Bionic Commando (1987 video game)

Bionic Commando
Arcade flyer
Developer(s)Capcom
Software Creations (UK C64)
Publisher(s)
  • Arcade
    Ports
    Go! (U.S. Gold)
Designer(s)Tokuro Fujiwara
Composer(s)Harumi Fujita[6]
SeriesBionic Commando
Platform(s)Arcade, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum
Release
Genre(s)Run and gun, platform
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Bionic Commando, released in Japan as Top Secret (Japanese: トップシークレット, Hepburn: Toppu Shīkuretto) is a run and gun platform game released by Capcom in arcades in 1987. It was designed by Tokuro Fujiwara as a successor to his earlier "wire action" platformer Roc'n Rope (1983), building on its grappling hook mechanic; he was also the designer of Commando (1985).[7] The music was composed by Harumi Fujita for the Yamaha YM2151 sound chip.[6]

The game was advertised in the United States as a sequel to Commando, going as far to refer to the game's main character as Super Joe (the protagonist of Commando) in the promotional brochure,[8] who was originally an unnamed member of a "special commando unit" in the Japanese and international versions.[9][10]

The protagonist is a commando equipped with a bionic arm featuring a grappling gun, allowing him to pull himself forward or swing from the ceiling. Despite being a platform game, the player cannot jump. To cross gaps or climb ledges, the hero must use the bionic arm.

It was later released for several home systems (ported by Software Creations and published by Go!). Capcom later produced a home version for the Nintendo Entertainment System, also titled Bionic Commando, that was drastically different from the arcade game.

  1. ^ a b Akagi, Masumi (13 October 2006). アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005) [Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971-2005)] (in Japanese). Japan: Amusement News Agency. pp. 23, 112. ISBN 978-4990251215.
  2. ^ "Bionic Commando (Registration Number PA0000319501)". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  3. ^ "アーケード 1987" [Arcade 1987]. Capcom (in Japanese). 1997. Archived from the original on 1998-12-07. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Video Game Flyers: Bionic Commando, Capcom (EU)". The Arcade Flyer Archive. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  5. ^ "Video Game Flyers: Bionic Commando, Electrocoin (UK)". The Arcade Flyer Archive. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Junko Tamiya Interview: Creating Capcom's Incredible NES Scores". Video Game Music Online. 2014-05-19. Retrieved 2016-02-13.
  7. ^ "Makaimura o Tsukutta Otoko: Fujiwara Tokurō-shi Interview ni Tsuite" (「魔界村」を創った男：藤原得郎氏インタビューについて) [The Man Who Made Ghosts’n Goblins: Interview with Tokuro Fujiwara]. CONTINUE (in Japanese). Vol. 12. October 2003. Archived from the original on 2009-03-06. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  8. ^ "The Arcade Flyer Archive - Video Game: Bionic Commando, Capcom".
  9. ^ "The Arcade Flyer Archive - Video Game: Bionic Commando, Capcom".
  10. ^ "The Arcade Flyer Archive - Video Game: Top Secret, Capcom".