Tim follin is great totally recommend his OST for ECCO Defenders of the Future in case you haven't listening enough to it is truly one of my personal fav OST of all times next to the 1988 Bionic Commando and Castlevania 2 Simon's Quest
Watched this start to finish. I agree with critics that say Bionic Commando Rearmed is the ultimate video game remake of all time. Loved this ChrisB Crisps!
Ayyy, thanks tugg, glad you enjoyed it! Agreed, BCR is just so damn good! Everything they added was incredibly well thought out and implemented without it feeling like it was stepping on the original game’s toes. It’s a crime it never got ported to modern consoles!
Thanks for the kind words! After wrestling with the RU-vid algorithm for a few years I’ve slowed down on making new documentaries lately, but it always makes me really happy to hear when people enjoy these videos. Thank you for watching!
It really is such an amazing game, and I agree that Rearmed was an incredibly well put together remake, perhaps even one of the best to ever have been done, at least at that point in time. Thanks for watching!
Thank you so much for the kind words, that really means a lot! I don’t want to even think about how much time I spend on some of these. Appreciate you watching!
Yo, Bionic Commando lunchbox buddy HYPE! I still have mine. Having grown up with Bionic Commando on the NES, I couldn't believe the franchise was being revived. My brother and I didn't have any friends that were fans of the game, so we felt like Capcom was pointing at us directly. "Buy these games you nerd!" As much as I enjoyed ReArmed (and the remake!) - it's a shame that these games just could not scrape past their faults. Much like many forgotten Capcom IPs, I feel like we are really missing out on some amazing potential. Awesome video!
Hell yeah, that's awesome! I worked at another video game store at the time so all my co-workers were laughing at me for driving all the way across town to buy a game we already had at our store to get a lunch box. 😂 I really hope that the series gets another chance in the future, but I'm sadly not holding my breath. Thanks for watching and glad you enjoyed the video!
It's amazing to see just how far the series went without implementing a jump button until near its end. Sticking true to a mechanic like that is notable on its own. I live seeing how all these games come to be with all your info. You continue to produce some of the best stuff out there! Keep it up! Your quality is unmatched!
Thanks man, appreciate you watching and for the kind words! While I don’t think jumping is what doomed the series, it’s funny how the two games that added it were the ones that killed it. Would love to see a new game that goes back to its original mechanics, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon. Thanks again for watching dude!!
Dude! I grew up with Roc'n Rope on the ColecoVision. Never even thought about the link between the grappling hook to the bionic arm, but it totally makes sense! Man, this was an excellent video. I frickin' LOVE Bionic Commando on NES. Easily in my top 5 NES games. I have similar memories of beating this game and blowing up Hitler's head! Did it on my 11th birthday with all of my friends staying over for the night. We left the game paused overnight and beat it in the morning! So what if we beat Bionic Commando in one night, I replayed the hell out of it! I'm still missing the GB game, which is the only one that I don't have. It's expensive now. Rearmed was awesome, BC on PS3/360 was fun, but I never finished it. I really didn't care for Rearmed 2 at all. I haven't played the GBC one in over 20 years. I need to revisit it. Great job! I don't know how you feel about the Double Dragon series, but maybe a history on that one soon?
Thanks dude, glad you enjoyed it! Yeah, I had no idea Roc 'n Rope was connected to Bionic Commando until research for my GnG documentary. So crazy, right?? Man, it's memories like you just said, beating it with all your friends and watching Hitler's head explode, that really are just the spice of life and really hammered in our love for video games. Love hearing stories like that! Elite Forces is probably my 2nd favorite game in the series and absolutely worth revisiting! It gets pretty mean towards the end, but the swinging puzzles are pretty well thought out and interesting. I still can't understand why they changed the controls for Rearmed 2. I feel like Bionic Commando swing controls were pretty much perfected with the NES game and never really needed to be changed. My next script is already almost done, but Double Dragon might be a cool series to tackle. I think after the next video though, I'm going to take a short break from RU-vid because it's been burning me out really bad. Thanks again for watching man, always love talking games with you!
@@RewindArcade Dude, I hear you on the burnout. Videos like this take so MUCH work. While watching I'm like, "I know those animations took a while. That transition took some work. Each of those sound effects took time to find and place." Watching stuff as and editor 😆. I even do that when I watch TV and movies. 🤣 Take a break, man. You've earned it.
