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Okay, before I kick-start this
review, there is something I want to get off my chest about Captain Commando. If
you only know him as the guy in Marvel vs. Capcom, you’re still wet
behind the ears.
But I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt; not a lot of game players know much
about the legend that is Captain Commando. Capcom, the developers of the
Final Fight and the Street Fighter series, only put out one game
for him, and for some reason, retired him for a few years before he re-emerged
in the Marvel vs. Capcom games. I was a huge fan of the arcade stand-up
back in the day (early 90s to be exact), and I almost freaked when he was
included the roster for the fighting game.
This game hit before the age of creative storytelling, so the story goes like
this: Captain Commando and his team must stop an alien invasion before they
dominate the world. Been there, done that, right? Well, if you haven’t played
this one yet, I advise you to go there and do it again.
Gameplay
Captain Commando plays just like Final Fight, only this game is
way faster and more fun. The button set-up is based on the three-button arcade
configuration; you have an attack button, a jump button, and a special button,
which activates your selected character’s power attack.
There are four playable characters to choose from. You have Captain Commando
(yeah, rookies--that guy); Mack the Knife, a funny-looking alien mummy
who swings mean set of cutlery; Ginzu, an agile ninja who wields a katana; and
Baby Head, the two-year old baby genius who operates a cyborg. Each character
has their own special moves and attributes, but since strategy of character
usage isn’t a major concern in the beat-em-up genre, they call get the job done
equally as well.
Like I mentioned before, CC plays like Final Fight, so the concept
of success is no different...walk forward and button-jag any enemies in sight.
You can grab a bad guy just by walking up to them, break barrels to reveal
health and weapons, and you can throw enemies into one another for added damage.
At the end of each stage, there’s a huge boss who attacks with an
easy-to-catch-on-to pattern of attack, so just like in any other game like this,
the good ol’ stick-and-move cheese works like a charm.
My one and only real gripe about the gameplay is the fact that the game doesn’t
get tough until you reach the bosses of each stage. If you’re just "good like
that", you can make your way through each level and get to the boss without a
scratch. And it really doesn’t matter what difficulty you have the game set on,
but it will start to show as you progress into the MUCH later levels. But hey,
the arcade version wasn’t much different as far as difficulty was concerned.
Graphics, Sound, and Animation
Captain Commando is one of the few games in this industry that made a
pretty good arcade-to-console transition to a 16-bit system. We already knew
that the SNES could pull off the job, but for a game that packed as much as this
one did, this is almost uncanny, especially for graphics and animation. Overall,
Captain Commando looks great. With the exception of a few rough areas,
the game has a look that can rival a few 32-bit beat-em-ups. Now, since it’s a
16-bit game, it will be lacking in a few areas, and the most noticeable flaw is
the color. Not to say that the game is nearly black-and-white, but there are
many spots where the colors just aren’t "colorful" enough. What it lacked in
color, though, Captain Commando made up for in animation. The slick
animation is the probably the most accurate translation from the arcade.
Surprisingly, there are no major quirks in the animation that stand out like in
most other games in this genre, or in any other games for that matter. Each
character walks, jumps, and attacks with fluid motions, and smoothness like this
was something that was hard to come by back then.
While playing, you will be subjected to the classic enemy repetition.
Palette-swapped enemies are a common aspect in the genre of side-scrolling beat-em-ups,
so this is something that a player can and should expect in CC. We’ve all
seen it; the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series is probably the most
famous for having a slew of palette-swaps...same body with different colors,
abilities and hit points. No big deal.
Aside from the good graphics and animation, here lies the flop...the sound.
Personally, I can deal with character repetition, but when there are only four
or five different noises including the music (which sucks in its own way), and
it is enough to make even the most patient person hit the mute button and play
their own music.
Replay Value
Face it. This is a vintage game. Back then, there were few games, if any, which
offered unlockable characters, levels, or other bonuses. Nothing is new here, so
once you beat it, which isn’t a simple task in itself, that’s it. All you can
really gain is the satisfaction of completion. Whoopty-doo.
In Conclusion...
Even with its few faults, Captain Commando is without a doubt the best
unsung beat-em-up ever created. It is a very rare item, so don’t expect to just
go pick it up out of a bargain bin. It will take some internet shopping and you
might be able to pick it up cheap on Ebay. Doubtful you’ll find the
arcade version anywhere in Creation, so if you want to give it whirl, I highly
recommend it.
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