I felt like a champion.
I still hope to beat this game some day, and tried to play the remake on the ps3 e shop. I still couldn't get too far
I'm sure you'll be able to get through it. Once you nail down the controls it's certainly not easy, but it's definitely doable. Good luck!
I'm surprised you didn't mention blowing up Hitler's head. Boy, that manual is atrocious! It has the A & B buttons switched! It was fun watching you go through this one -- well, not the first hour, ha ha! I also need to play the Game Boy one. It's the only one in the series that I haven't really played other than testing it out. It's great to hear the perspective of someone playing the game for the first time. After 30 years, it's hard to remember how it was playing this the first time around. Great job with this video. I've noticed that you've been putting more energy into your voice overs and the results are excellent!
Thank you! I've been working hard on the voice part... I think there was a lot about this game that roused some serious emotion in me since it left me hanging in so many ways (pardon the pun)... it's easy to get a little fired up!
But I was happy for the help and having you and others there to see the dumpster fire that was the first hour or two of my playthrough unfold. The support and encouragement was wonderful. I'm pretty sure had I been playing it alone, I would've never bothered to finish it. So thanks for hanging out with me!
Capcom manuals seemed to be confusing and leaving out things you needed to know. Gun. Smoke is a good example. Its manual didn't tell you how to buy anything from the shopkeepers. Took me forever that you just pressed A.
You know what's funny? Someone pointed out to me that the controls in this manual are reversed :D To make matters even worse, of course!
awesome video.
Loved this game back in the day, except for the levels with the man-eating plants and insects. For some reason my favorite areas were the neutral towns. I would explore every bit of those places as a kid. Plus I loved the map music. Great Review 😎👍👍
Thanks so much! Yeah, that vertical level with the plants that eat you was super frustrating! I also enjoyed the serenity of the towns but really hated when I'd press the wrong button and accidentally fire my weapon and get attacked, haha... what a weird little game :)
@@hungrygoriya Haha! I know exactly what you mean. Do you remember that one Neutral Town, where there was a guy throwing grenades inside the house? He says something like "Go ahead shoot me!" It took me forever to realize that you can actually shoot him without getting attacked. I kept trying to reflect his grenades back at him and dying.🤣
@@thrivingbranch Was he someone you had to attack? I totally don't remember this!
@@hungrygoriya He was an optional thing, you could get a powerup for him. I couldn't find a video of it but here's a screenshot:
portforward.com/games/walkthroughs/Bionic-Commando/Bionic-Commando-large-264.jpg
@@thrivingbranch Oh dear... knowing me, I probably said, "NICE TRY!" and left hahaha
Excellent review, HG! I've seen folks mention this game plenty of times and never had any interest in it, but seeing your review actually makes me want to give it (and the GBC sequel) a try.
Hooray! I hope so much that you have some luck building up some confidence with it. I wanted to crawl into a hole and hide streaming it because I was so embarrassed at how badly I was playing when I first got going, but by the end of it all, I was feeling a lot more in control! It was a great feeling to make it through.
@@hungrygoriya Sounds like me when I try to play Contra. Not that I think Contra's controls are hard but I just didn't grow up with it and I'm embarrassed how not good I am at it :D
@@newwavejunkie I'm in the same boat for Contra. I struggle so much in those stages where you're facing forward... I can never tell what plane anything is in!
Definitely in my top 10, the arcade version is Brutal! Once a person gets some good experience with the grappler its kinda fun to try in a few levels at least if you can get through a level just with the grappler without walking, I seem to always forget which communicator to bring personally 😁
I think the arcade version would've been deliberately horrible to eat all of the quarters in the entire world... I've never had the pleasure of playing it or even seeing much of that version at all. I can't imagine having to pay to continue. Even playing the NES version, I think I would've gone broke pretty quickly if I had to pay to keep going.
I thankfully had a great chat full of people while streaming Bionic Commando to set me straight on communicator orders and things I needed help with if I asked. This game was definitely better with company.
Cool... I didn't know that this game was attached to the original Commando! My favorite port of Commando is the Commodore 64 version :)
I wish I knew more about Commodore 64 stuff! Commando looks like the kind of game that would make me want to tear out all my hair because I can't concentrate on that kind of gameplay for too long... these little bites of Commando in BC were juuuuust long enough!