@@NefariousWes It's nice to know that there are other people out there that think exactly like me. I do the same when I watch other people's videos and, like you said, TV and films. It's a hard thing to turn off when you video edit a lot, haha!
Thank you again for another fantastic retrospective on your channel. Back in the NES days I always heard abaout Bionic Commando in some magazines here in Germany but I never saw it in stores or knew anyone who had the game. I played the NES version much later and took me a long time to get used to having no jump button. xD But it is still a classic. Also love the remake from 2008. Thanks again for your hard work on this video.^^
Thank you for the kind words and I’m glad you enjoyed the video! The swinging controls certainly have a little bit of a learning curve, but once you get it down it feels so smooth and plays really well. I agree that Rearmed in 2008 was an amazing remake as well. Thanks again for watching!
Could finally watch your video. I'm not even a fan of the game because I haven't actually given it a try, and you got me hooked. Congratulations, once again, for the awesome work!
That’s awesome, really glad you enjoyed it! You should try out the NES one, it’s my favorite game on there. Thanks for the kind words man, appreciate you watching!
To my dying breath, I will defend Rearmed 2 as being a fantastic game that people don't give a fair shake. Once you acclimate to the control adjustments, everything feels fantastic. The levels are fun to explore for secrets and upgrades, the control is spot on, and other than being a touch too easy, is a very worthy followup that deserves a modern rerelease.
So I will say I really hated the game for many years, but once I spent more time with it capturing footage for this video and started to get the controls down, I definitely enjoyed it more. The bosses were especially well designed and a lot of fun. I still hate that they changed the controls, and maybe that’s just me being a cranky old man, but I feel like the original NES/Rearmed swinging mechanics were basically perfect and didn’t need to be adjusted. That said, I can see now why the game still has a lot of people defending it, and while it’s far from perfect in my eyes, it’s not the train wreck I made it out to be for the past decade. I think Capcom has gone back to pretending the series doesn’t exist again though so I’m sadly not very optimistic for any ports/remasters of it.
Loved it dude! Learned a lot as always from your videos. Great job! Plus, I remember you telling me before that Bionic Commando is your all time favorite NES game. …One more thing, happy 7 year anniversary 🚭 I know I’m 10 days late
Wooohoooo!!!! Another video. Great work as always sir. Before I die, I would like there to be so many videos on your channel that I don’t even need Netflix or Hulu. Let’s get this man the million subscribers that he deserves ladies and gentlemen. Also, I would love it if your videos were available on Rumble as well. (Just a suggestion. You do you Boo)
Thanks a ton my man! Hopefully I can keep them coming for a long time, haha. I've never heard of Rumble before, but I'll look into it. Thanks for the suggestion and the support!
Btw there is a debug patch for the Steam/PC version that allows you to turn off the radation zone! It's a ton of fun this way, though I loved it with the radation zones anyways.
Oh nice! I bought the game on Steam to play through it again before making this documentary, but I couldn’t get it to run properly on my PC so I went through the PS3 version again. Pretty cool that they let you pull the radiation zones out if you want though.
@@RewindArcade I think I had issues with mine as well, I'll look for what I did to get mine going and link you to the patch when I get time. Enjoyed the video, and thanks for the engagement :)
I looked up and found some fixes, but still couldn’t quite get things working. I eventually ended up getting a refund after all that so I don’t own it on Steam anymore sadly. I had similar issues with Rearmed on PC as well. Also glad you enjoyed the video, thanks for watching!
Seeing the timeline at 3:22 makes me really sad because it makes me realize that we are in the longest drought of new Bionic Commando games that there's ever been, and there's no reason to believe that a new one is coming any time soon.
Yeah, it breaks my heart that I don't foresee Capcom giving the series another chance after how poorly BC 2009 and Rearmed 2 performed. I'd love to be proven wrong though.
