Bionic Commando

Bionic Commando's hook is what it refuses to do: your soldier cannot jump. Movement means firing a grapple arm at ceilings and platforms and swinging across gaps, which turns every screen into a small physics puzzle.

The hero, Ladd Spencer, is dropped behind enemy lines to rescue a captured commando and stop an imperial army's secret weapon. Progression is mapper than it looks - you fly between sectors in a helicopter, and some areas are gated behind communicators you have to use, plus optional neutral zones that hand out extra lives and weapon upgrades if you clear their challenges. The Japanese original tied its villain to Hitler's revival; the English release rewrote the dialogue around a generic 'Master-D'.

• ▸No jump - all movement is grapple-based swinging
• ▸Sector map with helicopter travel and gated areas
• ▸Communicator, neutral-zone and wire-tapping systems
• ▸Three weapon types plus a rocket launcher, each useful in different terrain