History YMMV / BionicCommando

* TearJerker:
** The ending of the NES version, with Joe's signature.
--->'''Joe:''' I hope this story will be told for a long time...
** Spencer's youthful exuberance at swinging around hits a sad nerve when you realize why. [[spoiler:[[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory He's only a complete person with the one he loves.]] Subtle.]]

%%* DemonicSpiders: In the 2009 sequel, you will rapidly come to hate the upper-tier [=BioMechs=].
* HarsherInHindsight: Of all things, the ''Literature/WorldsOfPower'' novelization has an instance of this. Early in the book, Rad Spencer has trouble working the bionic arm, but pulls through. When he gets through the area he speaks to the arm, telling it he'll take care of it, and it'll take care of him. Fast forward to the 2009 sequel, where Spencer's arm [[spoiler:is his wife]]...
* ItWasHisSled: The one thing that is practically universally known about the 2009 ''Bionic Commando'' sequel is the [[HumanResources Wife Arm]], and will almost always be mentioned in any discussion about the game for how absurd it is.
%%ZCE* LoveToHate: "Master D"[=/=]"The Leader" a.k.a. ''UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler''. [[YourHeadASplode Blowing his head up]] is one of the most well-known scenes in the NES adaptation.
%%ZCE* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Super Joe must really love those Bionics.]] Context?
%%* NightmareFuel:
%%ZCE** Master-D has his [[http://www.thealmightyguru.com/Reviews/BionicCommando/Wiki/images/thumb/f/f1/TheLeader.jpg/300px-TheLeader.jpg Rearmed potrait]].
%%ZCE** When his head exploded in the [[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O9cLVvVx9n4/TjdzBy70mZI/AAAAAAAAAEM/ylIdjvMRXAk/s1600/hitler_master_d.jpg original NES game]] and [[http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/explodinghitler.jpg its remake]].
%%ZCE** Groeder has his [[https://icon2.cleanpng.com/20190704/ktt/kisspng-artist-bionic-commando-deviantart-character-tg-traditional-games-search-5d1ddb5cb94150.1170216315622377887588.jpg mechanical body]].

Individual YMMVs:

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: That Master D in the NES game was actually Adolf Hitler using a pseudonym, and that the Badds were actually the Nazis in disguise. We also never see the final boss call himself Master D, so it could be further implied that Generalissimo Killt was just calling him Master D to conceal his true identity.
* AntiClimaxBoss:
** At the end of the arcade game, after spending a billion quarters fighting your way through the horrible FakeDifficulty, you reach the enemy general... an old man who doesn't fight back, and dies in a couple shots.
** The FinalBoss of the NES game is killed in one hit while dropping down to him. ''Rearmed'' appropriately gives The Leader's helicopter a proper battle, though said battle is more or less just a slightly more complex Fabricator fight.

** The soundtrack for ''Rearmed'', composed by Simon Viklund of ''VideoGame/PaydayTheHeist'' fame, is full of incredibly faithful electronic recreations of the NES game's backing music. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91wTtZ2Qg0k main theme]] in particular is incredibly fitting.

* CatharsisFactor: Killing Hitler/Master-D/The Leader. In the NES version, it's one of the few cases of licensed NES media to feature such a bloody scene of someone's [[YourHeadASplode head exploding]]. ''Rearmed'' doubles down on this: You get a RepeatCut of his exploding head rendered in 3D as he screams in defeat.
* DemonicSpiders:
** In the 2009 sequel, you will rapidly come to hate the upper-tier [=BioMechs=].
** The Cable Backpack Soldiers in ''Rearmed'' are incredibly nimble and ''will'' use their backpacks to perform quick dodges of Spencer's attacks, and return fire with their weapons that are exempt from standard soldiers' DenialOfDiagonalAttack.
* GameBreaker:
** The Flamethrower + Rapid Fire combo in ''Elite Forces'', even though both aren't acquired until the last quarter of the game, they make the bosses in the two final areas a cakewalk.
** The rocket launcher in the NES version, which is obtained about 40% of the way through the game. It kills virtually everything, bosses included, in one hit, and travels through enemies too, so you can kill several at a time. Needless to say, the game becomes drastically easier once you acquire the rocket launcher and there is no need to use any other weapon for the rest of the game. ''Rearmed'' reduces the Bazooka's effectiveness by having it be a standard on-impact explosive and bosses taking more than one rocket to kill, but it's still an extremely potent weapon [[ExplosiveStupidity provided you don't use it point blank]].
* GoddamnBats: A variety across all the games, from the remote-control aces of the NES game to the knife-wielding psychos in Rearmed to the pesky snipers of the sequel.
** Close Combat Soldiers from ''Rearmed'' move quickly and are frequently positioned on ledges that have to be grappled to.
** ''Rearmed'''s Propeller Droids hover above the player and shoot a large electric lance downward that usually prevents their weakness (arm attacks that lower them to Spencer's attack angle) from being used.

