Clones & Ports of Commando
This article is concerned with computer-game clones and ports of Capcom's Commando coinop of 1985. Commando-likes are defined by me as shoot 'em ups that feature 4-way or 8-way single-unit movement, aiming and firing on scrolling playfields.
This article is only concerned with Commando clones and ports that appeared on Western computer game machines. The clones and ports are presented chronologically.
Scrolling Commando games are not the same Berzerk-likes (maze) or Robotron-likes (open-slather). However, all three come under Run and Gun games.
Commando-likes include the likes of Commando, Contra, Rambo and RoboCop.
Commando Commodore 64 1985
Capcom's Commando coinop of 1985 was ported to Commodore 64 in 1985 by Chris Butler of Japan Capsule Computers for Elite UK.
Commando IBM PC 1986
David Steffen of Quicksilver Software Inc. ported Capcom's Commando coinop of 1985 to IBM PC Booter in 1986. Commando displays in CGA 320x200 (224x128 playfield).
Rambo Commodore 64 1986
Platinum Productions' Rambo: First Blood Part II on the Commodore 64 was impressive in 1986. A run and gun game, Rambo featured 8-way scrolling, movement and firing as well as six weapons, good music and 2-stage destructibility of trees and buildings. You can basically just flatten everything. And that's fun.
Ikari Warriors Commodore 64 1986
SNK's Ikari Warriors was ported to the C64 by John Twiddy of Elite Systems Ltd. Ikari Warriors features good presentation and is much harder than the PC-Booter version; it often displays a dozen on-screen soldiers and several bullets simultaneously, clogging the playfield with action.
Ikari Warriors IBM PC 1986
SNK's Ikari Warriors run and gun coinop of 1986 was converted to IBM PC Booter by Quicksilver Software. Ikari Warriors runs in 320x200 EGA graphics mode, but its vertically-scrolling playing field is only 208x132px, and its audio consists of naught but bleeps and blurps.
That said, this is a great port of the Ikari Warriors coinop in that it employs screen-draw tricks and compression techniques in order to maintain a colorful scrolling viewport, 8-way firing and two firing modes (gun / grenade) on a mere i808x with 256 kbytes of RAM.
The port features keyboard control or 2-button joystick input.
Exolon Commodore 64 1987
Nick Jones ported Exolon to the C64 in 1987 from Raffaele Cecco's original ZX Spectrum version of the same year. Flip-screen run and gun.
Alien Syndrome Commodore 64 1988
Tim Rogers ported Sega's Alien Syndrome coinop of 1987 to the C64 in 1988.
Rambo 3 Commodore 64 1988
Ocean ported Taito's Rambo 3 coinop to most 8 and 16 bit micros, but I prefer the C64 version. Rambo 3 is a three-stage top-down flip-screen run and gun game that features a separate inventory screen and one dozen items and four different weapons. Movement and firing is 8-way. There is also a sprite-scaling, OpWolf-style level.
Robocop Commodore 64 1988
Data East's RoboCop coinop of 1988 was ported to C64 by John Meegan in 1988. The RoboCop movie came out in 1987.
Zamzara Commodore 64 1988
Released in 1988, Jukka Tapanimaki's Zamzara is one of the best run and gun games on the Commodore 64. Zamzara features precise controls, silky-smooth parallax scrolling and H.R Giger-like sprites and backdrops. In addition, the soundscape is solid.
C64 original.
Contra IBM PC 1988
John Siegesmund of Banana Development ported Konami's Contra coinop of 1986 to IBM PC in 1988. Contra is displayed in 4-color CGA or 16-color CGA+ 320x200. Choppy scrolling. The in-game setup menu is displayed in 640x400.
Commando Amiga 1989
Capcom's Commando coinop of 1985 was ported to 8 and 16 bit micros from 1985 to 1989 by Elite. This is the 1989 Amiga version whose graphics are bland, washed-out and lack the basic details of the original coinop. The Amiga is capable of so much more than this:
Rambo 3 IBM PC 1989
John Siegesmund of Banana Development ported Taito's Rambo 3 coinop of 1989 to IBM PC in 1989. Rambo 3 is a three-stage top-down flip-screen run and gun game that features a separate inventory screen and one dozen items and four different weapons. Movement and firing is 8-way. There is also a sprite-scaling, OpWolf-style level.
Rambo 3 runs in 16-color VGA 320x200 (not 256-color), 16-color 320x200 EGA, 16-color 320x200 TGA or monochrome Hercules 720x350. It supports IBM, Adlib, CMS and Tandy 3-channel audio.
Robocop IBM PC 1989
Data East's RoboCop coinop of 1988 was ported to IBM PC by FACS Entertainment Software Inc. in 1989. The RoboCop movie came out in 1987.