@@hungrygoriya I got lots of C64 stuff that I talk about :)
Def not an easy to pick up game. Good review. 👍👍👍
Thank you! It's a ton of fun once you get going though!
@@hungrygoriya I beat the game long ago. Just enjoying watching others enjoy my childhood games.
I'd love it if you had gone into the fun story more, especially the stuff about Hitler and the Albatross or whatever it was called, it's been a long time. Honestly I can't stand to play it now, but we loved how we mastered the controls as kids. We figured out all that farming stuff straight away. NES kids from the 80s were geniuses, not to blow myself up or anything:) This was mind blowing as a 6 year old kid when it came out, but when my brother and I finally beat it in 1990 it was super exhilarating. We took turns on stages and strategized together and it was super fun. I beat it the first time on the first day my brother took me to ride dirt-bikes in the drainage ditch in the town we lived in. Also if I remember right there is a bit of crossover if in nothing else the style of infiltration and talking on a comm system that is reminiscent of Metal Gear games, and as a kid I always wondered if this was meant to be one of those at one time or was meant to compete with it and then they changed one part of it to make it unique i.e. the bionic arm, but either way it's a very unique game. They made Bionic Commando Rearmed as well for PC which is pretty true to the original and has new stuff to offer in the way of visuals and slightly better control.
I try not to spoil the story too much in these reviews, as basic as some of them might be. That's one of my favourite parts of most games and I would hate to watch a review and get spoiled on the best head explosion in an NES game, ever!
I still need to play the sequels/remakes, but I do have a friend who speedruns this game and got through it not only fast, but completely passively. He just bopped a bunch of bad guys around instead of killing them, and it was an amazing feat to behold.
@@hungrygoriya I need to see that. My brother could do that a bit back in the day. He was 12 when I was 6. Please post a "no spoilers" in your video title so I know what to expect. Sorry, it's not that big of a deal but I was just trying to be nostalgic and was looking for comprehensive review. You're one of the only people to even review this game basically ever, so it's nice either way. I don't understand why more people don't talk about this great game, especially the Metal Gear fans. Seems right up they alley. Or Just Cause 2 fans. It is sort of Metroidvania before that was a thing. Sort of not. Thanks for responding! Peace.
even Wolfenstein fans I would imagine could get into this. Not necessarily FPS fans though
My sole background with this game was a kids novelization. I think they explained the mechanic with some kind of robocop situation?
I wish I knew... I actually forgot there was a book until you reminded me just now.
The bullet leveling I found out by accident…
I guess it would be inevitable! Eventually your health bar would grow and you'd wonder why... very nice!
Not being able to jump would take some time for me to get use to, it just goes to show how conditioned we are to that particular action. Take it away and I am blind! I'll have to check this out soon, good stuff as usual!
Blind is definitely a good descriptor! And thanks so much! I loved playing this game despite a great deal of adaptation required to get somewhere.
Haha bearded soldier
Maybe it's an ironic nickname
Hard as the game was at first, ten-year-old me will never forget Hitler's head exploding. "Okay, that just happened..." said I.
You know, I've seen that sequence in various reviews/parodies over the years, but this was the first time experiencing it for myself. It was pretty intense! At 10, that must've been either really jarring or really awesome :D
fantastic video, maybe your best!
Awww, you're too kind. Thank you :)
Final base theme is my favorite... and it's amazingly satisfying shooting Hitler... sorry Master whatever... in the face. This game gave me problems, but happy I stuck with it. Great video!
The whole soundtrack's great, but you're right: the final base theme is fantastic! I think it's a pretty steep learning curve but it's great when things finally click, you know?
@@hungrygoriya Agreed. It was definitely more a thing of the time back when this (and some other NES titles) came out (Dragon Quest/Warrior, etc.) where it started off super hard, or easy then hit a sharp difficulty spike. Have you tried the remake for this? If not, it's not terrible... but this is still THE classic. Stay safe!
@@peacefuldoubt8238 I have not played the remake... this iss till the only Bionic Commando game I've played. I still need to try the GBC game! I'm slow at getting around to these games!
