Commando (video game)

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Further information: Bionic Commando

Commando

Developer(s)	Capcom
Publisher(s)	Capcom
Distributor(s)	Data East
Designer(s)	Tokuro Fujiwara
Composer(s)	Tamayo Kawamoto
Platform(s)	Multiple (see text)
Release date(s)	May 1985, 1989
Genre(s)	Run and gun
Mode(s)	Single-player

Commando (戦場の狼, Senjō no Ōkami^?, lit. "Wolf of the Battlefield") is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game released in 1985. Its influence can be seen in several later games in the genre (Who Dares Wins, Ikari Warriors, Rambo: First Blood Part II...).

It was released for several platforms, including the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, MSX, ZX Spectrum, Intellivision, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Amiga, Nintendo Entertainment System, Acorn Electron, BBC Micro and PC. Versions of the game also appear on Capcom Classics Collection for the Playstation 2, Xbox, and PlayStation Portable, and Activision Anthology for the Playstation 2.

1 Gameplay
2 Ports and their developers
3 Legacy
4 References
5 Bibliography
6 External links

Gameplay

In-game screenshot

All versions of the game are very similar, with the same graphics (taking into account the various limitations of the platforms). The player (a soldier named Super Joe^[1]) starts by being dropped off in a jungle by a helicopter, and has to fight his way out singlehandedly, fending off a massive assault of enemy soldiers.

Super Joe is armed with a sub-machine gun (which has unlimited ammunition) as well as a limited supply of hand grenades. While Joe can fire his gun in any of the eight directions that he faces, his grenades can only be thrown vertically towards the top of the screen, irrespective of the direction Joe is facing. Unlike his SMG bullets, grenades can be thrown to clear obstacles, and explosions from well placed grenades can kill several enemies at once.

At the end of each level, the screen stops, and the player must fight several soldiers streaming from a gate or fortress. They are ordered out by a cowardly officer, who immediately runs away, although shooting him in the back awards the player bonus points. Along the way, one can attempt to free prisoners of war as they are transported across the screen by the enemy.

As Super Joe has no power ups, there is no variety in the weaponry he can use throughout the game. This is in contrast to similarly themed games of roughly the same period, like Green Beret (in which limited use flame throwers and rocket launchers were available to supplement the main character's trusty Commando Blade), or Ikari Warriors (where Tanks and more powerful red bullets, could be obtained).

Ports and their developers

It is notoriously difficult to find information about developers of early games, so this list is incomplete:

BBC Micro

The BBC Micro version was developed under contract by Catalyst Coders for Elite by:

Developer: Trevor Harwood
Graphics: John Nixon
Sound: Unknown

Acorn Electron

The Acorn Electron version was created from a direct port from the BBC Micro version. Since the BBC Micro had a faster processor, the port on the Acorn appeared much slower^{[citation needed]}:

Developer: Trevor Harwood
Graphics: John Nixon
Sound: N/A (the limitations of the machine meant very basic sound which will have been added by the developer)

Amiga

The badly received Amiga version was developed at Elite by:

Developer: Neil Latarche and Martin Ward
Graphics: Steve Beverley
Sound: Mark Cooksey

Amstrad CPC

The Amstrad CPC version was developed at Elite by:

Developers: Simon Freeman, Keith Burkhill and Nigel Alderton
Graphics: "Jon"
Sound: Unknown

Atari 2600

The Atari 2600 version was developed at Activision by:

Developer: Mike Reidel [1]

Capcom later allowed Activision to include this title on the Playstation 2 release of Activision Anthology.

Commodore 64

C64 Port

The well received Commodore 64 version was developed at Elite in a very tight schedule (2 months), by:

Developer: Chris Butler
Graphics: Rory Green and Chris Harvey
Sound: Rob Hubbard

The Commodore 64 version's theme, a "funky" version of the arcade, was created in less than 12 hours by Rob Hubbard, "[I] started working on it late at night, and worked on it through the night. I took one listen to the original arcade version and started working on the C64 version. [...] By the time everyone arrived at 8.00 in the morning, I had loaded the main tune on every C64 in the building! I got my cheque and was on a train home by 10.00". The music since then has reached a cultic status among Commodore 64 enthusiasts - nearly everyone who ever had a C64 knows and recognizes the tune. The song is available from the HVSC.

The cracking group (Lurid Tricycle) considered the Commodore version so easy that they added an un-trainer, to make the game harder.

ZX Spectrum

ZX Spectrum Port

The ZX Spectrum version was developed at Elite by:

Developers: Keith Burkhill, Nigel Alderton
Graphics: Rory Green and "Karen"
Sound: Unknown

Intellivision

The Intellivision version was developed at Realtime Associates by :

Developer: John Tomlinson
Graphics: Connie Goldman
Sound: David Warhol

It was reported that John Tomlinson, was slacking off too much, and the deadline was slipping, so David Warhol actually "kidnapped" him, by picking him up at his home, keeping him at his own place until the game was finished. The final product is considered to be one of the worst games ever created. Reportedly, Capcom considered filing a lawsuit against Realtime Associates for their shoddy work.

Unreleased versions

The Atari 8-bit version was created by Sculptured Software in 1989, and was intended to be released by Atari for the XE Game System. However, although the game appeared in Atari catalogs of the time^[2], it never reached the market in spite of being completed. In the 2000s the game's prototype cartridge was found^[3].

Legacy

The German version was released as Space Invasion (Commando clone), due to the laws about violence in computergames at the time.

Commando actually has an official sequel entitled Senjou no Ookami II, and released in North America as Mercs. There have also been unofficial "sequels" created by other companies. Russian developers Microtech Systems released Komando II for Spectrum in 1992. Elite also made Duet (which was called Commando '87 in some markets) for the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC.

A third sequel, Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 was released as a downloadable title for the Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network in June 2008.

It has been revealed that the main character from Commando is the first player's character in Mercs "Super" Joe Gibson who is the character you have to save in the original and rearmed version of Bionic Commando and your Commander in the Bionic Commando sequel due out in the near future.