I just played through Bionic Commando on NES for the first time, and I'm still thinking about that bionic arm. Not because it's cool (though it is), but because it completely redefines how a platformer feels. You can't jump—none of that. You swing, you climb, and you descend. And you die a lot.
The premise is pure 80s action: you're Nathan "Rad" Spencer, a supersoldier with a cybernetic arm, sent to infiltrate enemy territory and rescue your captured commander. The villains? The Badds, a neo-Nazi regime that apparently never got the memo that WWII ended. Yes, really. This is the game where you ultimately punch Adolf Hitler in the face so hard it explodes. I'm not joking.
What strikes me immediately is how the bionic arm becomes second nature. You learn to judge distances by the arc of your swing. You start seeing the level geometry as a series of grapple points. When you get it right—when you chain together swings and shots and descend perfectly onto a platform—it feels like you're conducting the environment. When you get it wrong, you fall into pits or get picked off by snipers. That feeling? That's classic Bionic Commando.
The game doesn't hold your hand. You're thrown into the deep end with just the basics: shoot, grapple left/right, and the courage to experiment. Power-ups appear rarely. Extra lives are scarce. The difficulty curve is steep but fair—every death teaches you something. I died to those damned flying Medusa heads more times than I care to admit, but each time I learned a little more about timing and positioning.
Visually, the NES version has this gritty, militaristic aesthetic. The reds and purples of the castle interiors, the stark blues of the outdoor areas, the detailed sprite work on Spencer himself—it all holds up. The music by Junko Tamiya is exceptional: tense, driving, and perfectly matched to the action. It's the kind of soundtrack that gets stuck in your head for days.
And let's talk about that ending. Without spoiling too much: yes, the gory finale where Hitler's face literally explodes was kept in the Western release. That kind of audacity, combined with the game's refusal to let you jump like every other platformer, makes Bionic Commando feel distinct even today. It spawned a series that would evolve through multiple console generations, and Spencer eventually became a guest fighter in Marvel vs. Capcom—still using that iconic arm.
If you're looking for a platformer that challenges your instincts and rewards persistence, Bionic Commando is it. It's simple, sometimes frustrating, but always compelling. Just remember: when in doubt, swing it out.
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