The original Bionic Commando Rearmed is probably one of the better remakes of a classic 2D platformer, and it apparently did well enough to merit a sequel: Bionic Commando Rearmed 2. Where the previous Rearmed took much of its content from the 1987 NES Bionic Commando, this sequel has mostly new stages and weapons along with tweaks to the controls. Some of these changes don’t work out well, but on the whole Rearmed 2 is a competent addition to the series.
Like its predecessor, Rearmed 2 puts you in control of Nathan Spencer: A man with a bionic arm that serves as a grappling hook, backed by an array of guns and enjoyably terrible one-liners. Most Bionic Commando games require you to get around primarily by a mix of running and swinging from your grappling hook much like Spider-Man and his webs, Rearmed 2 takes a controversial approach by letting Spencer jump. If that sounds odd in a 2D platformer, bear in mind Spencer’s previous 2D outings generally required him to hook-swing if he wanted to get any vertical travel done. Spencer’s new jump in this game is thus unusual, but it doesn’t steal the show; it’s very ’heavy’ and stiff, useful only to clear certain obstacles and attacks... so you’ll mostly get around with your hook after all.
The jump isn’t all that much of a problem, nor are most of the stages. These aspects of Rearmed 2 work pretty well and it’s fun to travel from area to area in acrobatic fashion. Even the various enemies you fight are fun at first, but some problems eventually drag things down. Series veterans will probably take issue with the new grappling controls, where nearly everything takes one or two more button presses than it previously did and your swinging behavior is definitely different. It’s not a huge problem and you’ll get used to it within several minutes, but it is odd all the same. More unfortunate is that your special weapons have limited ammo. While the game is generous with ammo reloads in places where you must use a certain weapon to proceed, in other cases you’re likely to run out far too quickly. This leaves you just using Spencer’s revolver most of the time, and fighting enemies eventually becomes a little dull due to this.
On the other hand, Rearmed 2 has made some genuine improvements. The ’overhead interception’ stages of the previous game are gone, meaning you’re no longer wasting time on pointless levels that only kept you from making real progress. Given that this game offers about two dozen levels (plus several difficult but optional ’Challenge Levels’ that see just how good you really are), this is a very good thing. Also new is the Bioscan mode, which effectively stops time while you check out everything on the screen that catches your eye. Scanning enemies will often yield hints on how to defeat them, stage scenery will either give you a joke or advice on how to use it to your advantage, and areas that may lead to hidden items can also be found this way. It takes some of the frustration out of searching for secrets and is mostly a good thing, though it does slow down the game.
While this game is generally competent and satisfying, with each stage taking about five to fifteen minutes to complete, it has several little problems that could have been fixed with another few weeks of development time. One boss is missing a few animations, so the game abruptly ’teleport resets’ both your character and the boss to valid locations in some cases rather than actually displaying the boss knocking you away. Another boss has significant graphical slowdown problems come up, and the lack of camera control occasionally requires you to make leaps of faith that can get Spencer killed; fortunately the game is generous with both extra lives and checkpoints to resume play from, so none of these issues are crippling but are instead just disappointing. This doesn’t keep the boss fights from being one of the best parts of the game, however; they successfully evoke an ’old-school’ feel where you have to carefully watch their patterns in order to win.
Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 is a fun 2D platformer and worth checking out. It’s easy to comment on so many little things the game does wrong, but they’re flaws that make it a ’merely’ good game instead of the top-notch addition to the series that it could have been. If you enjoy this genre, Rearmed 2 is a reasonable purchase. That said, its 1200 Microsoft Points/$15 USD price point is higher than some superior competitors. If you haven’t already gone through titles like Symphony of the Night, Mega Man 10, or even the original Bionic Commando Rearmed, you should probably play them first. Though if you have already finished most of the other classical-style platformers on XBLA, Rearmed 2 will definitely keep you entertained for a few evenings.
