My Played Video Games Review: Commando for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
Commando is a run and gun action, vertically scrolling arcade game released in 1985, and is not related to the 1985 action film of the same title. A home version developed by Capcom was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1989.
What can I say? It is an action game. Not quite popular in my country as Contra or Jackal on the NES. So let's go try and play it!
The Story
Destroy the enemy's army, all of it! You are a special commando named Super Joe and your mission is to destroy all the enemies before you until you reach a place containing a nuclear weapon that you need to recover or the world leaders taken hostage that you need to rescue. Anyway, no one cares, just kill everything and keep on moving without asking any more questions.
The Graphics and Sound
I was mildly surprised by the game's graphics. You never feel that your life got stolen because a bullet appeared out of nowhere to hit you. The game kinda lags a little bit when there are so many movements onscreen. But it works too well most of the time. The games' graphics are boring, but that's a trade-off when that much action and stuff have to be onscreen.
The sound effects are good. From the helicopter to the shooting and explosions. But the music is also quite good but repetitive. And then at the end, when it is the climactic moment, the music nicely changes with it.
The Gameplay
Commando is a really difficult shooter but the game allows you to continue from the last area where you lost your last life. Enemies abound and there are some secret dungeon areas that you reach with little ladders, and some prisoners to rescue. But after awhile, it gets repetitive.
The controls are perfectly simple and great. For a difficult game that is a big consolation.
My Verdict
Commando can be fun and frustrating at the same time. You may pick it up and put it down in a few minutes later. Or you may dig it and end up playing it for a few days. I say give it a try if you like heavy action games like this one.
The old games like this one often last longer. It is a sign of quality and replay value.
Try it on the NES or on emulators. See if you will like it.