I can still remember the first time I ever saw Captain Commando. It was nothing short of epic. It was at Merlin's Arcade (Excalibur Hotel & Casino) in Las Vegas; a basement floor arcade complete with all the hottest games you could think of (which sadly aren't there anymore, even though the arcade itself is unchanged). It was the first place I saw Street Fighter II - Champion Edition (and it is an experience I will never forget), but this article is about Capcom's rowdy multi-player flagship side-scrolling action game that sat just on the other side. Knights of the Round? Stellar game, but it sat somewhere off to the left (if I remember correctly). King of Dragons? That one sat to the left, too, but the one everyone always crowded around was a few machines to the right. Like Street Fighter II - Champion Edition, Captain Commando was hard to see because there were so many people huddled around it. I reluctantly walked away from the thick crowds at Street Fighter II - Champion Edition, and the thick crowds at Captain Commando caught my eye. At first, I wasn't really able to see much; you had to really peer over people's shoulders and between their arms to see what was going on, but once you got a glimpse of the action...

...it was like chaos in its purest form. Absolute chaos and destruction onscreen matched the frantic rythm of button bashing offscreen. Explosions going off, limbs flailing, guns firing, stuff breaking, glass shattering, bodies flying, and crowds cheering. When I finally got a chance to play, it was the stuff (my) dreams were made of. I was astonished at this other Capcom game I had to look forward to. The genre was crowded at the time, but there really was nothing quite like it. Knights of the Round and King of Dragons share obvious similarities, and even though stuff like X-MEN, Bucky 'O Hare, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Turtles in Time, and Battletoads were equally great, Konami's Mystic Warriors probably came the closest. Captain Commando's theme is familiar, but with that distinct Capcom craft, its unique execution makes it intruiging. It is a perfect example for the genre; a title that is both fun to play or watch. This game was always occupied wherever I saw it, and that was the reason why.

Eclectic
The most intruiging thing about the game was its eclectic cast of "commandos." A ninja made the game instantly cool, but then you got a bionic hero with a flamethrower attached to his arm, and a...dual-knife weilding mummy alien warrior from the unknown? Awesome! And...a baby in robot ride armor? What?! Unbelievable! I immediately think of the ninja when this game comes to mind, but the baby in the robot ride armor is what probably makes the cast memorable for most players. Other games approached the genre with familiar, licensed characters (TMNT, Knights of the Round, King of Dragons), but Captain Commando stands out because it is unique all on its own. Time, however, hasn't been kind to the game. Not by any fault of its own, though; the inevitable advancement of tecnology brought forth the onslaught of emulation. The subject of emulation is one of continued debate, but make no mistake; ease and absence of cost has made "gamers" and "fans" spoiled and more ungrateful than ever before. This much is obvious.

And with the onslaught of the Internet, petty criticisms from mass media idiots trickle down and echo on forums as copycat "just another in the genre" reviews. It's hard to decide which is more disappointing, though; media lackeys who don't know a thing about the game brainwashing "fans" who don't know any better, or "fans" for not taking any sort of initiative to really play for themselves to know any better. Fans who were actually there know what made it an instant classic, so it's not surprising to see why "fans" who weren't there wouldn't understand. Back before the "Iynt0rwebz" and Youtube "pwned" what "fans" liked and disliked, we actually had to find a game and/or spend money to see what it was like. There was no EMUthis, EMUthat, or free "R0Mz." There was no free downloading of whole game libraries.

So then, what does this have to do with Captain Commando? Well, a lot of games now depend on the online multi-player experience, and older side-scrolling action games were largely an arcade multi-player experience. In recent games, the experience changes from online to offline, and by the same token the experience of older games changes from multi-player to single-player. Perhaps Captain Commando is spoken ill of by single players who should be jamming through the game in multi-player with their friends instead of being naked by the computer in single-player. Going solo can be fun if you're into it, but they might actually "get" the game after seeing how much of a blast it is with friends.

Heavy Metal
And a blast it is! This game can be as calm as the wind one second, and chaotic like a tornado the next. Before you know it, one badguy turns into three henchmen that turn into six who bum-rush you. They also gain considerable elemental power as the multiply, so it's not rare to see the screen erupt as they try to electrocute or toast you from behind. They'll even catch their own in all the chaos! Blinking for a second will cost you a credit. Add to this destructive firepower on the commando side, and you've got a game that never loses speed from start to finish. Knights of the Round and King of Dragons didn't offer much in the way of secondary weapons, but Captain Commando excels in this area with an assortment of weapons as eclectic as its cast. Grab a giant metal hammer and cave in some scumocide mutant dome, sear clean through enemy clusters with a laser, or bust caps with a handgun! There's nothing cooler than a rocket launcher-toting ninja, or a surfing mummy with an M-16. This imagery is one of my most memorable parts of the game (with a close resemblance to the innovative approach of G.I. Joe).

