Commando is a game he released by Capcom / Data East back in 1985, of pioneering vertical scrolling shooting up inspired by the ship games of the time, but transferred to a battlefield. Although it had no connection with the Commando movie (in fact, the movie was after the video game), this vertiginous shoot of vertical scrolling and war scenes was always linked to the well-known film.
Gameplay
In the game, you play as Super Joe, a loyal soldier hardened by gunfire and shrapnel, who is more in danger than Pachirrine at karaoke.
The game starts spectacularly, ripping with the chords of an epic soundtrack that melts into the deafening sound of a helicopter flying at ground level, almost skimming the dense undergrowth of the hard Vietnamese jungle.
Through the vertiginous blades, you can see how our hero, in an agile and risky leap, lands while our hearts contract with emotion.
Once recovered from the fall, he indicates to the pilot with a studied gesture that all is in order, and with the helicopter leaving the area while dodging enemy projectiles, our protagonist loads his rifle, checks his grenades, and embarks on an exciting race for his life in which you are the protagonist of such a legendary feat.
Commando: The Perfect Arcade
Commando breathes the essence of the arcade at the top of its lungs, with unbridled action coupled with perfectly balanced pace and difficulty, triggering its gameplay.
There’s no doubt that this hobby brought Capcom enormous benefits. If an 80’s arcade didn’t have Commando, wasn’t it a Hall of Leisure worth mentioning?
The game has smooth vertical scrolling, and the scenarios are created from a pseudo-central point of view, the truth of which is very workmanlike for the time.
This graphic approach was so successful that many other arcades based on it emerged.
Mercs (the second part of Commando), Gunsmoke Heavy Barrel, Ikari Warriors, or Soldiers of Time all used a similar mechanic and perspective.
Super Joe’s movements
The character’s movement allowed the user to move in all directions. Of course, you also fired in 8 directions (wherever the soldier looked).
This detail complicated the game mechanics, used to always vertical planes as in virtually all shoot’s up arcade style to date.
It was necessary “to get dangerously close” to the enemies, not precisely to ask for time. If you didn’t get close, the bullets didn’t come (and what seems so absurd was a factor that increased gameplay).
Disadvantages
The enemies were very persistent. I repeat, the enemies WERE VERY PERSISTENT. (I think someone followed me home). And like the universe and stupidity, they were infinite.
In other words, if you stopped for a second because your hand was cramping, in less time than it takes to claim a crazy priest, frenzied enemies surrounded you shooting in every direction.
Weapons
But don’t worry, when things got ugly … You had grenades!
But no, they weren’t a panacea. They were short-range and limited. Unlike your shots, which you fired in all directions, grenades only flew vertically, upwards, and at a very short distance. To do any kind of destruction in enemy lines, it was necessary to be in front of the target, and again close, very close.
Although if, in a show of generosity, programmers and children’s friends included on each screen numerous boxes of grenades, strategically placed so that you lost a life.
Enemies
The stages were full of all kinds of elements where the enemies stood; rocks, trenches, barricades, bridges, barracks, caves, turrets …and they faced you on foot, motorcycle, car, and truck, attacking you with machine guns, grenades, rocket launchers, running at you.
Game structure and phases
The game is divided into 4-phase cycles. The phases are very similar to each other. The first takes place in the jungle, the second in a kind of wasteland with trenches and caves, the third a stage full of barracks, and the fourth on a road or airport.
Closing each phase and never better said, there are gates that secure the enemy fortress, and that pose no problem… until they open!
To get through the phase, you’ll need to distribute lead with your humble machine gun, make judicious use of the grenades you’ve saved, and have a good dose of calm (or coins to continue). Once all the enemies in the fortress are finished, you can move on to the next screen.
Between the screen and the screen, we have a transitional image of our hero doing military things. Smoking, drinking, eating pipes, lighting a fire, making broth, cleaning the rifle … (it’s all real, I swear, even the pipe!) From the eighth screen onwards, the game is restarted, but with higher difficulty levels.
Commando Chocolate Bonuses
With certain actions, the game rewards you with bonuses (don’t make doughnuts, look closely), namely:
- Save the hostage: To do this, you must kill two flanking enemies (without killing the hostage, of course, but not “save” would have less merit than whipped water soup).
- Killing Private Ryan: In fortresses, a green soldier leading “the kidnappers” gives you 2,000 wing points.
- Kill Private Brown: This is a brown soldier who sometimes gives you an extra life (This is unconfirmed, like atheists).
- Lives for points: As in almost all games, reaching certain scores gives you extra lives.
Special Notes
Checkpoints
In Commando, Each time a life is eliminated, you don’t continue directly to the same position in which you were defended. The game sends you, and with a bit of bad milk, to a previous checkpoint. This forces you to repeat part of the scene and increases your chances of continuing to die without hope.
The soundtrack
Capcom in Commando as in all his games, he took care of the soundtrack by making a very catchy military melody. Today, if you listen to it, it will take you back to the 80s, to your favorite arcade.
The Commando movie
There were rumors that the machine was a pirate license of the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie Commando. But the machine’s release date predated the film. Nevertheless, many of us linked them.
The trick
The trick in this game is the same as in a diarrhea attack. Execute non-stop shots everywhere. If you stop, you screw it up.
