Bionic Commando: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|''"Let me tell you about the man I met when I was young."''}}
 
''Bionic Commando'' (a.k.a. ''Hitler's Revival: Top Secret'') is an [[Action Adventure|action-adventure]] side-scrolling platformer for the [[Nintendo Entertainment System]] made by [[Capcom]]. You play as Ladd Spencer ([[Spell My Name with an "S"|or Rad in later versions]]), who as the titular commando wields various guns and also has a bionic arm, which he can use as a [[Grappling Hook Pistol|grappling hook]] to swing across the levels. (Interestingly, he is unable to jump, and is instead dependent on the arm to climb around and cross gaps. (Perhaps a form of [[Gameplay and Story Segregation]]?)
 
Ladd's job is to rescue a soldier named "Super Joe" from the Imperial Army (who were a [[Those Wacky Nazis|Neo-Nazi nation]] in the Japanese version). Along the way, he shoots various [[Mooksmooks]], communicates with friendly agents, wiretaps enemy conversations, but most importantly, learns the purpose of the Imperial Army' "Albatross" project: which involves the revival of the project's original leader [[Adolf Hitler]] ("Master D" in the American version).
 
In order to accomplish his mission, Ladd uses his team's helicopter to move from stage to stage in a [[Game Level|lattice fashion]]: he can move from stage to stage and complete them in any order, although some stages (notably the later ones) require "more power" to reach.
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Oh, and this game is very [[Nintendo Hard]]. Don't say you weren't warned.
 
''[[Bionic Commando]]'' is a sequel of sorts to the very different, top-down shooter ''Commando'' (Super Joe was the hero of ''Commando''), and the game includes several mini-levels based on the original. It in turn had its own sequel, a similar game but with a more sci-fi look, for the Nintendo Game Boy. It also received another sequel for the Game Boy Color, titled ''Bionic Commando: Elite Forces''.
 
The series remained dormant for several years before being revived. First an [[Video Game Remake|enhanced remake]] of the original NES game titled ''Bionic Commando [[Pun-Based Title|Rearmed]]'' was released for [[Playstation Network]] and [[Xbox Live Arcade]] in 2008. Then in 2009 a [[Darker and Edgier]] sequel was produced, named simply ''Bionic Commando'', and released for [[Xbox 360]] and [[Play Station 3]]. An [[Interquel]] to the said two games, ''Bionic Commando Rearmed 2'', was released in 2011.
 
Spencer is aone characterof the many playable characters in ''[[Marvel vs. Capcom 3]]''.
 