Alien Syndrome IBM PC 1989
HSP of SEGA Enterprises Ltd. ported Sega's Alien Syndrome coinop of 1987 to IBM PC MS-DOS in 1989. The port is coded well and displayed in EGA graphics mode. Audio-visuals by Tahir Rashid.
Robocop Atari ST 1989
Peter Johnson's 1989 Atari ST and Amiga ports of Data East's Robocop coinop of 1988 constitute an early run and gun blockbuster.
Midnight Resistance Commodore 64 1990
Robbie Tinman of Special FX / Ocean Software ported Data East's Midnight Resistance coinop of 1989 to C64 in 1990. This is another solid port with good gameplay, audio-visuals and presentation. Midnight Resistance is a run and gun game that scrolls both horizontally and vertically. It features 8-way movement and 8-way firing as well as climbing, crawling and jumping. You collect keys to unlock different weapons and specials.
Graphics by Ivan Davies. Sound & music by Keith Tinman.
Navy SEALS Commodore 64 1990
Navy SEALS was coded for the C64 by John Meegan of Ocean Software in 1990.
Super Contra IBM PC 1990
Eric Freytag of Distinctive Software Inc. ported Konami's Super Contra coinop of 1988 to IBM PC in 1990. Super Contra is displayed in 16-color EGA 320x200. Choppy scrolling. Graphics by DSI Art Team.
Midnight Resistance Amiga 1990
Special FX Ltd. ported Data East's Midnight Resistance run and gun coinop of 1989 to ST/Amiga in 1990. Midnight Resistance turned out to be one of the few decent ports of shooter coinops to 16 bit micros. However, the ST version was much brighter and clearer than the dimmed Amiga version. But the ST version employed awful "catch-up" scrolling and lacked in-game music. Here is the Amiga version with the WHDLoad brightness fix:
While the (fixed) Amiga version is a solid port of the original, Midnight Resistance on the Amiga could have been much, much better. And the WHDLoad fix basically saves the port's legacy because no one is going to play a 34 year-old dimly-lit computer game in 2024.
Alien Breed Amiga 1991
Mercs Amiga 1991
Then, in 1990-91, Tiertex ported Capcom's sequel to Commando, Mercs, to 8 and 16 bit micros. Again, here is the 1991 Amiga version which lacks the smooth scrolling and responsive controls of the original coinop, as well as many of its details:
Both Commando and Mercs are top-down run and gun games that failed to impress me back in the day, let alone in 2024.
Cannon Fodder Amiga 1993
Sensible Software's Cannon Fodder is a mouse-driven point-and-click run and gun game originally coded for the Amiga. Cannon Fodder employs a modified engine of Sensible Software's English Football Computer Games.
As one the highlights of the Amiga-games catalogue Cannon Fodder features smooth scrolling, precise controls, great graphics and excellent music and sound effects.
Cannon Fodder was designed by Jonathan "Jops" Hare and coded by Jools Jameson. Its graphics were drawn by Stoo Cambridge and its audio was assembled by Richard Joseph and Allister Brimble.
Cannon Fodder was ported to ST, MS-DOS and Archimedes. Offering more of the same, Cannon Fodder 2 was released in 1994 on Amiga and MS-DOS only.
The Chaos Engine Amiga 1993
cf.
- History of Shoot 'em Ups 1976-2000
- TRS-80 Shoot 'em ups Listed in Chronological Order
- Amiga Shoot 'em ups Listed in Chronological Order
- Commodore 64 Shoot 'em ups Listed in Chronological Order
- IBM PC Shoot 'em ups Listed in Chronological Order
- Invader-likes: clones and ports of Taito's Space Invaders 1978
- Galaxian-likes: clones and ports of Namco's Galaxian 1979
- Asteroids-likes: clones and ports of Atari's Asteroids 1979
- Defender-likes: clones and ports of Williams' Defender 1981
- Scramble-likes: clones and ports of Konami's Scramble 1981
- Galaga-likes: clones and ports of Namco's Galaga 1981
- Robotron-likes: clones and ports of Vid Kidz's Robotron 1982
- Xevious-likes: clones and ports of Namco's Xevious 1982
- Gravitar-likes: clones and ports of Atari's Gravitar 1982
- Gyruss-likes: clones and ports of Konami's Gyruss 1983
- Gradius-likes: clones and ports of Konami's Gradius 1985
- Salamander-likes: clones and ports of Konami's Salamander 1986
- R-Type-likes: clones and ports of Irem's R-Type 1987
- Western Computer-game Machines
- History of Computer Games 1976-2024
- History of 1990s Computer Games
- cRPG Blog (Master Index)
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