Bionic Commando (GB, 1992)
Graphics-8 Sound-8 Control-7 Challenge-8 Story-5
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-8 Fun-7.5 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-7.5
+
Innovative gameplay (use a grapple hook instead of jumping to proceed, can also be used as a weapon of sorts, wire tapping to figure out the story piece by piece)
Good variety
Decent cutscenes
Good art direction
Decent arsenal of weapons and equipment
Adds an inventory select screen to comm rooms
Somewhat improved swinging controls (faster climbing up platforms, somewhat slower falling speed, easier to keep swinging under ceilings)
Well made 'special agent in a war' atmosphere (neutral areas, choose your own path, wire tapping)
Good art direction
Password feature (also adds a credit so you now have 3)
Somewhat faster walking speed
+/-
Same story as on NES but with a few changes and somewhat better dialogue
Exiting areas still done via a code (why not use the start button?)
Frequently respawning enemies in some areas
Swinging or falling into regular enemies does no damage (see Shinobi) but climbing into them still does
-
Lacks the top down encounters of the NES version (replaces them with sidescrolling ones which are more entertaining though)
Some trial & error (some blind jumps - can't look up/down, hard to react in some parts where you need to swing between smaller platforms)
Somewhat choppy scrolling (emulation problem?)
Controls take some getting used to (no tutorial)
Mostly easy bosses
No difficulty options
Some control issues (still can't jump down through platforms which you can climb up onto, momentum still doesn't affect falling direction when walking off ledges)
Can't move or turn around while crouching
Some slowdown and flicker
Safe spot on Area 6 boss (mutant)
Sometimes requires backtracking for long stretches when missing a jump
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-8 Fun-7.5 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-7.5
+
Innovative gameplay (use a grapple hook instead of jumping to proceed, can also be used as a weapon of sorts, wire tapping to figure out the story piece by piece)
Good variety
Decent cutscenes
Good art direction
Decent arsenal of weapons and equipment
Adds an inventory select screen to comm rooms
Somewhat improved swinging controls (faster climbing up platforms, somewhat slower falling speed, easier to keep swinging under ceilings)
Well made 'special agent in a war' atmosphere (neutral areas, choose your own path, wire tapping)
Good art direction
Password feature (also adds a credit so you now have 3)
Somewhat faster walking speed
+/-
Same story as on NES but with a few changes and somewhat better dialogue
Exiting areas still done via a code (why not use the start button?)
Frequently respawning enemies in some areas
Swinging or falling into regular enemies does no damage (see Shinobi) but climbing into them still does
-
Lacks the top down encounters of the NES version (replaces them with sidescrolling ones which are more entertaining though)
Some trial & error (some blind jumps - can't look up/down, hard to react in some parts where you need to swing between smaller platforms)
Somewhat choppy scrolling (emulation problem?)
Controls take some getting used to (no tutorial)
Mostly easy bosses
No difficulty options
Some control issues (still can't jump down through platforms which you can climb up onto, momentum still doesn't affect falling direction when walking off ledges)
Can't move or turn around while crouching
Some slowdown and flicker
Safe spot on Area 6 boss (mutant)
Sometimes requires backtracking for long stretches when missing a jump