The ''Rearmed 2'' website can be found [http://www.bioniccommando.com/rearmed2/ here].
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{{tropelist}}
* [[Alas, Poor Villain]]: The ending to ''Bionic Commando Rearmed 2'' has a lot of this, with Super Joe remarking that none of the game's villains were bad people, just decent folks who ended up doing bad things due to a series of unfortunate events. It also includes a [[Heel Realization]] by Super Joe, which somewhat humanizes his previous [[Complete Monster]] portrayal in the next-gen game.
* [[All There in the Manual]]: In the sequel, lots of background info is buried in the files you unlock, and the incident leading to Spencer's incarceration is only covered in a webcomic that wound up not being packaged as a print comic as a reservation preorder.
* [[American Kirby Is Hardcore]]: The Japanese version of the arcade game had characters with wider cartoony eyes.
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* [[Badass Beard]]: Sabio sports one in ''Bionic Commando Rearmed 2''. It's probably what allowed him to become leader of Pagagaya in the first place.
* [[Badass Mustache|Badass]] [[Porn Stache]]: Spencer has one that would make [[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja|Dan McNinja]] proud in ''Bionic Commando Rearmed 2''.
* [[Beat Them At Their Own Game]]: Inverted;: a couple of notable sub-bosses and bosses also have bionic arm weaponry, and yours is largely useless against them (but they can still knock you around with theirs).
* [[Blind Idiot Translation]]: "This base will explod in 60 seconds."
** [[Half Life: Full Life Consequences|IT WILL EXPLOD!]]
*** It's become an [[Ascended Meme]], with signs for a Club Explode withthat have the last E not litunlit in ''Bionic Commando Rearmed 2''.
* [[Book Ends]]: The game begins with Joe telling the story of a man he met when he was young. It ends with him finishing it, and hoping it will be told for a long time.
** "Damn rookies."
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** What's sort of ironic is that the ''[[Worlds of Power]]'' book based on this game is one of the few in the series where people actually died.
** ''Bionic Commando Rearmed'' is mostly unchanged in the Japanese version too, making this somewhat of a [[Recursive Import]].
* [[Breaking the Fourth Wall]]: If you played the Demo version of ''Bionic Commando Rearmed'' instead of purchasing the game, the first boss will fail to load its attack patterns, saying you need to buy the full version of the game. Your character quips, "Aww, but I really wanted to fight you! Please...?" as well.
** The sequel has a couple of these too: "[[Medium Awareness|Is that a long health bar,]] [[Or Are You Just Happy to See Me?]]"
* [[Cruel Twist Ending]]: In the sequel, {{spoiler|discovering that Spencer's missing wife... was taken by TASC and had some part of her uploaded or fashioned into his bionic arm! ...how [[Neon Genesis Evangelion|Evangelionesque]]}}. Surprisingly, THIS twist is rather subtly alluded to, [[Fridge Brilliance|making several seemingly-inconsequential comments much, much more meaningful.]] Mind, after [[The Reveal]], they really sledgehammer it in, and yet Spencer inexplicablyis doesn'tdenial getuntil it (orfinally is hugelysinks in denial)during the last cutscene: {{spoiler|when Emily confronts Radd about his avoiding the issue; Radd finally faces the facts}}.
** It's also potentially because {{spoiler|she may not be dead, because; while a section of her is inside his arm, ifwhether she is dead or if the process is reversible is never commented on}}.
** It's denial. It finally sinks in during the last cutscene, {{spoiler|when Emily confronts Radd about his avoiding the issue. Radd finally faces the facts}}.
** It's also potentially because {{spoiler|she may not be dead, because while a section of her is inside his arm if she is dead or if the process is reversible is never commented on}}.
* [[Darker and Edgier]]: The sequel is much, much more grim and apocalyptic(most of the game takes place in a nuked mega city) than any of the prior games, including the company's own remake of the NES game. Super Joe's is shown to be an ass, but then again so has Spencer. Spencer spent a better part of 10 years in prison, without his bionic arm, after witnessing the death of two rouge bionic agents. 10 years after fighting [[Those Wacky Nazis|Badd]], [[The Federation]] has turned into a cruel and cynical the-end-justifies-the-means regime. The terrorists opposing it are even worse, nuking a capitol city IN THE BEGINNING OF THE GAME. Oh, and apparently Spencer got his bionic arm by {{spoiler|said Federation possibly sacrificing the life of his wife to make it}}. Whether all this is good or bad is up to you.
** ConsideringAs the arcade version was a very cartoony game to begin with and the NES version was about blowing Hitler's head off, the NES game itself could be considered a [[Darker and Edgier]] version of the arcade game (although, not to the same extent as the 2009 sequel).
* [[Disc One Final Boss]]: In the sequel, {{spoiler|Super Joe isn't really the final boss: it's more of an interactive ending sequence. Still, take one look at that suit and you'll lament the boss fight that could've been}}.
* [[Difficulty by Region]]: The NES game had some changes to difficulty scattered about from the Famicom version. Rather than making the entire game easier or harder, they change the difficulty of certain segments: generally speaking, the earlier parts of the game are harder and the later ones easier in the NES version.
* [[Disproportionate Retribution]]: Spencer was on death row, just cause he didn't follow one single order. Surely such a stunt would just have him stripped off of his Bionic Arm and position within military?
