Bionic Commando (NES): Classic Gaming


	Platform NES Genre Action Developer Capcom Publisher Capcom Released 1988
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Not long after arcade cabinets were able to present scrolling levels, some anomalous developer somewhere breathed the word “commando”, and a deluge of games set in steamy Nicaraguan jungles and desolate urban wastelands followed. 1985 saw the release of the fairly typical game Commando in arcades, a top-down, upward-scrolling blaster featuring the quixotically named Super Joe and his bottomless machine gun; it was ported to virtually every gaming platform around at the time, but probably received the most attention when it was released for the 8-bit Nintendo. Two years later saw the release of Bionic Commando, a side-scrolling “one-man-army” game, in which the main character is equipped with an extendable/retractable bionic arm for maneuvering around the landscapes; the game was significantly more colorful, including an “ice cave” level. It, too, was ultimately developed for many of the then-current consoles, but only attained lasting popularity with its Nintendo incarnation. Although both games were both developed by Capcom, they had nothing in common, no connection beyond the accidentally rhyming titles.

So it’s fascinating that Bionic Commando begins with the information that the great hero Super Joe was dispatched to deal with enemy forces and their malicious new plan (whatever it might be), and hasn’t been heard from since. You, in control of the “bionic commando” of the title, are sent out to find and rescue Super Joe. Don’t entertain the thought that you’re Joe’s replacement, some kind of second attack wave; sabotaging the mysterious “Albatross” is an assignment only Super Joe can handle. You’re just some guy who happens to have a bionic arm, and if you think otherwise, you’ve got some nerve (at the very end of the game, the name of this enigmatic, frizzy-haired “captain” is finally revealed: Ladd – a demeaning moniker if there ever was one).

The subordinate status of the character is underlined through the addition of a communication system not in the arcade game. Every stage generally requires you to find a room to radio in to your superiors; since only they can open the level’s exits, and won’t do so until they hear from you, trying to avoid them isn’t an option. At the same time, you can listen in on others talking without them being aware of it. The novelty factor, for the time, helps make up for the fact that pertinent, useful information over the radio is extremely rare. I enjoyed the attempts at adding local color (My favorite: “No, I don’t have the bazooka. Hal has the bazooka.” “What?! Good God…you’ve got to get it away from him!!” The exchange is meaningless, almost irrelevant, but humorous if nothing else.)

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So what does having a bionic arm entail? At a time when Super Mario had set down the exact side-scrolling format to be shamelessly plagiarized, the bionic commando cannot jump even a single inch – and since most of the game takes place a long way off the ground, the arm is essentially a grappling hook used to latch onto a ledge or protrusion overhead, at which point you can either swing out

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and away, or hoist yourself up to higher ground; many times, in fact, you have to be able to do both at the same time if you want to advance. Although not necessarily believable, the physics involved are wonderfully fluid and consistent, it being quite possible to make it through almost the entire game without ever setting foot on the ground (and watching Ladd rock back and forth like a pendulum never gets old). The arm can shoot out horizontally too, ideally to (quickly) reel in power-ups from fallen enemies before they hit the ground, below the arm’s grasp, but it can also rudely shove away individuals who are encroaching on your personal space (nice feature), or to lazily pull yourself across the ground if there are any discarded boxes lying around. Just how nuanced can this system get? Suppose you arrive at a vast chasm/spike pit/sea of fire…but, thanks to a downward projection a few feet out from your perch, can’t swing across the ceiling. If you throw the bionic limb at the obstruction in front of you instead and then reel yourself in, instead of being pulled to that precise spot, when you reach the edge of the ledge you’re on gravity kicks in and you’ll plummet – but the hook won’t detach – and you’ll instead swing down, under the nub in the ceiling, and up, out the other side. It’s absolutely terrifying and exhilarating.

Above: The Japanese version of Bionic Commando was called Top Secret: The Resurrection of Hitler. Any hints that the game involved Nazis were removed for the North American release.

