Bionic Commando: Elite Forces

There's a rare breed of games that are better than their more famous predecessors — and Bionic Commando: Elite Forces belongs squarely among them. This colorful action platformer takes the cult principle of swinging on a mechanical arm and polishes it into a form that many consider the pinnacle of the series on handhelds.

The key to the whole game is grappling — your hero can't jump in the usual sense; instead he pulls himself and swings using a bionic arm. This mechanic, seemingly restrictive at first, turns after some getting used to into an elegant movement dance: you swing across chasms, launch yourself onto elevated platforms and clear levels with a rhythm that has no equal in the genre. It's a movement you either can't stand or fall in love with — and Elite Forces does everything to make it the latter.

The game was made in the year 2000 at the Western studio Nintendo Software Technology, and it's precisely this workshop that did the work for which the title is often rated better than the original Game Boy version. The level design is more refined, the controls snappier and the whole thing feels more thought-out. On top of that it adds a choice of two characters and alternative paths through the levels, so you have a reason to come back and explore routes you missed the first time.

The color treatment on the Game Boy Color gives the action a juice the previous monochrome installments lacked. The environments are more legible, the enemies more distinct and the overall feel of play a notch smoother — which, in a genre built on precise timing of movement, decides everything.

For fans of the swinging movement it's a little celebration, and for everyone else a great opportunity to find out why Bionic Commando has such devoted fans. It's proof that even a handheld spin-off can be the best thing a brand offered in a given era.

Why play it: For polished grappling action in color that many place above the original — a joy for every lover of the swinging movement.