Bionic Commando Rearmed hit Xbox Live and PSN last week, so in honor of this special occasion, this week’s $20 GOTW and Lost Classics will take a special look at the new game, as well as a previous entry in the series. Enjoy!

In 1987, Capcom released an arcade game called Top Secret, which we over here would know it as Bionic Commando. It was a side-scrolling platformer in which the protagonist used a grappling arm to traverse the game’s 4 levels. It wasn’t a terrible game, but it was nothing special. When an NES sequel, which was known in Japan as Top Secret: Hitler’s Revival was released the following year however, that was when the series really took off. Players took control of Nathan ‘Radd’ Spencer, who was sent behind enemy lines to rescue Super Joe from the Imperialist Nazis who sought to resurrect Adolf Hitler. Players traveled through several stages to uncover the enemy’s plan and stop them. [Read the rest of this entry…]

Following up the amazing news of Mega Man 9 being released in September, it appears that the folks at Capcom are starting even more hype to lead into the release. They’ve announced that the original Mega Man game will be released for the Virtual Console starting tomorrow, Monday August 4th. They also plan to re-release Mega Man 2 in early September.

Both games were originally released for the NES and Famicom in 1987 and 1988 respectively. Mega Man 2 had previously been released in Europe for the Virtual Console back in December of 2007.

Time to get back into playing the pixel goodness and reliving your childhood.

Though E3 thus far seems to be slightly more lackluster than previous years, it seems some diamonds are still managing to shine through the layer of mediocrity that has so far been shown.

Some rather impressive Resident Evil 5 footage has been shown out of E3, and while IGN has some clips to show off of the game along with a tentative release date of March 19th 2009, Gamersyde comes through with some high-resolution video for your viewing pleasure. Due to some bandwidth issues on their part, we’re unable to directly stream the video from here, but feel free to check out the videos *HERE*

Thus far, what we see is some good single-player action featuring good ol’ Chris Redfield, including tangles with the disgruntled locals, as well as some nasty confrontations with a rather imposing individual wielding a hulking sledgehammer/axe ready to bash your brains in. We also see some co-op play with your lovely female compatriot Sheva Alomar. From what I can tell, the environment and gameplay is strikingly similar to what we saw in Resident Evil 4, though game producer Jun Takeuchi states that enemies won’t be like the Ganados, and will be more intellegent.

This might be all we see of the game until it’s release next year, but so far everything is looking A-OK as far as living up to hype.

Today is the 4th of July, where America celebrates its independence. There are few things that symbolize America more than the defenders of the old west, the cowboy. Okay, there is apple pie, but to my knowledge, there haven’t been many video games made about apple pie. Anyway, in honor of America’s birthday, this week’s $20 GOTW and Lost Classics will take a special look at some classic 8 and 16-bit games taking place in the wild wild west. So saddle on up, and mosey on down to your favorite game shop and seek out these games pardner!
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Good News: Nintendo Power has confirmed that Mega Man 9 is not only a reality, but coming to WiiWare as a retro-awesome throwback to the NES days. The BBPS has scans straight out of the magazine showing the series has abandoned all Zs and Xs and visual upgrades.
But lets dial back a bit: The original leak from the Austrailian ratings board a month or so ago said Mega Man 9 had been rated as a “multiplatform” title. Capcom’s comment? “NP only has part of the story. More to be learned later.” Capcom’s hearty support of Microsoft and Sony’s download services with Street Fight HD Remix, Wold Of The Battlefield, and Bionic Commando suggest they’re not above sharing this with all consoles.
I suppose you want to know who the new robot masters are and I’ll tell you: Magma Man, Galaxy Man, Jewel Man, Concrete Man, Hornet Man, Plug Man, Tornado Man, and Splash Woman.
I just hope the music is up to par.

Capcom has announced a new 3rd person action adventure game for Wii that quite frankly looks like real fun. They’re going for an 80s afternoon cartoon vibe, complete with minigames taking place of commercial breaks. Spyborgs doesn’t have much to show yet (just this trailer and a press release after the break), but the new team Bionic Games has members who worked on some of the biggest games of the last few years, including members of Insomniac (Ratchet & Clank) and Activision (Tony Hawk, Call Of Duty).
Game comes out next year, but a goofy over the top action game is always welcome.

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This is the sequel to Capcom’s Rival Schools: United by Fate, one of the most underrated 3-d fighting games ever. Before Bully, Rival Schools and Project Justice made use of a high school setting, risking post some serious post-Columbine controversy. Thankfully, there was no big uproar, as the game was off-beat and hilarious instead of simply being violent. It made use of the same unique gameplay as its predecessor, and its presentation made served to make it one of the most unique fighting games available.
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The above video with 1UP’s Dan Hsu shows some of the changes Capcom has made to the Xbox Live and Playstation Network remake of Super Street Fighter II Turbo.
Taking a page out of Halo 3’s playbook, SSFIITHDR will have an Xbox Live beta test featuring just Ryu and Ken packed in with a purchase of Capcom’s next XBLA offering Commando 3. Its an 8 week test this spring, and the final Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix will be out in summer.