Bionic Commando: Rearmed

Bionic Commando: Rearmed

Once a series gets itself a hit, job one of everyone at the company is immediately milk that franchise for all it's worth. Nintendo understands this most succintly, slapping its properties' names on absolutely everything in order to push units. Other companies produce spinoff after spinoff or just keep cranking out sequels, innovating little and just upgrading graphically. Bionic Commando entered the "Iconic" phase of its career after just one fantastic game, and nothing was ever made of it, save for maybe a lazy port or two on a handheld system.

This changed during the "Summer of the Arcade," and Bionic Commando: Rearmed was (along with Castle Crashers) the cornerstone of that campaign. A full-on reimagining along with totally upgraded gameplay that still keeps the charm and no-jump-ness of the original, along with its balls-hard challenge.

Bionic Commando: Rearmed starts with a very simple formula: A platforming side-scroller with no jump button, instead you need to use your claw to swing through environments, rescue the POW and stop General Killt from completing the "Master D" project. Nothing fancy, but Heaven is in the details. The original dealt with the chiptunes and color palette of the NES, but the Reimagining (calling it a remake is completely unfair) goes all-out. It is also a proof-of-concept as a piece of salable advertising for the new, fully-3D next-generation Bionic Commando game releasing early in 2009. While it wasn't expected to turn a profit, it sold like gangbusters and proved that with enough hype and (gasp) effort, you can make an AAA title on a digital distribution service to console gamers profitable.

This is a beautiful title, and while it is unashamedly 2-D, this just lets them put that much more work into gorgeous painted backgrounds. New puzzles abound, and for those that played the original like crazy, things are both familiar and new to them. Bosses make a triumphant return as something to be 'solved' rather than simply ignored in favor of blowing the main control panel in each stage, and Groeber is now truly a force to be reckoned with instead of a recurring sub-boss.

Controlling Joe is just as fun as always, and swinging from lamp to lamp is a joy. There's really nothing more to say; there's a few physics-based quirks to take advantage of in the game that weren't in the original, but the mechanic remains totally unchanged from the original twenty years ago. The music, likewise, is stirring and suitably patriotic for your missions.

Honestly, this is a title that could easily have released at twice its price, and the fact that it didn't shows a lot of guts on the publisher's part, sticking to their guns to get this game in as many homes as possible, and the gambit worked. The game is just as challenging as the original, but with proper new-generation "three lives per level, not ever" ethics it is a firm but fair difficulty.

Graphics: Superb for any generation; superlative for its price tag. 4.
Sound: No voice acting, but the music and sound effects are great. 4.
Controls: Aggrivating in a good way; you know exactly what you want to do and how to do it, it's just down to execution. 3.
Tilt: Nostalgia meets actual effort in a port - make than a reimagining of an almost-forgotten classic. 5.
Overall (not an average): 4.