Few games are this fun 20 years later.

User Rating: 8 | Bionic Commando: Rearmed X360
For the record, I still have my copy of the original Bionic Commando. If my old NES still worked most of the time I'd have probably saved 10$ and just popped that in. However, paying 10$ to have this re-make at the ready on my 360 has proven a worthwhile investment. It sure beats wasting a half hour and a headache blowing on the carton and resetting trying to get the original to work, Not much has been changed in this remake of the classic. Still, there's more than enough here to make the return trip worth your while.
For those that missed the original, Bionic Commando is an old school side-scrolling shooter that made it's name by ditching the standard jump for a less conventional bionic arms. This means that swinging from platform to platform is the only way to navigate through the levels. THis causes some unique puzzles and platforming the breaks the norm for games from this era. Add to that the semi-free-form level progression via the overworld map and you have a game that was ahead of it's time. Thrown in are even some slight rpg elements (friendly bases filled with npcs to talk to), and a few brief top-down shooer stages and you have a game unlike many others (the only exception I can think of is Blaster Master).
SO does this game stand the test of time? In my opinion it most certainly does. The updated graphics and sounds make looking at the game much easier. THe controls are slightly improved, but for the most part remain identical to the original. This causes some cheap deaths, but also ensures the game staying true to the source material. Added to the main game are a slew of virtual missions that do take advantage of this being a remake. This enabled the developer to stay as true as possible to the original while still offering new content. In my opinion a respectful move. For those of us who remember the original, there are plenty of jokes at it's expense that should amuse the faithful fans of old.
Now, I havn't played the new Bionic Commando game that came out not too long ago, but from everything I've been told about it, I'm better off sticking to this remake and strictly remembering how good this game was and still is. For 800 ms points you really can't go wrong revisiting this classic.