Played the arcade version on an Atari computer my parents bought in the late 80s if I recall it utilized two disks, but definitely the Atari joystick. Then I moved onto the NES version and loved it. Haven’t played any other versions. Cool video, thanks
Thanks a ton! I had a lot of fun putting this video together since it’s one of my favorite series of all-time. Happy you enjoyed the animations too! They’re very time consuming to make so it’s always nice when people get a kick out of them. 👍
Thank you so much, appreciate you watching! BC is easily one of my favorite series of all time and I really wish it got more love in the gaming community.
so happy i was raised with the 1988 NES classic that will always be my fav rendition of RAD SPENCER 😎 always thought it was one of the most underrated NES Gem of all next to Castlevania II Simon's Quest and others such ZELDA 2 , Holy diver etc and the music is also one of the best in the whole NES era for what is worth i did enjoyed the 3D sequel game that came out on the PS3 era around 2009 despite me hating seen Joe turned into a complete hateful scumbag and that the game felt very rushed towards the end and without having a proper follow up story etc but i did liked it's combat and what the game tried to be anyway still own my NES BIONIC COMMANDO Cartridge and i still have it installed on my Laptop 🤘
Could not agree more! The original NES Bionic Commando is my fav NES game of all time (love Zelda 2 and CV2 a lot too). I also agree with you on the 2009, the game itself was far from perfect, but still pretty fun though I hate the character redesign and bad writing. Glad to hear there are still huge BC fans out there. Thanks for watching!
Awesome job on this, very enjoyable watch. Bionic Commando is one of the best series of all-time. I do like that you don't put too much of your own critique in the actual video which I prefer and leave it for the end which is fun to see. Also props for actually liking the 360 game, I was at the ready waiting for you to dump on it and I would have to defend it! I love that game, and is a good example how crowd mentality can destroy a game's reputation unjustifiably.
Thanks a ton Greg! Nice to hear you're a die hard fan too! It still breaks my heart how poorly this video did so I'm extra happy when people watch and enjoy this documentary in particular. I try to mainly focus on just the historical facts and tell a story that shows how everything connects as a series progresses over the years, though lately with all the collabs I've been doing I've been making an informal second video where I talk more about my thoughts and experiences about all the games. And yeah, while Bionic Commando 2009 is far from a perfect game, I still think it's pretty damn fun and doesn't deserve a lot of the hate that it gets. Thanks again for watching man!
@@RewindArcade Oh wow that is crazy, this video was very fun and a good trip down memory lane. The Bionic Commando series is very special to me so even though most of this was not new to me it was still entertaining and paced very well. For anyone that hasn't played or lived through these years I could see this video being immensely enjoyable and hard to stop watching. One thing I had in my mind was is there any overlap with Bionic Commando and Captain Commando?? There has got to be something haha (maybe I just want there to be) (aside from CAPCOM games always using 'Zenny') hehe. I definitely will be watching through all the videos on your channel, slowly, but over time. I always like learning about the weird connections or backstory tidbits of developers and game series.
@@GregoryOborne I really appreciate the kind words and support! The series has such a strange and interesting history that it was a joy to research and learn about. There is no overlap with Bionic Commando and Captain Commando from what I could find. That was always something I was curious about myself too over the years, but Captain Commando appeared even before Bionic Commando was created and (I believe) was used mainly as a marketing tool for Capcom of America. You never know though, some new info could always surface later that connects them.
Thanks so much, appreciate you watching! The BC series is one very near and dear to me so it’s especially nice to hear when people appreciate this particular documentary.
Yeah, it didn’t help that they never really differentiated the two titles in Western regions so most people thought it was just either a port or remake of the original arcade game. 😅
One of my iconic gaming memories from my childhood was the night my friend and I had a sleepover and played Bionic Commando late into the night on NES. At about 1am we finally beat the game and were shocked to see Hitler swear at us before his head gorily exploded. That kind of stuff just didn't happen on the NES
Definitely one of the most memorable (and goriest) NES endings. It’s still crazy to me that the original NES game has only been ported ONE TIME in the last 35 years when it’s one of the best titles on the console.
incredible job on this video! So many crazy edits, tons of great info - what a blast to watch!!! I never knew the western marketing helped push the connection between Commando and this series! I especially love the music in the series, in particular the soundtrack to Elite Forces rocks so hard
Ayyy, thanks so much dez!! Yeah man, I had no idea that the Japanese games weren't connected and that it was the series' Western success that pushed them together. And I agree, Elite Forces and its OST are incredibly underrated and deserve more praise and attention. Appreciate you watching man!
Thanks Corey, appreciate it! It’s such a great series that sadly doesn’t get the love it deserves these days. Really wish Capcom would give it another shot.
