You still haven’t given Bionic Commando Rearmed a shot and you own a 360 and PS3? Then get out of here you nerd. Okay, enough in-jokes from Bionic Commando, but I’ll help try to nudge you in the right direction if you haven’t jumped in yet.

If you’ve played and loved the NES version of Bionic Commando to death back in the day, then this game was pretty much made with you in mind. It is pretty obvious that the team at Grin responsible for this game adores the source material and they have a field day here. They understand that the NES version was translated poorly and they have a ball poking fun of it here. The game has a great sense of humor, but I imagine only the purist will be laughing along with it. I’ll tell you one thing, I was laughing my ass off after having defeated the last boss as it was exactly what I wanted to see. Fans of the original game will also totally dig the updated music in the game. It’s all an awesome throw back to the original title, with remixed themes that still keep their chip tune heritage intact. These guys just get it, plain and simple.

For those of you who missed out on the original NES game, then you’re still in for a treat. Bionic Commando’s design holds up damn well to this day, and anything that was somewhat wonky with it back then has been ironed out and adjusted in this version (with one exception). Grappling is still the name of the game, and I find it kind of funny that people who were waiting for this game were surprised that there is no jump button. The grappling hook is what made BC so different from any other game at the time, and it is what makes the game into a great action/puzzle hybrid. It’s a thinking man’s action game, and they sure do lay the action on thick. Compared to the NES version, it seems like there are way more bad guys running around, some of them are even new. All of the boss encounters are brand new and are damn genius at times, which kind of sucks when the team decides to double dip on the last half of the game. Still, the battles are never dull and always exciting. If there is only one complaint I have to level against the game is that it’s hard to grapple onto objects when you’re on a moving platform. It doesn’t happen often throughout the game, but one stage in particular (secret passage stage) is built around the concept and I had plenty of deaths happen for no reason other than the fact my grappling hook just wouldn’t take. I honestly wonder if anyone else has been having the problem.

Not satisfied with just making a great recreation of the original game, the team has added a shit ton of stuff to do. There are a bunch of “Challenge Rooms” in the game that are similar to VR Missions from the Metal Gear series. These rooms test your abilities and are complete with online leader boards and star ranking systems. They’re short, hard, and addictive as all hell. On top of that, every stage has brand new hidden rooms and items for players to find along with leader boards for each stage. There’s also a 2 player co-op and some sort of 4 player mode that I have yet to try out.

The fact that you’re getting all of this for 10 bucks (15 on the PC) is damn mind blowing and honestly makes me question why we’re even paying 60 dollars for retail games in the first place. Seriously, I think I already put more time onto this game than I have Soul Calibur 4 and I don’t see myself stopping with it any time soon. I may have finished the game but there are plenty of challenge rooms, hidden goodies I have yet to discover, and medals to earn. If you own a 360 or PS3 and you’re all for classic game design or a fan of Bionic Commando in the first place then you really have no reason not to buy this. I have spent more money on lunch, and that’s not even a joke (the Chinese buffet at Wegmen’s adds up). This is the best remake I’ve played since Resident Evil on Gamecube, and that’s saying something.