@@hungrygoriya Hey that's okay. If you take longer to do them, you tend look forward to the experience more and more. I myself have never played the GBC version, so the only one outside of NES is Rearmed. Looking forward to eventually seeing your GBC experience - whether played or told. Appreciate your videos lots, thanks!
Love this game
All of this is so true; I HATED this game the first time I played it, but after giving it another shot (because of hearing its music in I Wanna be the Guy, of all things), it became one of my favorite games on the system. I loved the different tools and weapons you could find, and nothing, NOTHING feels like mastering the bionic arm and pulling off a particularly over-the-top maneuver. Maybe you've already finished Elite Forces by now, but I think you'll like it; I didn't think it was quite as good as the NES original, but you will definitely be able to put your grapple mastery to the test!
I haven't played Elite Forces yet, but good to know there were others that struggled with these controls too.
It’s absolutely insane how much extremely important stuff they left out of the manual. If I hadn’t seen a how to guide when I decided to play this, I would have quit after ten minutes. Knowing how to gain HP and continues is extremely important. If you know the mechanics it goes from one of the worst games on the system to one of the best.
I agree! I couldn't believe how much was missing either so I'm glad I got that all sorted out so I could enjoy the game without being perpetually dead.
You forgot the best part of all, you get to gun down gnatzis which made the game even more satisfying! Overall great review though.
Hey, youtube. This video right here, yEah that's the one.
I loved Bionic Commando!!
Your experience seems to match my memories of this game regarding challenges with the grappling hook and progress.
The end boss was supposed to be Hitler, but changed for US port. Funny, because we laughed that he looked like Hitler (a true wanker).
I played the arcade version first. And it def didn't seem the same. Well, graphics are obvious. But I don't think it had the map sections. But also, maybe I didn't get very far due to lack of quarters.
I was really surprised that it was actually his face and that it exploded so graphically. I have no idea how that got by the censors!
I'd like to see what the arcade version's like sometime. Or even what the Game Boy games are like!
@@hungrygoriya oh. Never played any game boy versions. For sure had less than ten gb games. Maybe five? And don't think any place rented them, at least not near us.
NES version seemed like a cheap knock off at the time, as many ports did, I guess, given the lesser hardware capabilities. But I did grow to like it. And me and friends did pass it.
I'm surprised you didn't mention the arcade game, or the amiga port . . . which is most notable for Tim Follin's awesome composing work B)
The series as a whole is filled with questionable design choices, and I don't really have much to add beyond that.
I haven't played either of those ones before. I'll have to give the soundtracks a listen though!
Bravo, GG! Was nice to see a breakdown of the faulty manual here.. I never realized how lacking it is, and am I nuts, or does it mix up the A and B button function? I am quite sure the arm is used with the A button, and weapons are with the B button.. and I had to do a double-take when I saw it's the opposite in the manual. Either way, another wonderful episode for a wonderful person on a wonderful game!
You're totally right... even the most basic of controls is wroooong! It's unfortunate that so much of that flew under the radar and that they put out such a terrible manual. I really think people would've fallen in love with this game a lot more if it had been a little more sound in its explanations and presentation!
And as always, thank you for your kindness and for your encouragement! I made sure to put in the stage 5 music just for you since it's your fault I played this game to begin with. Thanks again for suggesting it and poking me out of my comfort zone regularly :) I appreciate it so much!
@@hungrygoriya I feel like erroneous info in manuals wasn't all that uncommon during this time, and we as kids never read much of them anyway, so it all worked out ok! haha.. but that is pretty head-scratchy that they didn't have better quality control.
Oh, I had quite the nice reaction to that tune, and knowing you thought of me makes it all the sweeter! I bet it would sound nice on a piano *scratches chin* Thank you for your constant entertainment! I'm so so happy you liked this one!
"Quality control? What's that?" they said as they scratched their heads and chins profusely.
A piano rendition of Stage 5 eh? I don't know what's it's called, so it will forever be known as Stage 5. I hope you'll do it!
@@hungrygoriya Their beardless chins, that is.
Oh yeah.. that's it's name to me too. "Stage 5, Red Sky".. that one and "Stage 2, Slime Taxis" would be a good one too.. :)
I had the Commodore 64 game as a child instead. That one is more like the arcade game. It was okay, but not one of my favourites.