Deadass man, whether Im in the shower or at work, I be so deep in thought about if Capcom & Inti Creates did a new 2D Bionic Commando with Azure Striker Gunvolt-esque visuals. My list of ideas would go into TLDR territory, three would include... - equippable enviornment specific Bionic Arms mechanic - mixing firearms with hand to hand combat - Combos and enhanced swing mechanics for speed runs, controls loosely based on Marvel vs Capcom 3 Spencer - It's world would be expanded Metroid style. Instead of just one map of Areas 1-12, it would have 5 or 7 maps that would involve lots of backtracking
Man, I would KILL to see that happen! I haven't played the AZG games, but I'm a big fan of the Blaster Master Zero and Bloodstained: CotM Inti Creates series. I'd love to see more open ended, Metroidvania-eque levels. While the last two Bionic Commando games were far from perfect, some of their ideas to innovate would be great if combined correctly with the more tried and true gameplay of the original games.
Awesome! I think the 3D 3rd person shooter game is actually pretty fun. It’s certainly not a perfect game, but it gets a lot more hate than it deserves.
Oh man, you're totally right, that's crazy! I'm actually going to try and find a copy soon. I'll also add the correction in the video description and give you credit. Thanks for the info!
@@RewindArcade Well, that's because i myself from Russia) A couple of things. 1 - Game is fully localised, so no English, even in menus. 2 - Securom - It's required that game CD is in CD\DVD-tray for launch
@@user-uh1ew4zg1b Ahhh, very interesting! I actually just ordered a copy of it off ebay today so I'm looking forward to checking it out when it arrives. Thanks again for the info!
Great video! I was a huge fan of the NES original. I actually had a blast with the 3d game on PS3. The edgy story and design was goofy, but the swing mechanic was great. Underappreciated imo.
Thank you!! As a BC super fan I had a lot of fun putting this one together. And I agree, the 2009 3D game was far from perfect, but still a lot of fun. Really hope we see another entry in the series at some point!
I'm surprised this series didn't get more attention than it has. Bionic Commando is one of my top five favorite NES games since the day of release. The Arcade game was ok but not my favorite. I never had a gameboy. I do have Bionic Commando Rearmed. It's good but there's a charm of the NES game that it misses.
Could not agree more! Bionic Commando is easily my favorite NES game of all time. The game failing as bad as it did in Japan is certainly what made Capcom slowly ignore the series, but the mishandling of it after Rearmed most likely doomed it forever. I still hope that someday it'll get another chance.
@@RewindArcade I do too. Or at least someone in the indie community could take the concept and make an original series with the same style and concept. Perhaps in a neo-retro 16-bit style. After playing "The Messenger" and "Blood Moon", I can see someone might consider doing something with Bionic Commando.
Wonderful video! I love BC and this had lots of great details and history I didn't know about, so thank you. And I too remember being at my friend's house late one night, beating the game together, and seeing Hitler's head explode. We were freaking out! (We were about 12 yo). It was so gory (even with pixels)!
Thanks for watching, really glad you enjoyed the video!! That's awesome that you had a similar memory about the exploding head ending, haha. It was such an awesome, memorable payoff that everyone still remembers even years later. Probably one of the reasons the game never really got ported anywhere either though over the years. 😅
Subscribed. Great work here! I look forward to watching your whole catalog and future videos. We need more intellectuals like you, man! Btw, wouldn't you just kill for a Bionic Commando Collection from Capcom? It's totally viable.
Thank you so much! I had a lot of fun making this particular documentary since I learned so much about the franchise. I'd love to see a BC Collection from Capcom, but I know that's sadly just a pipe dream at this point. It still blows my mind that the original NES game, which is my favorite on the console, has only been ported one single time in the Capcom Classics Mini Mix collection. That's just crazy to me since it's such a beloved game.
Thanks! And that’s awesome, they’re both really good and Elite Forces is my 2nd fav game in the series (after the NES one). It gets pretty challenging later on, but it’s super fun also!
