Bionic Commando: Rearmed is possibly the best 10 bucks I could of ever spent on a psn title.
Story:
The story of the game is this. There is two rival factions. The Federation and The Empire. The Empire has been developing a new weapon under the codename the "Albatros project". Once the Federation finds out about this development they send in their best operative Super Joe. Super Joe is tasked to infiltrate Empire and recover and destroy these weapon capabilities. However, he is captured. Upon his capture the Federation sends in FF Battalion operative Nathan "RAD" Spencer to go behind enemy lines and rescue Super Joe. It is up to Nathan to stop the Empires plans once and for all.
Graphics:
The graphics in Rearmed are pretty good. There is a nice use of water, lighting and all around particle effects. Some nice touches have been made to the textures and overall layout of the levels. The level design from what I have seen is pretty close to the original.
Gameplay:
At its core Rearmed is a side scrolling shooter. However, there is a twist. The player is given a bionic arm. This arm can latch on to anything. You can swing from platform to platform. It all runs pretty smoothly. I did see complaints from players and in some reviews of no jump button. A jump button isn't really needed when you have this awesome arm!
When you start Rearmed you are shown a over world type map. You traverse these little way points (marked 1,2,3 etc.) in a helicopter. On this over world map is also enemy placements that move every time you traverse from point to point. If you come in contact with these enemies you have to battle it out in open ground..which is similar to the game Smash Tv.
Most of the levels offer a challenge. I found myself dieing on occasions from stupidity and bad arm length judgement. In the middle of levels is a hacking mini-game. Where you twist a box moving balls and such. Its a nice little break. At the end of these levels is a boss fight. The boss fights are a challenge and a puzzle within itself. The regular enemies are no slouch either. They are smart. They will take cover, try to work around your shots. They do pretty well. There is also machine type enemies that try to blast you away. At times it is really challenging. Of course to help with this challenge you can play with a friend (local) The A.I. is revamped and upped to accommodate for the second player.
In apart from the main levels. There is a vs mode, and challenge rooms. Vs is your standard affair. Its 4 of your buddies (local) battling it out in bionic warfare. Its pretty fun. Its a shame it isn't online but its no biggie. The challenge rooms are hard...really hard. It takes skill and timing to complete these. This is how it should be, but they are insanely hard at times.
There is numerous weapons at your disposal. These can be acquired at the Federation bases spread out over the overworld map. These are fun little goodies that change up the gameplay. My favorite was the shotgun...beast of a weapon.
Sound:
The sound is well done. From the score (which is lovely) to the sound of weapons and explosions. Its all well done and represented. The highlight for me in the audio department was probably when your swinging from point to point hearing the clang of your bionic arm and the theme. It is really awesome!
Replay Value:
With the challenge rooms, vs, high score leader boards and trophies. There is lots of replay value here. The single player lasts around i'd say 6-8 hours depending on your play style. This is expanded by the harder difficulties. However, if your the type of person who only plays games through once and ever touches them again. Their may not be replay value for you here.
Overall:
Rearmed is a fantastic downloadable title. From the great single player, to the challenge and skill of the challenge rooms. It packs a punch. If you're like me and have not experienced the nintendo classic. There is no reason why you shouldn't pick this title up. It's a great experience and for 10 bucks you can't go wrong. Buy it.