Here's a game I missed when it came out and am really glad I got to experience, even if 35 years too late. For anyone who doesn't already know, Bionic Commando's unique gameplay 'hook' (pun entirely accidental but I will proudly own it) is that you can't jump - the A button instead activates your bionic grappling hook which you can use to grab onto platforms and either pull yourself up or swing from.
I'll be the first to admit that this felt incredibly clunky at first. Not only did it mean that a strategically-placed crate was a bigger obstacle than a giant killer robot, but its implementation felt quite unintuitive compared to grappling hook controls in newer games - you don't need to hold the A button to keep the hook connected, you pull yourself up with the A button instead of up, and you can't control your momentum while swinging, only using the directional buttons when you want to release. Nevertheless, the controls are quite tight and very consistent once you get used to them.
Bionic Commando is yet another example of the idea that movesets can only be judged in the context of the challenges the game asks you to overcome - it's why Resident Evil 4 is so loved despite its supposedly 'stiff' tank controls. Incredibly for such an early game, this doesn't just establish and flesh out an interesting control scheme - it combines it with inspired level design that is carefully curated to your moveset. Whether it's a tall tower with respawning enemies attacking from both sides, or a Donkey Kong-esque sequence with guys chucking rolling bombs at you from above, barely a moment in this game is dull - and apart from the customary bullshit spike at the very end of the game, very little in this game is unfair. One cool thing I didn't mention about the controls is that while you can only fire your weapon horizontally, the grappling hook can be used to stun enemies and can be aimed both vertically and diagonally upwards! This creates a really good gameplay experience centred around not just the unique platforming mechanics but also positioning and threat management. I also absolutely need to give credit to this game for including a relatively easy first level with few enemies to give the player time to get used to the unconventional controls - something not many games from this era bothered to do!
For me, the fact that Bionic Commando didn't get a 16 or 32-bit sequel (that I know of) is a huge waste. This game is bursting with ambition, and while the moment-to-moment gameplay is fantastic, it feels like there were a lot of elements that weren't fleshed out entirely thanks to hardware limitations, like the top-down shooter segments you get when you run into an enemy convoy. Also, the snippets of (sometimes amusingly) badly-translated dialogue you can glean from the communication rooms and neutral zones hint at a much more complex plot than could be fit into the NES cartridge. I would have loved to see what Capcom would have done with this in the mid-90s - improved graphics, tighter controls, a more robust item system, throw in a few plot twists and you have yourself a potential all-time classic.
Bionic Commando does so much stuff well that I can't even fault it for the usual 80s-game quirks - bullshit endgame difficulty (the penultimate level is a hundred flavors of crap), limited continues, repeating bosses. It's one of my favorite games of its era - back when the design principles that made for a good platformer were not quite yet codified, this is one experiment that came out just right.
I'll be the first to admit that this felt incredibly clunky at first. Not only did it mean that a strategically-placed crate was a bigger obstacle than a giant killer robot, but its implementation felt quite unintuitive compared to grappling hook controls in newer games - you don't need to hold the A button to keep the hook connected, you pull yourself up with the A button instead of up, and you can't control your momentum while swinging, only using the directional buttons when you want to release. Nevertheless, the controls are quite tight and very consistent once you get used to them.
Bionic Commando is yet another example of the idea that movesets can only be judged in the context of the challenges the game asks you to overcome - it's why Resident Evil 4 is so loved despite its supposedly 'stiff' tank controls. Incredibly for such an early game, this doesn't just establish and flesh out an interesting control scheme - it combines it with inspired level design that is carefully curated to your moveset. Whether it's a tall tower with respawning enemies attacking from both sides, or a Donkey Kong-esque sequence with guys chucking rolling bombs at you from above, barely a moment in this game is dull - and apart from the customary bullshit spike at the very end of the game, very little in this game is unfair. One cool thing I didn't mention about the controls is that while you can only fire your weapon horizontally, the grappling hook can be used to stun enemies and can be aimed both vertically and diagonally upwards! This creates a really good gameplay experience centred around not just the unique platforming mechanics but also positioning and threat management. I also absolutely need to give credit to this game for including a relatively easy first level with few enemies to give the player time to get used to the unconventional controls - something not many games from this era bothered to do!
For me, the fact that Bionic Commando didn't get a 16 or 32-bit sequel (that I know of) is a huge waste. This game is bursting with ambition, and while the moment-to-moment gameplay is fantastic, it feels like there were a lot of elements that weren't fleshed out entirely thanks to hardware limitations, like the top-down shooter segments you get when you run into an enemy convoy. Also, the snippets of (sometimes amusingly) badly-translated dialogue you can glean from the communication rooms and neutral zones hint at a much more complex plot than could be fit into the NES cartridge. I would have loved to see what Capcom would have done with this in the mid-90s - improved graphics, tighter controls, a more robust item system, throw in a few plot twists and you have yourself a potential all-time classic.
Bionic Commando does so much stuff well that I can't even fault it for the usual 80s-game quirks - bullshit endgame difficulty (the penultimate level is a hundred flavors of crap), limited continues, repeating bosses. It's one of my favorite games of its era - back when the design principles that made for a good platformer were not quite yet codified, this is one experiment that came out just right.