This was great, I’ve loved Bionic Commando ever since I played the GB version back in the day. Unpopular opinion, but I really liked the 3D game. I frequently experienced every single one of the elements that everyone hated, but they never detracted from my enjoyment of the overall game. Plus, the soundtrack was fantastic. The only thing I didn’t like was Spencer himself (he was kind of an idiot 😏)
Thanks so much! Funnily enough, my first time playing the GB game was when I was capturing footage for the video. I skipped it because so many people told me it was just a remake, but it’s so much more than that. While BC 2009 is far from perfect, I think the game is still a lot of fun (outside of Spencer’s horrible redesign and the radiation zones), especially if you’re willing to learn the swing mechanics. Surprisingly, the game has gotten a lot more love in the comments than I expected it to. Thanks for watching!
There were a few before it actually like Mega Man: Powered up and Mega Man X: Maverick Hunter X for the PSP, but Rearmed was definitely still an early Capcom remake.
Honestly, back then a lot of game creators have talked about how quick development cycles were so more unique and oddball ideas were more accepted since the turnaround time on a game was usually only a few months.
Bionic Commando is on the short list of franchises whose gameplay fundamentals that define what makes them fun just don't work in 3D when you're trying to recreate them verbatim. It shares company with Sonic, Mega Man, and Castlevania. It's like throwing fresh water fish into the Dead Sea.
I think the 3D Bionic Commando game did some things right and wasn’t a complete train wreck, but I do agree that the series truly shines in its 2D platforming element. I’d like to hope that the franchise could get another shot someday from Capcom, but I think the damage the last 2 games did may have doomed it forever sadly.
I can't believe someone made an hour long video about this and it wasn't me! Oh man, this was a lot less work, phew. I still rank the NES version--that I played a trillion times as a kid--with the Mass Effect Trilogy and Red Dead Redemption. The Last of Us. And honestly it probably outranks everything because of the added glowy nostalgia factor. I watched fake Adolph Hitler's face explode so many times as a 10 year old. And oohhhhh, they said DAMN in the video game! A guy's face exploded AND a "curse" word? All it was missing was boobs. Random note: Me and my dumb friend (again, 10 years old) thought the main character's name was F.F. Battalion because early in the game in one of those comms they refer to a battalion called "F.F." I guess we thought that was the spikey haired guy's name. We were perhaps both highly regarded. Note 2: It's kinda weird that Super Joe is the main character basically and we're just searching for him. They sent some amateur who suddenly has strange powers out to track down this legend. I think J.J. Abrams may have ripped this off. I had a video game blackhole from about 1996-2011 and I had never heard of this game mentioned here with the option to choose a woman for your protagonist. I gotta find this ROM ASAP! Also never played the original from Japan. Bless this genius game designer too, very innovative. I learned so much from this video about my favorite Nintendo game from 30 years ago. I would have liked to have had RU-vid back then. Or at least Google. I settled for reading the Nintendo Power article and the Bionic Commando instruction manual 900 times. Which, if it mentions our main character's name why did we think it was F.F. Battalion? Probably the paint chips.... Anyway, I wish they would try to make a new one like they did in 2007 or whatever. Think about how Spider-Man on PlayStation works. Now imagine Spider-Man...with GUNS. Capcom, call me.
Glad you enjoyed it so much, thanks for watching! It's a really special game for me and one of the few I remember actually finishing with a friend years and year ago. Definitely worth checking out Elite Forces on the GBC. It's not as good as the NES original in my humble opinion, but it's a lot of fun and gets incredibly challenging. I'd love to see them make a new 3D Bionic Commando again at some point too, but sadly I don't think Capcom's going to be in any rush to return to the series again after everything that happened. I guess time will tell then. It's nice meeting another BC super fan. Thanks for sharing all your memories with me, I really enjoyed reading this.
This series along with Gauntlet, Shenmue, etc. is one of the many "I'll play it later' type of games for me. I beat the 1st arcade game.........which was really horrible with it boring music and gameplay. However I did get Rearmed 1 & the latest Bionic Commando.....just never got around to playing them. I wish you would have talked more in depth about the overhead shooter Wolf & Merc games. Otherwise good stuff as usual, I may even play Rearmed 1 this year.
The arcade game is definitely my least favorite game in the series, especially compared to its sequel, so I wouldn’t judge the series too harshly based on your experience with that. Hope you enjoy Rearmed though, let me know what you think. I had originally planned on covering the Commando series alongside Bionic Commando, but decided against it at the last minute. I may do a separate video that goes further into that franchise later though. Thanks for watching!