* MorePopularSpinoff: To an extent. The ''Rearmed'' remake was meant to promote the sequel, but ''Rearmed'' is often considered the better game, to the point of getting its own sequel (by a developer made from the remnants of the ''Rearmed'' team after GRIN went kaput) in the same style.

* PlayerPunch: [[spoiler:Haley]] is killed off rather anticlimactically just before the final boss fight of ''Rearmed''. Just in case you didn't already know [[strike:Hitler]] "The Leader" was evil. Repeated with [[spoiler:Maggie]] in the 2009 game, in an even less climactic fashion.
* ScrappyWeapon: The machine gun from the NES version - the game acts as if it is important or powerful, when it is neither. It only shoots bullets, and they have a pretty short range. The regular weapon you start the game with is better in almost every way -- it has long range, and with a "turbo" button-equipped controller (or Turbo feature in an emulator) fires just as fast. The fact that the machine gun is kind of out of the way, and a little tricky to actually get if you don't know how, makes it even worse. ''Rearmed'' fixes this by changing it to a hitscan weapon with an absurd rate of fire that makes quick work of human enemies and lives up to the hype it receives.

* SignatureScene: [[YourHeadASplode Master D's head exploding]], a shocking bit of violence for a NES game considering how rampant Nintendo of America's censorship policies were in that era. ''Rearmed'' makes it [[BloodierAndGorier even more graphic]], which stands out from the relatively nonviolent ways enemies die otherwise.
* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: The NES game is seen as a considerable improvement over the arcade original for taking the basic concepts and fleshing them out into a much more interesting experience, as well as providing a fairer challenge.
* ThatOneLevel: Area 6 introduces bouncing mines and a {{Mook|s}} who spawns helicoptering mines in the first area, has some of the hardest climbing and swinging in the game at the beginning of the second area, and then a really tough and annoying rolling mine segment where {{Giant Mook}}s throw mines which roll down horizontal shafts, which you can't jump over -- you need to use the arm to hoist yourself up (which takes time) or use springboards to go over them. This level was actually made ''easier'' in ''Rearmed'', with the mines being replaced by non-damaging barrels, although harder difficulties ups the ante to ''damaging'' barrels, including [[NintendoHard one-hit instant kills on Super Hard]].

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: One of the common criticisms leveled at the 2009 game. Spencer is a ''massive'' dick, and the game generally has a bleak atmosphere, revolving around a conflict between a totalitarian government and a gang of [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized murderous terrorists]]. TheReveal that [[spoiler:Spencer's wife [[HumanResources was killed and used to make his bionic arm]]]] is the icing on the cake.

** The soundtrack for ''Rearmed'', composed by Simon Viklund of ''VideoGame/PaydayTheHeist'' fame, is full of incredibly faithful electronic recreations of the NES game's backing music. The [[https://youtu.be/91wTtZ2Qg0k main theme]] in particular is incredibly fitting.

* CatharsisFactor: Killing Hitler[=/=]Master-D[=/=]The Leader. In the NES version, it's one of the few cases of licensed NES media to feature such a bloody scene of someone's [[YourHeadASplode head exploding]]. ''Rearmed'' doubles down on this: You get a RepeatCut of his exploding head rendered in 3D as he screams in defeat.

