Let's Play a Game: "Bionic Commando" (NES)

On this episode we'll be playing Bionic Commando for the NES. I think I rented this game more than once when I was a kid. Still a fun game. Definitely plan to put in some hours if you plan on beating this game. :)

*Bionic Commando* for the Nintendo Entertainment System hit shelves in 1988, crafted by Capcom as a follow-up to their 1987 arcade game of the same name. In Japan, it was released as *ヒットラーの復活: トップシークレット* (*Hittorā no Fukkatsu: Toppu Shīkuretto*, translated "Hitler's Resurrection: Top Secret"), directed by Tokuro Fujiwara, who’d previously shaped *Roc’n Rope* (1983) and *Commando* (1985). The NES version diverged sharply from its arcade roots, swapping linear shooting for a nonlinear action-platformer where the hero, Ladd Spencer, rescues Super Joe and aims to stop a neo-Nazi plot to revive Adolf Hitler. Capcom toned down the explicit Nazi themes for the West, renaming the enemy "Badds" (or "Nazz" in manuals) and turning Hitler into "Generalissimo Killt," though his head still explodes in a grisly finale. Junko Tamiya, credited as "Gondamin," composed the soundtrack, adapting arcade tracks like "Bionic Commando Theme" and "The Powerplant" by Harumi Fujita, while weaving in fresh tunes that became iconic.

The game traded traditional jumping for a bionic arm with a grappling hook, a mechanic Fujiwara lifted from *Roc’n Rope*. Players swung Ladd across gaps, climbed platforms, and tackled an overworld map of 19 numbered areas, spiced with top-down shooter bits triggered by enemy trucks, echoing *Commando*. Collecting weapons and upgrades, facing quirky bosses, and mastering the hook’s swing made it a standout, though its steep difficulty—no passwords, instant deaths—tested players’ grit. The climax, bazooka-ing Killt’s head, left a mark.

In Japan, *ヒットラーの復活: トップシークレット* flopped commercially, per Capcom’s Ben Judd, perhaps overshadowed by 1988’s crowded market or its complexity. The West embraced it, though, thanks to *Nintendo Power*’s July/August 1988 cover feature—an 11-page "monster review" with a poster. Critics loved its originality; *Electronic Gaming Monthly* ranked it 32nd among console games in 1997, and *GamesRadar* later dubbed it the fourth-best NES title for its grappling hook genius. Exact sales numbers are murky, but its cult status endures, seen in high eBay prices and re-releases like *Capcom Classics Mini-Mix* on Game Boy Advance.

The NES game birthed a 1992 Game Boy remake with "Rad" Spencer in a sci-fi twist, followed by *Bionic Commando Rearmed* in 2008 by GRIN, polishing the rescue-Super-Joe plot with slick graphics. A 2009 3D sequel and *Rearmed 2* in 2011 kept Rad swinging, though they strayed from 2D roots. Its influence rippled into *Super Metroid* and *Earthworm Jim*, proving the grappling hook’s staying power. A *Worlds of Power* novel by J.B. Stamper softened Ladd to "Jack Markson," tossing in odd gadgets for kids.

A quirky tidbit: the NES version slipped "damn" into dialogue and kept Killt’s head explosion, dodging Nintendo’s strict 1988 censorship. It’s a Capcom gem from their golden age—think *Mega Man* and *DuckTales*—and remains a cult classic for its bold mechanics and wild Hitler-busting finish.