Bionic Commando Rearmed does so much right that it’s pretty tough to decide where to begin. As a fair warning, it’s entirely possible that the rest of this review will be nothing short of gushing praise for a game that not only sets the bar as far as remakes of classic games, but for digitally distributed games as well. Ladies and gentlemen, games on Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network simply do not get better than this.

When Capcom announced they would be handing over the development of a remake of the 8-bit NES classic Bionic Commando to some barely-known Swedish developer named GRIN (whose only work of note at the time consisted of PC ports of Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter games), well, I was puzzled to say the least. Having now played through Rearmed twice in succession (and with the soundtrack currently thumping from my speakers) it is abundantly clear why Capcom chose these guys: They get Bionic Commando. They don’t just love it (which is apparent if you watch any of the behind the scenes videos they’ve done), they truly understand what makes the original such a special piece of gaming history and they translate all of that into this version so well that it’s almost a disservice to call it a remake. Most remakes take the original and give it a new spin, but with Rearmed, it’s everything that made the original work (i.e. no jump button and fantastic levels designed around mastery of the bionic arm) and gives it a level of polish and a next-gen sheen that is exceedingly rare amongst downloadable “arcade” titles.

Granted, not everything is the same as it’s 8-bit counterpart. Players now have an infinite number of continues and are simply booted back to the map if all remaining lives are expunged. Some of the weapons have either been drastically changed (the rocket launcher does some nasty splash damage now), some have been changed completely while still keeping the same idea (goodbye wide cannon, hello vector cannon) and some are brand new (’sup shotgun). However, the most notable rearrangement has to be the soundtrack. At once immediately familiar and yet something that feels wholly fresh, the soundtrack is the ultimate burden of proof that Simon Viklund (who did double duty as the game’s producer and soundtrack composer) truly gets Bionic Commando and more or less exemplifies the amount of care and consideration put into Rearmed. It is everything that made the original great, but with the perfect amount of modern spin to make it feel entirely fresh. And like so much of the rest of the game, the best parts are in the details. Take, for instance, the way the music an is literally an intrinsic part of the level. Listen carefully before entering levels such as the Sewer Plant or the The Furnace. You can hear the bass lines from the songs thumping faintly in the background, as if the building you were about to enter was some sort of sadistic club experience and the baddies just love having pulsating techno music as they carry on their plan for world domination.

When actually playing the game, it feels like you’ve been given the coolest action figures ever on the best play sets you’ve ever seen. I mean that in a literal sense. The way GRIN has constructed the environments with 3D models on a 2D plane makes it look like the play sets one might get for G.I. Joe figures, complete with trap doors, barrel-chucking robots and even a few 8-bit icons that look like the decals one would plaster all over the set. It’s subtle, really, and I didn’t really notice this aesthetic until my second play-through, but it’s certainly there.

If anything, it emphasizes that GRIN intends players to have fun playing this and not just use Rearmed as an exercise in capturing nostalgia, but as a way of going back to games that were about having a good time and not just racking up achievement points or topping the leaderboards. And it is a lot of fun. Rearmed is a pure reminder of a time when games would take a singular mechanic and exploit it to its fullest. Make no mistake, the bionic arm is just as difficult to master as it was back in 1988, but just as immensely satisfying once you have it at your full command.

Quite simply put, Bionic Commando Rearmed is a retro revival done right. Not to mention the fact that it’s an unbelievable bargain. A mere 10 bucks nets you the entire game, over 50 challenge rooms (think obstacle courses that demand mastery of the bionic arm), campaign co-op (offline only, sadly) and a Super Smash Bros.-esque multiplayer mode. All that, plus trying to find every weapon upgrade and hidden Yashichis (an emblem hidden in nearly every old-school Capcom game) puts most full-price retail games to shame.

Let’s hope Capcom puts them in charge of a Strider revival next.

By Stewart Smith