About the only time the physics engine fails you is when another person tries to get in on the act. Though no Mario, Bionic Ladd can come crashing down on the heads of enemy soldiers and bounce cheerfully off their helmets while they collapse from the shock – usually; some of them must have a microscopic spike on their helmets since occasionally you’ll bounce off their head having incurred damage. And then there are those times when you’re swinging back and forth and collide with an enemy soldier – sometimes he is kicked away from you; sometimes you are knocked off whatever you’re holding onto; at still other times none of the on-screen physical movement is impacted at all (though it still hurts you!).

Although originally purely linear, the altered Nintendo version conforms to the formula Capcom laid down for their early console titles. Not only were the levels radically redesigned, but grafted onto a “stage-select” feature – arranged like a tactical map. On top of that, before parachuting down to the level you’ve selected, you can even decide which of the weapons in your arsenal you’d prefer (though you’ll only ever use the rocket launcher). At first it seems like this adds an element of mystery and suspense to the proceedings; having no idea where Joe is, at first you’re left searching the various areas blindly until you stumble upon a clue as to where he’s being held – such as eavesdropping on a conversation that he’s been moved to Area 9. At that point, you want to head over there immediately, but can’t -- without any real reason given. And barring Joe, since you otherwise have no idea why you’re stuck traipsing through the sewers of Area 2 instead, the ability to select your level seems meaningless.

But even if you never know why you’re running around a certain location, the effort put into the look and feel of the thing almost makes you forget all about it. Although I wouldn’t feel comfortable praising the graphic design, I think the use of color to evoke mood is flawless (I especially like the harsh red sunset of the wholly vertical “tower” level). The soundtrack is effective in precisely the same way; although you don’t really know why you’re running around the area, the music is profoundly suggestive: establishing-a-beachhead, covert infiltration, mechanical sabotage, etc. In fact, these factors by themselves practically compensate for the fact that the areas are not very well-designed – lazily cobbled together and uninteresting to explore (Virtually every Mega Man level is the same way, but the grappling hook alone demands greater creativity from the designers!).

My personal favorite addition to the revamped Bionic Commando, one that I wish more games would find room for, is the concept of “neutral zones”. Complete with majestic Swiss mountains in the background to help make it feel more authentic, “neutral zones” are areas where both sides in the war co-exist “peacefully”, in the sense that no physical aggression is tolerated – although the crisp mountain air weighs heavily with foul language and hostile threats such as “Get the heck out of here, you nerd!” A sharp edge of realism and urgency is struck early on when you pass by the head of the opposing forces walking calmly down the street -- and are unable to do anything about it. The guardians of these bastions of safety are not impartial: enemy soldiers will casually attack, even kill, you with no repercussions; accidentally firing a bullet into the air calls out the entire army (fortunately, they seem more interested in taking a swim than actually stopping a shooting rampage). Each neutral town is exactly the same, down to the same open doors; and each room inside of those doors is also exactly the same (spiked floors come standard); and you can’t even talk to most of the people in town – but again, the willingness to try something radically new overrides any complaints.

I didn’t appreciate it at the time, but with hindsight, Capcom’s efforts to insert “left-field” emotional poignancy – no matter what – at a game’s ending are quite striking, whether Mega Man 2’s enigmatic existentialist ending or Duck Tales’ “My family is what makes me the richest duck in the world!” And this goes double for Bionic Commando, which also features a truly fantastic end-game – these being rare even today, it still holds up extremely well -- although I personally think the “escape from the exploding base” bit is a little generic (if welcome), the split-second “do or die” moment in freefall is one of the most definitive moments in video-gaming history (and they knew it too, or they would have done something about that head…). But what about that ending? It being only two lines of text, I doubt it would be ruining it to say that the worthless, unhelpful Stupor Joe apparently takes credit for the victory after your character did all the work (in fact, he needs to be rescued twice!), and lives with the “guilt” for the rest of his life. I like the way this ending plays off the “continue” mini-game of Bionic Commando; whenever you want to earn an extra continue, to prolong the game, Ladd is thrust into the old top-down, upward-scrolling Commando routine. It’s very gratifying, at the end, to see the two video-games stand next to each other and acknowledge that each owes its very survival, its continued existence, to the other. Not a great many video games are about themselves as games – not even this one, originally – but the seemingly innocuous reference to an earlier game added a great deal of resonance to Bionic Commando, and it’s too bad ideas like this are in such short supply even today.

Brendan Lynch

(August 9, 2006)