** The online comic reveals that "one single order" was murdering two bionics who didn't want to be stripped off of their life-supporting implants.
*** He was put in jail because {{spoiler|he didn't kill the two bionics, he let another one escape (Mag), and he killed an entire force of Federation soldiers when they tried to kill the two bionics. He also found out about the heavy crackdown on bionics, which ultimately led to the creation of Bio-Reign. He was imprisoned for failing to follow orders and treason}}.<!--Might have to mark this as subverted or do something else with it-->
* [[Downer Ending]]: By the end of the game, {{spoiler|Mag is apparently dead, Emily has been revealed to have been changed in an unknown process into Rad's bionic arm, Super Joe is a (dead) scumbag, and the last we see of Rad is him plummeting from several thousand feet up}}.
* [[Down the Drain]]: Area 2 is an underground chemical waste dumping site.
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* [[Eleventh-Hour Superpower]]: You have Super Joe's machine gun for the final 3 levels of ''Bionic Commando Rearmed'', and the upgraded rocket launcher only for the final boss fight.
** You supposedly receive the special bazooka at the end of the original NES game, but despite three levels of explaining how powerful it is, it's exactly the same as the rocket launcher you've been carrying since Area 5.
* [[Engrish]]: The NES game's Engrish is legendary, inspiring a number of [[Me Me|memes]]. ''Bionic Commando Rearmed'' makes several humorous references to it.
* {{spoiler|[[Face Heel Turn]]}}: {{spoiler|Super Joe}}.
* [[Faux Action Girl]]: Mag, in the modern sequel. Introduced as a possible rival or boss, she then {{spoiler|does nothing of import, and gets [[Your Head Asplode|Hitler'd]] by the [[Big Bad]]}}.
* [[Final Boss]]: <s>Hitler</s> [[No Swastikas|Master D]] in the original and remakes, {{spoiler|Groeder}} in the sequel.
* [[Floating Platforms]]: Averted: just about everything Rad can attach his arm to is conceivably attached to the ground in some manner (for example, the various poles scattered across the stages).
* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]: Probably the most famous example of this trope in an NES game, next to Golgo 13.
** "What? You think you can stop me? You '''damn''' fool." So saith Hitler/Master D himself. Also, Hitler's head graphically explodes in a gory mess at the very end. And both of these were in the US version.
** Also, Hitler's head graphically exploding in a gory mess at the very end.
** Both of these were in the US version.
* [[Gosh Dang It to Heck]]: An enemy soldier in Area 16 will tell you to "Get the heck out of here, [[Narm|you nerd]]!"
* [[Grappling Hook Pistol]]: Your bionic arm.
* [[Guide Dang It]]: In the NES version, the player can abort a mission by pressing Start+A+B simultaneously and return to the map screen. This would've come in handy if you enter a stage without having the proper equipment... if it weren't for the fact that the manual doesn't tell you this. Because of this, many first-time players often reset the game when they enter Area 6 without the Rocket Gun.
* [[Heroic Sociopath]]: When not angsting about his missing wife or that his country has betrayed him in the most vile way possible, Spencer takes a little too much joy in throwing people off cliffs and shooting them in the head.
* [[Hit Points]]: You start the game as a [[One-Hit-Point Wonder]], but by grabbing items that various [[Mooks]]mooks drop, you can gain more hitpoints to start out with, up to a maximum of nine per life if you're dedicated enough to get 300 of them (of course, you still die instantly when you fall in one of the game's many [[Bottomless Pits]]).
** No longer the case in ''Bionic Commando Rearmed'' as you get the [[Hit Points]] meter to start. It does get upgraded, but only once.
* [[Hollywood Cyborg]]: Yes indeed, although the sequel tries to real-physics it up a bit.
* [[Hollywood Hacking]]: Intercepting enemy communications in ''Bionic Commando Rearmed'' requires you to play a short minigame; in the full console sequel, you just grapple the computer and hit B (or "O," or whatever the action button is for the PC version). In the original, you could simply listen in on [[Enemy Chatter]] by going to a comm room with the right transceiver.
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* [[Translation Matchmaking]]: Originally called ''Top Secret'' in Japan, the arcade game was retitled ''Bionic Commando'' and marketed as a ''Commando'' spinoff.
* [[Truce Zone]]: Various neutral zones in the original.
* [[Ultimate Universe]]: ''Bionic Commando: Elite Forces'' seems to be this. It starts with a similar premise--long time war, Super--er, I mean, Commander Joe missing, etc, but everything else is just completely different. New fictional countries, no Nazis or Hitler, different villainous motivation, a whole bionic corp. Even the final boss seems like something out of an Ultimate book.
* [[Video Game Remake]]: ''Every single Bionic Commando game but the very first and the very latest''. The NES game was a remake of the arcade game. The Game Boy version was almost a direct remake of the original, with only a few changes, mostly an [[Art Shift]]. The Game Boy ''Color'' version added a heroine and redesigned some levels. ''Bionic Commando Rearmed'' is the last and best remake. Thankfully the madness ends there with the '09 sequel and ''Bionic Commando Rearmed 2'' in '11.
* [[Weaksauce Weakness]]: Spencer is weighed down by his bionics and can't swim. Further, he's even more susceptible to radiation due to the sensitive electronics keeping him plugged in and bionic. While only justifying [[Bottomless Pits]] in the original and ''Bionic Commando Rearmed'', the radiation-cloaked Ascension City is a lot more dangerous for Spencer.
* [[Wreaking Havok]]: Hurling around debris and enemy soldiers in '09. Spencer can throw ''real'' far and ''real'' accurate and ''real'' hard, making for some really satisfying takedowns.
* [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness]]: Said word by word at the end of ''Bionic Commando Rearmed'' right after Master D's revival.
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