Co-Op Corner: Captain Commando (Arcade)
By Thonos
1/3/2021
By Thonos
1/3/2021
I remember Captain Commando from his image being on the back of Capcom NES game manuals. While I knew of the character, I didn't know there was a game based around him until many years later. While there were multiple ports of the game to various consoles, I have access to the game thanks again to the Capcom Beat' Em Up Bundle. So I grabbed my brother and we gave this game a play through. What we got was a fun, but standard game.
The game takes place in Metro City, a futuristic city that is ridden with crime. Captain Commando comes along with his team and decide to take the city back. This is a pretty standard plot for these types of games and it doesn't really stand out. There are four characters to choose from and up to three players can play at once. While the characters each have their own special move, they all basically play the same.
The game consists of nine stages and has you beating up waves of enemies before getting to a stage boss. Combat is pretty straight forward with all characters having an attack, a throw and a special move which drains health when used. The game does have health items scattered on the map and a decent selection of limited use weapons which do come in handy when you get them. While most areas of the game have you walking, there is one stage that involves you on the water and rarely you can pilot a giant robot.
This is another example of an arcade game that holds up well in the graphic and sound department. The graphics for the characters, enemies and stages are bright and decently detailed. The music and sound effects a good, but nothing I am going to remember. I will say this game has a decent amount of gore effects. The blood and dismemberment effects, while not over the top, were something I did not expect to see in this game.
This is a good, but standard side scrolling game. While it does not do anything bad, it doesn't do anything that makes it stand out from the pack of other side scrolling beat'em up games. The game took my brother and I about forty minutes to beat which is pretty standard for games like this. The big problem is that there is no reason to come back to this game once you beat it besides trying to rack up a higher score. If you are someone who wants to play every beat'em up game out there or someone who gets this game in a collection it is worth the time.