I don't think I've seen the arcade version before!
I can see your frustration with this game and is definitely warranted. But the original Gameboy version was actually much better than the NES version even the manual seemed better. The rare case of the 4MB hardware being better than the 8 bit NES. You actually had a decent life bar and the truck scenes were all side scrolling view not top down Super C style. Overall everything was just better about the Gameboy game. Everything seemed to be better laid out and had some unique bosses, a prison break and a decent story with a satisfying ending. But if you struggle with the grappling you would hate the Albatross stages near the end of the game. I never played the Gameboy color Bionic Commando and only played the NES version 1 time and struggled with the 1st stage as well compared to the Gameboy one. I also always used the extra health bar especially for a 2 form boss late in the game.
I still need to track down the Game Boy cartridge. I'd like to give it a try for sure!
@@hungrygoriya you'll find it easier. A lot like the NES game but Rad is a bigger sprite bulkier and looks better IMO. It's just a solid game. I just found it smoother but very well done. Might be something to put on your radar doesn't take to long too finish but still satisfying and challenging.
You thought you were playing a robot with an extender arm?... Sorry but the Inspector Gadget game is on the SNES, not the NES ;)
0:39 ah yes, the ancient art of communi-wire-cate tapping
Well let's be fair, in real life you can't jump over anything you can't also step over. it's pretty useless, so if you want some realism in your game, you can just remove jumping.. but I do think it would feel more natural if you had a jump, even a tiny 3-pixel one, which you could then chain INTO the robo-arm.. but of course, that would take up a button.
Yeah, I hear ya, but what a realism aspect to bring around, haha
You know you video is perfect when you have no dislikes.
It's always nice when that happens!
When bouncing on spikes, hold up and throw the arm. You can often grab yourself out. ;) but yes, spikes.... still.... just.... You can't ALWAYS pull yourself out.... o_o
That never happened in my panic tapping, haha
@@hungrygoriya all about timing. The arm extending straight up, while on the high of the bounce. lol. soooo many deaths. xD. if you liked the game though, check out Bionic Commando: Rearmed. GREAT remake.
Have you played the Game Boy version? It's better than the NES version imo. And it doesn't get enough love.
I don't have the Game Boy version yet, no. Just the NES and GBC games so far, but I'm hoping to track that one down. I'm kinda hooked on this series, to be honest!
I know that feeling. I used to hate this game as a kid bc it was too hard for me, and I didn't know about the rpg mechanics for the longest time. But once I figured it out, it became one of my favorite NES games ever.
Anyway, I'll be looking forward to the review if you ever cover the GB version, and the GBC version too!
I think back in the the day, the writer(s?) for the manual generally got very little information about the game they're writing a manual to; and a lot of the writing involved copious amount of guesswork.
Maybe so, but there are some damn good manuals out there. This one definitely seemed to drop the ball in a lot of places... a lot more than I think were acceptable.
I just saw the manual years later, in PDF format. At the time, rent stores here in Brazil almost never had the manual for the games. Most of the time we jumped into a game knowing nothing! The only NES manual I ever saw were the few games I was able to purchase. It was extremely expensive at the time so we rely mostly on rent stores or bootlegs.
On the bright side, at least in this case, having it didn't even help very much! I don't remember getting manuals with game rentals here in Canada either, at least not very often. Maybe a bad scan once in a while, but it was mostly scrutinizing the back of the box for clues that got me through the weekend rentals.
Could be worse though. If you bought Star Tropics, you got a letter, along with the manual & usual doodads that came with games back then. Midway through the game, you were *required* to dip said letter in water to reveal a code that let you progress. Anyone renting that game was been screwed.
Thank goodness for the internet.
Honestly, it looks like the reason you can't jump is as simple as not having enough buttons. If it was on the Sega Genesis, it probably would've allowed you to jump and use the grapple.
Sounds kinda ahead of its time, even if it bungled so much.
Oh what I would've given to jump and grapple at the same time! At least they weren't evil in making up be the jump button here or something...
Despite the initial troubles though, it wasn't too bad getting around once I got the hang of things. I was pleasantly surprised at how much thinking I had to do to get over a single barrel in my way.
@@hungrygoriya My favorite part of that is thinking how ridiculous that would look in real life.
