Bionic Commando

December 4, 2024

This game is incredible, but also suffers from the typical NES difficulty spikes. Especially in the back third, you're dying a lot just figuring out what exactly the game wants you to do. I know there was some remake of the game back in the xbox 360/ps3 era, I imagine the remake is more forgiving on lives and maybe gives you some more direction as to where to go and what to do. Still, I bet back in the day if this was your main game you could squeeze a ton out of it.

It feels pretty rewarding to poke and prod at it, fail yet understand why, and then chip away at it again until you pull it off. Unfortunately, if you haven't built up a big continue pile or otherwise taken away the harsh life limit away, then that archaic system is going to undermine one of the strengths of the game.

The little communication sequences are a nice touch, as are the neutral zones, both give the game world some more character and provide a level of immersion that was rarely seen in the era. The progression of earning guns is fun, and having a reason to swing around and grab drops from your slain foes also adds some texture to the game so it doesn't feel as much of a plain get from A to B sequence repeatedly.