Currently watching on TV. Thanks for the video! Have you tried a game on Switch called Steel Assault? It's very much influenced by BC. Instead of an arm you have a weapon that shoots zip lines.
To those who are watching: I don’t get why BCR2 is so hated. I’ve never played Rearmed 1 and that’s maybe why I’m not biased towards it. I’ve completed Rearmed 2, searched every collectalbe, played it in hard mode and now I’m playing the retro mode. I had the original on the NES and Rearmed 2 was on sale so I thought, why not. I had lots of stupid fun with Rearmed 2 and I usually don’t try to 100% games or get all the achievements but for some reason this one keeps me coming back to it again and again.
Agreed! The arcade game is already on there in the Capcom Arcade Stadium collection, but I’d love to see the other titles make it over. Capcom seems weirdly reluctant to port the NES game anywhere else AT ALL though seeing that it only ever received 1 single port which was in a GBA collection years ago.
@@RewindArcade Unfortunately I can't you if in Europe the marketing for BCR2 was any better, but I don't think so. I fear this title will be forgotten in the future when it doesn't deserve it.
@@RewindArcade I really would like that. I decided not to mention it in my posts but I really would like Capcom to port BCR1, BCR2, and Strider 2014 to the Switch in physical releases. Or to make collections of all their Bionic Commando games, Strider, games, Ghost'n Goblins/Gargoyle's Quest/Demon's Crest, Commando & Mercs. Right now I am sitting on the issue of getting BCR1, 2, Strider 2014, and another game that was never made backwards compatible for the Xbox One, for the Xbox 360. I do own BCR2 and Strider 2014 but save games can not be stored on the console, only on the cloud. So should eventually the cloud be taken offline I will not be able to use my save games or make new ones. Issue is that while separately cheap, these games' prices do pile up when you get them all together. I already need to look for a hard disk for the Xbox 360 I bought as it did not have one.
Trying to figure out why you don't have like 100k subs already... I just watched an hour-long documentary on a game I've never played or heard of and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Try and collab with a more popular youtuber to get exposure or something? A new name? A gimmick? Idk this just feels like an injustice.
That's awesome, really glad you enjoyed it! Means a lot especially coming from someone who is brand new to the series. I'm not going to lie, trying to find success on RU-vid has been pretty soul crushing the past few years, but I'm glad there are still people out there enjoying my documentaries. Either way, thanks for the kind words and appreciate you watching!
@@RewindArcade Keep at it. Gaming RU-vid is a saturated marketplace but once people get familiar with your content I feel it will snowball. A catchier name that relates to your content somehow might honestly help, as it will look more like a proper gaming channel rather than a hobby account. Just my two cents but I will keep watching and hope to see you grow. Edit - I'm a video editor for a small niche channel and put in tens of hours a week for very little response or viewership so I understand your pain!
@@Fr33zeBurn What's funny is this is the name I ended up on since the channel was originally just my real name for the first 5 or 6 months, haha. I've been considering changing it up though. Maybe one of these days. Glad you understand where I'm coming from though. I've actually done some hefty video production and editing for larger RU-vid channels like Final Fantasy Union who have given me plenty of shoutouts, but it hasn't really panned out much growth-wise sadly. Either way, I appreciate the advice and words of encouragement. Do you have your own channel I can check out or are you only doing freelance?
@@RewindArcade Yeah only doing videos for other people, mostly music videos and content about the local hip hop scene in my city, as one of my family members is a radio show host and involved quite heavily in it. Ah nice, has video editing been a long-time hobby or did you just get into it for this channel? I only started a year ago but find it immensely satisfying even if it only gets 300 views, might start my own channel one day soon.
Right on, that’s really cool! I’d say if you ever start your own channel, make sure you go into it with the intention of just having fun while keeping your expectations in check. RU-vid these days is a very different beast than it was years ago. I’ve only been video editing for a little over 2 years. I thought it was fun, creative, and challenging, especially trying to bring a script to life in a visually entertaining and interesting way. Lately I’ve been falling out of love with it though, but I think that’s just due to sheer burn out and frustrations with YT as a platform.
The Nathan Spencer redesign was quite possibly the WORST change ever in any video game series ever. I was happy they at least let you use the classic skin if you had Rearmed though.