Want to go upstairs? Nope! Use the grappling hook!
@@shelbysteiner It's a pretty funny thought :) Life is hard as a Bionic Commando!
8:02 The Game Boy Color version is really nice, and there is a Game Boy version too. Never played?
Nope, not yet! It's on my list to play eventually... there's a lot on that list though, so I'm not quite sure when I'll be able to get around to it.
BIONIC... ARRRRRRMMMM!!
this game makes us think about the classic nietzschean quandary; if Super Joe got captured and needs to be rescued by us, then is the Übermensch merely fallible and weak? what is it even that makes Super Joe so "super"? are all our role models merely false idols? would a bazooka really explode hitler's head in a three frame animation?
So many questions! I don't know a lot of backstory on Super Joe, but you're right: he can't be too super.
This game relies so much on being good at controlling the arm, like latching onto the edge of a corner of a floor level. This is a classic, but not easy to adapt to the controls.
Tell me about it! Once you get it though, it's awesome!
It's an unique nes game, but worth everyone to play and master. My childhood would be incomplete without beating this game, however the "bosses" were disappointing
I agree with you... I hope everyone will give it a solid effort and hopefully not get too frustrated out the gate. The bosses were pretty disappointing. There was only one fight where I had a lot of trouble getting close to the core, and it was the one level where I couldn't bring the rocket launcher with me. Everything else was pretty easy though.
Every time I've ever tried to play this game, I get to the first stage and the controls feel so awkward and foreign I just can't play it. I don't think I've ever even managed to play enough to finish one stage.
It takes some getting used to, but it's worth it! I hope you'll stick it out someday.
One of my top ten games, it baffles me that there was no sequence for the SNES and Genesis/Mega Drive (I only knew about the Game Boy version later on via emulation). I adapted quite well to the system from the getgoing, but farming for the bullets to increase life was reallyhard and tedious for me, I really enjoy levels 5 and 6 where the swing challenge is at the top (if I remember well level 8 is also pretty hard to go from platform to platform). Lately I have been reading original pdf manuals and I do get disappointed on how uninformative some are, back at the time we only had NES clones and most of teh games didn't bring any decent manual to read.
It really does feel great when there are some tough parts and you finally overcome them. I'm brand new to the series, and I'm also surprised that there were no other iterations for the Genesis/SNES! It seems like a no-brainer, honestly!
And yeah, manuals are either really great or really not so great. There doesn't seem to be too much in between.
@@hungrygoriya Yes, cllimbing up area 5 and the dark background of area 6 really got when I was younger, as if I was really there. If you want some challenge by jumping and swinging you shouldl try Konami's Arumana no Kiseki for the Famicom, if you think Bionic Commando is frustrating for beginners Arumana manages to be barely unplayable to the unsuspected beginner. You said you are new to the series, well, if you have the opportunity to play the original Bionic Commando for the arcade and the version found in the Commodore 64 you might get frustrated but these iterations are valid historical reference for the series, unfortunately there seems to be a halt as Capcom tried to revive the series some years ago but seemed to have failed, as I didn't have a seventh generation console I miised out the opportunity of playing Bionic Commando rearmed 1 and 2.
Metal gear had the same problems, Metal Gear 2 for the MSX computer could have had a version for Genesis and SNES.
When you bring the manuals it is a way to show how people felt at the time as there was no internet around to look up for details, although some will say that games at the time were meant to be self explanatory but again games like Zelda, Battle of Olympus and etc demand some extra info, don't know how I found that I needed a chalice in RoboWarrior to keep going in the game as I didn't get any manual when I got the game.
@@meta2006 I love seeing where series begin and grow out from. I unfortunately don't have much access to arcade stuff at this point since I usually don't emulate too much, but I'd love to see what the arcade version of Bionic Commando brought to the table. I haven't heard anything about the Famicom game you mentioned either. I'll look into it!
And yeah, I used to love losing myself in great manuals out there, even if they didn't tell you a lot of what you needed to know. I remember reading the SMB2, Faxanadu and Zelda 1 manuals over and over again in my childhood. So good!
@@hungrygoriya I had the opportunity of having a translated manual for SMB, really appreciated the work they put into that, all details and images, they were an extention of the game for us to read.