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Review by Shodan2020
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Bionic Commando: Rearmed (BC:R) was one of my most anticipated Xbox Live Arcade releases for this summer. I was a fan of the original NES game, and I was way stoked to see how developer Grin would re-energize Capcom's original title.
I was not disappointed.
The storyline is pretty much the same from the original game, except there isn't as much vaguery about the plot. In the original NES game the group that was headed by Generalissimo Killt was called the "Badds". The Japanese release was originally titled: "Top Secret: The Ressurection of Hitler" (Top Secret: Hitler no Fukkatsu), and you were fighting the "Badds" who were trying to ressurrect "Master D" who just happened to look like Hitler's long lost twin and is similarly bent on world domination. For the US release Capcom re-named the game, and got rid of some of the Nazi references contained in the game... though Master D still looks way like Hitler... but you do get to violently explode his head, so that makes it all better. So, yes, the storyline is basically faithful to the NES original.
Graphically, the game has been majorly overhauled and updated while still keeping to the original level layouts of the NES version. Everything is where it was, it just looks prettier. There are various bosses and enemy combatants that have been updated or re-worked, or in some cases added. The man-eating plants in Zone 5 have been replaced with bear traps, and you now have to hack into the enemies' communications instead of just having to have the right card set to name a few things. The Bazooka has also been modified and balanced, you can't fire it in mid-air anymore and the shell weaves when it leaves the bazooka. Also, the dialogue between Nathan "Radd" Spencer and his commanding officers and foes is pretty humourous. The boss battles are all fairly unique, but they range from fairly easy to controller throwing hard.
The music and sound effects are brilliantly re-mastered versions of the NES scores and sounds. Gamers who have experienced the NES original will hear echoes of midi within BC:R's music. The sound effects are crisper and reworked, but still reminescent of the sounds of the original.
The only gripes I have with this game is that a few of the boss battles are really frusterating (Zone 2: Assembler Machine), and while I'm glad they stuck with the control scheme from the NES classic, I do wish you could have been able to change how the bionic arm gets aimed. Just pressing the arm button shoots the arm at a diagonal, you have to press left and the arm button for it to shoot straight left, etc. It's a minor gripe, considering the whole of the game.
On the whole, BC:Rearmed is a fantastic game for those who are nostalgic about the original (like me), and die-hard platformer fans (also like me). If you've played the NES original and liked it, you'll love BC:Rearmed. If you haven't, I highly suggest giving the demo a play though, you might really like what you play!
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Great Review!