This arsenal compliments a signature array of special attacks unique to each commando. Ginzu uses ninja smoke, Mack spins and cuts through enemies like a top, Baby shoots out explosions, and the Captain sends shockwaves into the ground. The dashing attacks are what really do the damage, though, from crushing elbow drops to toasting flame-thrower attacks. Captain Commando is essentially a side-scrolling action game (dashing attacks, smaller characters, melee action, no enemy weapon drops) that borrows key elements from side-scrolling fighting games (secondary weapons, grappling, branching combos). And this combination of elements is the very thing makes it subject to unfair comparisons with the side-scrolling fighter, Final Fight (which should be compared to titles like The Punisher or Cadillacs and Dinosaurs). Consequently, the game is hardly ever classified the category it should be in (side-scrolling action). One of the copycat complaints you hear about Captain Commando on the web is that "it's not as good as Final Fight," and such a conclusion is to be expected (since they aren't really even in the same genre). At that point, it's no longer a decision of which is the better game, but which is the better genre; a comparison not of apples and oranges, but of apples and tomatoes. Sure, they may have some of the same attributes, but inside they are different, and are classified accordingly.

Memories...
Back to the memories, though. After I moved away from arcades that had the game, I had to endure a grueling wait until its first (and limited) home release on the SNES. During the time I wasn't able to play it, I always remembered an awesome "watermelon monster" boss. Its real name (simply, The Monster) wasn't quite as inventive, but it reminded me of how inventive the game's enemy cast was as a whole. Games from that era are notorious for mutant-centric themes, and this game has plenty. The difference, though, is in its approach; the enemies in Captain Commando aren't just your average motley crew. The commandos fight rival ninjas, crazy chicks, samurai, cavemen, fire-breathing fat dudes, kabuki fighters, street punks, super soldiers, and, of course, the token mad scientist. Yes, there are mutants in the game, but they're in good company! Cavemen? Samurai? More ninjas? Awesome.

And what true fan can forget the animation? Part of the reason its cast is so memorable is because each of them animate accordingly well. The way Ginzu runs, the way Baby strolls, the way Mack slashes, and the way the Captain punches all look incredibly fitting. There's just nothing like seeing a baby in a big robot pulling-off wrestling moves like piledrivers and elbow drops! Add to that all the goofy, candid antics of Eddy and Wooky. Say what? A dude named Wooky? Even the stages were memorable; the botched bank robbery, surfing, and circus brawl stages were vividly etched into my mind. Whether in the background or foreground, everything was brought to life with a distinct flavor that went virtually unmatched until Battle Circuit in the late 90's (a spiritual successor of sorts to Captain Commando).

Of course the audio wasn't spared by dimwitted reviewers, either, but it's no matter. The music is intense, riveting, and even funky in parts. It starts out with two-stepping beats, goes into experimental groove, then coalesces into double-bass and grinding guitars that will make you bang your head (or rock your mullet). Hard. Static backgroud noise kept me from hearing it back in the day, though, so I wasn't able to rock it until it finally came home. Fans who were around back then will remember familiar sound effect bits from other Capcom works, too; I heard a few that sound very similar to (if not the same as) stuff in Final Fight. Funny how the simple audio here has more character than the dynamic audio in recent titles.

Captain Commando is misjudged and unappreciated, but not for any one reason. It's more like a combination of factors ranging from human error and ignorance, to technology-related depreciation. It's easy for "gamers" to criticize the game today, but fans who were around when it was released know just how much ass it really kicked. The criticism it gets now isn't surprising, though, considering how "hardcore gamers" today allow mass media not only tell them what to like and play, but what to hail as classic. Even more disappointing is the denial of "hardcore gamers" from the generation that pumped tokens into Captain Commando and made it a classic. It was incredibly well-done for its time (fun, with memorable heroes and enemies), but time would work against it with the progression of technology. Any game will depreciate when it is seen as merely a pending download, or just novelty "value" on a compilation disc.