Reception
Despite a 20-year wait for a sequel, the NES version of Bionic Commando remains one the best-loved games of its era, particularly amongst gamers in North America. Through its innovative gameplay and unusual setting, Bionic Commando achieved a "cult classic" status that still sees it appearing regularly on best-of lists when other titles of its day have long since faded into obscurity.
In 2003, Gamespot declared Bionic Commando one of the Greatest Games of All Time, a series that listed "genuine classics that can still be appreciated today or whenever". Bionic Commando was voted to the list years before such titles as Metroid, Super Mario Kart or Final Fantasy VII. When Gamespot readers voted in 2006, Bionic Commando narrowly missed out on a place in NES Readers' Choice Top Ten, instead topping the list of Honorable Mentions.
1Up have also heaped praise on Bionic Commando, at various times acclaiming it as one of the site's Crucial Classics and calling the swing mechanic one of the 20 "play mechanics that make gaming great", alongside items such as the power-up and the sniper rifle. 1Up writer Jeremy Parish has also gushed praise on the title in this Retrospective.
Most recently, IGN editors ranked Bionic Commando at #95 in IGN's 100 Top Games of All Time, calling it "one of the standouts of the [side-scrolling] genre".
Recognized as a classic even now, the love for Bionic Commando has been burning strong for years. It was number 55 on Nintendo Power's 100 Best Games of All Time in 1997. In the same year, Bionic Commando was even higher up, at #32, on a similar list in EGM, despite competition from non-Nintendo platforms.
To this day, Bionic Commando still attracts a host of fans, whose enthusiasm has not been dimmed during the long wait for another entry in the series. Reader reviews at GameFAQs give the game an average rating of 8.7, and several user fan sites continue to recognize Bionic Commando as one of gaming's true classics.
