I’m pretty sure I’ve only ever played the NES version of this before, and my understanding is that it’s very different. Perhaps you can even jump in that? You can’t in this, the original arcade version, in any case. (EDIT: You can’t jump in the NES version either. Curious.) So, as I’m finding with these Capcom arcade games on the Evercade EXP, Bionic Commando is another money-eater. There’s no way in hell you’re supposed to be able to finish this …
As much as I liked the previous C&C games on the PC, and the best RTS game ever made ever Dune II, I can’t get on with them on consoles. The controls have never fitted a controller, and I found the C&C 3 demo last year too fiddly and complicated. Since this is based on the same engine, I expected the same problems. And, yes, I struggled my way through the training and the demo Russian mission. I enjoyed it, …
And it didn’t take very long, either. Turned out where I’d left it saved last night was just before killing three Super Units, the enemy commander, and a Heavy Artillery unit. Since I had a Super unit and six Heavy Artillery units of my own, placed out of reach thanks to my commander’s additional artillery range power, I took the lot out in just two rounds with only minor scratches to my Super Unit’s bodywork. That left me with just …
I’m on the last mission, which has been quite tricky so far due to buildings restricting visibility and so I can’t see far enough (or round corners) to spot enemy heavy artillery that keep wanting to blow my units up. And then I keep running into bombers and gunships with units that can’t attack them. And there are Super Units hiding everywhere. But I’ve made it far enough across the map to see the enemy HQ. I’ve saved for now …
Just one mission completed today – Mission 14 – but it took TWO HOURS to finish. Not because it was especially hard, just because I kept running into traps and having to backtrack, wait, or rebuild my army. And yes, I totally overdid it again with my troops. Note to self: 9 heavy artillery units are not necessary to defeat one light tank.
Almost at the end of the main campaign now, with Mission 13 completed. It could have taken about 20 minutes to win, but once again I felt the need to stockpile tanks and artillery before converging on a single Super Unit. I had so many units to swoop in with, I actually blocked myself off from a useful attacking position. Tch. Thankfully, I killed it off anyway. Just two missions left now!
About time I caught up with this, I think. Put it on for a quick go, and then three hours later stopped having completed up to the end of Mission 12. None of the other missions were especially hard, but I do find myself spending longer on them than necessary because I like to stockpile loads of tanks and stuff that I don’t actually need, and take over ever building even if it’s not a mission target.
Up to mission 8 now. This really is very good, especially when, like on mission 6, I completely obliterated the enemy using a million tanks and light artillery, finishing the mission without losing a single unit and with full health. Aces! Mission 7 was a “stay alive for X rounds” mission, and the first to have enemy aircraft. My advisor recommended I use anti-air units, but they were really underpowered and could be destroyed by a gunship in one turn. …
After several more attempts, I finally figured out that using the woman as the CO for Mission 3 was a bad idea and Alex was far better, especially if I kept all my units close. As a result, on my first attempt with him, I beat it without losing a single unit. Mission 4 was easy, and Mission 5 started off badly but I won in the end. Hurrahs!
Cripes. It got very hard very quickly, didn’t it? I’m only on Mission 3, and I’ve tried it four times now and still can’t manage it. I was under the impression that the artillery unit you come across was pretty much the only real danger, and after finally dispatching of it (leaving me with just some heavy infantry units) I thought there was just a couple of light infantry left to kill. Easy! Or not, as I turned a corner …
Tried the demo, thought “OMG! It’s Advance Wars!”, and bought the full game. Played the training and first mission again once I’d bought it, and it really is very nice indeed. I think the points system (you can attack twice if you move less) and the few other differences to Advance Wars will take some getting used to, but it’s easing me in slowly so it shouldn’t be a problem.
Wow! There are 25 of us super-secret Missile Command players now! It’s an amazing elite club. Bet you’re all well jealous. Sadly, I’m not Best In The World any more. In fact, I was 5th. Tch. However, I did improve on my 29,500-ish score to reach 45,000-ish – putting me back up to second! Hurrah!
This isn’t due for another two days, but a glitch in the Xbox Live Arcade banners allowed me and (at the time of typing) 13 other people access to downloading it. And so, for the first time ever, I managed to be top of a leaderboard on an Xbox 360 game. A leaderboard of 14 people, but still – there I am: As for the game itself, well – it’s pretty good. It works surprisingly well with the pad (although …
Saw my brother was online playing this, so thought I’d join him. Sadly, although you can play online with the demo, you can’t pick who you’re going to play against. Naturally, I was then randomly paired up against someone who actually knew the controls, and could group units together, and well, was generally capable of playing it without appearing to be a monkey at the helm. He beat me in under two minutes, defeating me with just a commando unit. …
Firstly, the problems. Since it uses the Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth 2 engine (or at least, it appears to), most of the camera and user interface issues are replicated here. My main two gripes are the camera angles (you’re too horizontal and and not “birds-eye” enough, and you can’t see your troops unless you zoom right in) and the fact you can’t “draw a box” around a group of units like you can in every other …
