Commando (arcade game)
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is a vertically-scrolling shoot 'em up released in 1985. Its influence can be seen in several later games in the genre (Ikari Warriors, Rambo: First Blood Part II, and Green Beret, to name a few).It was released for several platforms, including Arcade, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Intellivision, Atari, Amiga, Nintendo Entertainment System, Acorn Electron, BBC Micro and PC.
Introduction
The entire introduction, as written in the manual for the Commodore 64 version:
"As the crack shot Commando, your mission is to move forward into enemy territory. You must destroy the enemy and their base by passing through the Iron Walls."
Description
All versions of the game are very similar, with the same graphics (taking into account the various limitations of the platforms). The player (Super Joe) starts by being dropped off in a jungle by a helicopter, and has to fight his way out singlehandedly, killing off a massive assault of enemy soldiers (wearing German WWII-era uniforms).Super Joe is armed with a sub-machine gun (unlimited ammo) and a limited supply of hand grenades. While Joe can fire his gun in any of the eight directions that he faces, his grenades can only be thrown vertically towards the top of the screen, irrespective of the direction Joe is facing. Unlike his SMG bullets, grenades can be thrown to clear obstacles, and explosions from well placed grenades can kill several enemies at once.
At the end of each level, the screen stops, and the player must fight several soldiers streaming from a gate or fortress. They are ordered out by a cowardly officer, who immediately runs away, although shooting him in the back awards the player bonus points. Along the way, one can attempt to free prisoners of war, who are transported across the screen by the enemy.
As Super Joe has no power ups, there is no variety in the weaponry he can use throughout the game. This is in contrast to similarly themed games of roughly the same period, like Green Beret (in which limited use flame throwers and rocket launchers were available to supplement the main character's trusty Commando Blade), or Ikari Warriors (where Tanks and more powerful red bullets, could be obtained). Commando's popularity is strange, given this dimension of gameplay is missing, and therefore can be attributed to solid classical frenetic Robotron-like game mechanics, and perhaps to a lesser extent, the arcade version's (by far the best) polish and the fact that the game's release coincided (roughly) with the Rambo and Missing in Action (film) movies.
Developers
It is notoriously difficult to find information about developers of early games, so this list is incomplete:
The Amiga version was developed at Elite by:
The Amstrad CPC version was developed at Elite by: The Commodore 64 version was developed at Elite in a very tight schedule (2 months), by:- Developer: Chris Butler
- Graphics: Rory Green and Chris Harvey
- Sound: Rob Hubbard
The ZX Spectrum version was developed at Elite by:
The Intellivision version was developed at Realtime Associates by:- Developer: John Tomlinson
- Graphics: Connie Goldman
- Sound: David Warhol
Levels
These are the levels of the arcade version:
- Mission 1:
- * 1st Area: Jungle Drop Off, Barricade Territory.
- * 2nd Area: The Trench "No Mans Land", Cannon Turret Gauntlet.
- * 3rd Area: The Field Barracks, The Transit Zone.
- * 4th Area: Bridges to Airport, 1st Enemy Airport.
- Mission 2:
- * 1st Area: 2nd Jungle Territory, The Marsh Lands.
- * 2nd Area: 2nd Cannon Turret Gauntlet, The Trench/Bridge Territory.
- * 3rd Area: The Enemny Main Barracks, "Bazooka Alley" Territory.
- * 4th Area: The Capital Outskirts, The International Airport.
Miscellaneous
- The Intellivision programmer, John Tomlinson, was slacking off too much, and the deadline was slipping, so David Warhol actually "kidnapped" him, by picking him up at his home, keeping him at his own place 'till the game was finished.
- The Commodore 64 version's theme, a "funky" version of the arcade, was created in less than 12 hours by Rob Hubbard, "[I] started working on it late at night, and worked on it through the night. I took one listen to the original arcade version and started working on the C64 version. [...] By the time everyone arrived at 8.00 in the morning, I had loaded the main tune on every C64 in the building! I got my cheque and was on a train home by 10.00". The music since then has reached a cultic status among Commodore 64 enthusiasts - nearly everyone who ever had a C64 knows and recognizes the tune. The song is available from the HVSC.
- The German version was released as Space Invasion, due to the laws about violence in computergames at the time.
- The Commodore version was so easy that a cracking group (Lurid Tricycle) added an un-trainer, to make the game harder.
- The theme has been covered several times (though maybe most the Rob Hubbard version) by many, including the Danish Commodore revival band Press Play on Tape.
- This game is not licensed from the film Commando starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, but is most likely named after it.
- This game actually has an official sequel ("Senjou no Ookami II", released in North America as "MERCS"), but there have also been unofficial "sequels" created by other companies. Russian developers Microtech Systems released Komando II for Spectrum in 1992. Elite also made Duet (which was called Commando '87 in some markets) for the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC.
- Bionic Commando ("Top Secret: Hitoraa no fukkatsu" in Japan) has no relation to this game, despite what the North American NES version might suggest with its subplot involving a mission to rescue Super Joe from captivity.
List of Commando clones
- Dogs of War
- Ikari Warriors
- Leatherneck
- Battle Isle
- Who Dares Wins
Bibliography
External links
- [The Commando Headquarters]
- [Screenshots]
- [Project64 Commodore 64 manual repository]
- [A walkthrough video of Commando on the ZX Spectrum]
- [A browser-playable version of Commando] at [c64s.com]
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