* OlderThanTheyThink: Most people believe that the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]] game came first, but it is a sequel to an arcade game by the same name. Yes, the first (arcade), second (NES), third (UsefulNotes/GameBoy) and ''fifth'' ([[UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 PS3]][=/=][[UsefulNotes/Xbox360 X360]]) games are ''all'' named ''[[RecycledTitle Bionic Commando]]''. Only ''Elite Forces'' and ''Rearmed'' break the pattern.

* CompleteMonster: [[TheGeneralissimo Generalissimo Killt]] is the [[BigBad leader]] of the terrorist organization BADD who steals the plans for the Albatross, a deadly weapon which he'll use to [[DespotismJustifiesTheMeans destroy the world and rule over the remains]]. Kidnapping Super Joe and damaging Jack Markson's arm enough to have it amputated, Kilt plans to give Joe a [[CruelAndUnusualDeath slow, painful death]]. Once the Albatross is completed, Kilt and scientist Master Destructo decide to have it destroy North America as a way to test its power. After the Albatross perishes, Kilt leaves his men behind to escape with Destructo, but despite dying at the hands of Jack, Kilt posthumously reveals to have [[DeadMansSwitch programmed his lair to self-destruct should he perish]], gleefully preparing to take his own men with him to the grave.

** The FinalBoss of the NES game is killed in one hit while dropping down to him. ''Rearmed'' appropriately gives The Leader's helicopter a proper battle.
* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZNbz56ZkBo "Preparations,"]] especially 1:12-1:47. When you go to face [[spoiler:Super Joe]], that part repeats as you make your way to him, as he engages you in mocking conversation. It's one epic build-up.

* DemonicSpiders: In the 2009 sequel, you will rapidly come to hate the upper-tier Biomechs.

* PlayerPunch: [[spoiler:Haley]] is killed off rather anticlimactically just before the final boss fight of ''Rearmed''. Just in case you didn't already know [[strike:Hitler]] "The Leader" was evil. Repeated with [[spoiler:Maggie]] in an even less climactic fashion.
* ScrappyWeapon: The machine gun from the NES version - the game acts as if it is important or powerful, when it is neither. It only shoots bullets, and they have a pretty short range. The regular weapon you start the game with is better in almost every way -- it has long range, and with a "turbo" button-equipped controller (or Turbo feature in an emulator) fires just as fast. The fact that the machine gun is kind of out of the way, and a little tricky to actually get if you don't know how, makes it even worse.

* SignatureScene: [[YourHeadASplode Master D's head exploding]], a shocking bit of violence for an NES game considering how rampant Nintendo of America's censorship policies were in that era. ''Rearmed'' makes it [[BloodierAndGorier even more graphic]], which stands out from the relatively nonviolent ways enemies die otherwise.

%%ZCE* SignatureScene: [[YourHeadASplode Master D's head exploding]], from both the NES and the ''Rearmed'' remake. Why is it famous?

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: That Master D in the NES game was actually Adolf Hitler using a pseudonym, and that the Badds were actually the Nazis in disguise. We also never see the final boss call himself Master D, so it could be further implied that General Killt was just calling him Master D to conceal his true identity.

* CompleteMonster: [[TheGeneralissimo Generalissimo Kilt]] is the [[BigBad leader]] of the terrorist organization BADD who steals the plans for the Albatross, a deadly weapon which he'll use to [[DespotismJustifiesTheMeans destroy the world and rule over the remains]]. Kidnapping Super Joe and damaging Jack Markson's arm enough to have it amputated, Kilt plans to give Joe a [[CruelAndUnusualDeath slow, painful death]]. Once the Albatross is completed, Kilt and scientist Master Destructo decide to have it destroy North America as a way to test its power. After the Albatross perishes, Kilt leaves his men behind to escape with Destructo, but despite dying at the hands of Jack, Kilt posthumously reveals to have [[DeadMansSwitch programmed his lair to self-destruct should he perish]], gleefully preparing to take his own men with him to the grave.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: That Master D in the NES game was actually Adolf Hitler using a pseudonym, and that the Badds were actually the Nazis in disguise. We also never see the final boss call himself Master D, so it could be further implied that General Kilit was just calling him Master D to conceal his true identity.