Commando (computer game)

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Commando
Studio Capcom
Publisher Data East
Senior Developer Tokuro Fujiwara
Erstveröffent-
lichung		 1985
genre Shoot 'em up
Game mode 2 players alternating ( hot seat )
control 8-way joystick ; 2 buttons
casing default
Arcade system Main CPU : Z80 (@ 4  MHz )
Sound CPU: Z80 (@ 3 MHz)
Sound Chips: 2 × YM2203 (@ 1.5 MHz)
monitor Raster resolution 224 × 256 (3: 4 horizontal), color palette: 256
information alias Senjō no Ōkami

Commando [ kəˈmɑ: ndəʊ ] is a computer game of the genre Shoot 'em up . It was made by Capcom in 1985 as an arcade game . Portings for other platforms followed later . a. for Commodore 64 . There are other arcade games of the same name as well.

action

The player takes on the role of the soldier "Super Joe", who, equipped only with an M60 machine gun and six hand grenades, is deployed in a single mission in enemy territory and has to free prisoners of war there and take a fortress. The game is divided into two assignments with four sections each.

Game principle and technology

The player must control the character Super Joe via the vertically scrolling screen and destroy approaching crowds of enemies. This means that Commando falls into the shoot 'em up subgenre Run and Gun . Opponents have to be shot or eliminated by throwing hand grenades and hostages freed. The game is divided into three sections: Sections one and two each end at gates, through which you can only go when all opponents have been eliminated. At the end of the third and last section you come to a two-story building, from whose four windows the player is shot and from whose main entrance many enemy pawns pour out shooting. When all opponents have been eliminated, a fire breaks out in the house, visible through the windows, and the game starts over.

The opponents can also shoot from fixed cannons and some ride a motorcycle, e.g. B. on a bridge that the player has to cross. Since there are many projectiles and grenades flying around, it is difficult not to get hit.

Hardware (arcade version)

  • Main / sound processor: two Zilog Z80
  • Sound chips: two YM2203
  • Resolution: 224 × 256 pixels
  • Joystick: 8-way and 2 buttons
  • Color depth: 256 colors (C64: 16 colors)

Production notes

Commando
Original title 戦 場 の 狼
(Senjō no Ōkami)
Publisher Activision (Atari 2600)
Capcom (NES)
INTV (Intellivision)
Sculptured Software (Atari 7800)
Elite Systems (Acorn Electron, Amiga, Atari ST, BBC Micro, Schneider CPC, ZX Spectrum)
composer Rob Hubbard (C64)
platform Acorn Electron , Android , Apple II , Atari 2600 , Atari 7800 , Atari ST , BBC Micro , Commodore 16 , Commodore 64 , Commodore Amiga , Intellivision , MS-DOS , MSX , Nintendo Entertainment System , PC-88 , Schneider CPC , ZX Spectrum
medium Compact cassette , floppy disk , cartridge
language English

According to the print magazine Retro Gamer, the English game name Commando probably goes back to the 1985 feature film of the same name, The Phantom Command . The C64 version was programmed by Chris Butler, the graphics are by Rory Green and Chris Harvey. The C64 music was composed by Rob Hubbard , based on the arcade original by Tamayo Kawamoto , in less than 12 hours. It is probably one of the best known SID pieces of music that are available for the C64.

The German version was disarmed to avoid indexing. Games with the aim of killing people were at risk of being indexed. Capcom therefore renamed the game for the German market in Space Invasion and changed the graphics of the opponents so that they were reminiscent of aliens. The game was nevertheless indexed in 1988 by the Federal Inspectorate for Media Harmful to Young People for glorification of war , but in August 2005 it was removed from the list of media harmful to young people by the BPjM in accordance with Section 23 Paragraph 4 JuSchG . The home computer version Commando II from Elite Systems was removed from the list of media harmful to minors in March 2009 by the BPjM and the indexing was thus lifted. In Japan the game came out as Senjō no Ōkami ( Wolf of the Battlefield ).

Most of the conversions for home computers that were common at the time were published by the rather small British publisher Elite Systems , who bought Capcom for the rights to the game £ 25,000 and a share of the sales. Due to the financial success of the implementation, Elite Systems decided to produce a follow-up game for the home computers for which the company had acquired the rights. After numerous postponements, Commando '86 was only released in 1987 as part of a compilation ( Hit Pak: 6 Pak ) together with other titles by the publisher.

reception

For Capcom, Commando was a significant financial success. As recently as 2009, the game was 13th on the publisher's list of the most financially successful products.

The retro magazine Retro Gamer named Commando in a retrospective 2005 as one of the best known and best representatives of the run-and-gun genre and as a genre-defining for it.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Nicole Segre: Commando . In: Sinclair User Magazine . No. 47, February 1986, p. 56.
  2. ↑ a b c d Point & Click Adventures . In: Retro Gamer . No. 3, June 2015, ISSN  2194-9581 , p. 27.
  3. ^ Neil Carr: An Interview with Mark Cooksey . In: Remix64.com . May 17, 2001. (English)
  4. ^ Lost in Translation . In: Retro Gamer . 2015, No. 3, June 2015, ISSN  2194-9581 , p. 15.
  5. ↑ Decision No. A 120/2005 of the BPjM of August 24, 2005 (Pr. 496/05). Published in: Announcement No. 8/2005 on carrier media harmful to minors , August 31, 2005, Federal Gazette , issue 164/2005.
  6. ↑ Decision No. A 75/2009 of the BPjM of March 20, 2009 (Pr. 295/09) Published in: Announcement No. 3/2009 on carrier media harmful to minors , March 23, 2009, Federal Gazette, edition 49/2009.