Top 50 Video Games: Number 28

#28: Bionic Commando
System: Nintendo Entertainment System
Publisher: Capcom
Released: 1988
Players: 1


Our Bionic hero hanging around. LOL.


Bionic Commando is yet another NES side scrolling action game to make my list. A couple of things make it unique however. First, your character cannot jump. I never did figure that one out. He's physically fit enough to be sent in behind enemy lines to rescue the commander, but his legs are only good for walking. Even Jimbob can jump sort of. The second thing is your bionic arm. Your character gets around by latching onto things and swinging around like Tarzan. It's been nearly 20 years since Bionic Commando was released and I've never played another game like it.

The game presents you with an overhead map and you travel from area to area with a helicopter. Each area you clear will give you a new weapon or armor. Hidden around various stages are communicators which can be used to interecept enemy transmissions but if you get caught wiretapping you'll be ambushed by your foes. The levels are each challenging and unique, and the no-jumping gameplay is fun and interesting. There's a lot of vertical, roaming gameplay in the stages, rather than the constant "run from the left to the right and kill everything" gameplay a lot of side scrollers feature. Nintendo was always family friendly to the point of being anal about the content they'd allow into their games, and there are a few things in Bionic Commando I was surprised to see slip through.


Getting into the swing of things, omgroflmao so funny.


I'd never seen any swearing in a video game before, and I was surprised when the guy at the end called me a damn fool. I realize 'damn fool' isn't quite like being called a 'shiteating cocksucker' but still, I was ten years old and it surprised me just the same. And the man who called me a damn fool was a spitting image of Adolf Hitler. No shit. When you finally defeat this guy, you are treated to a frame by frame animation of his head exploding like it were a pumpkin with a hand grenade inside it. Apparently the person in charge of making sure exploding Hitler heads didn't make it into their games was off that day. Bionic Commando was originally an arcade came which I only vaguely remember playing once or twice way back when. It's since seen a gameboy color sequel of the same name which I'm going to attempt to track down. Anyways Bionic Commando sounds like a cheesy Van Damne movie, but it's a great game.