Cabal Longplay (C64) (USA) [50 FPS]
15Developed by Interactive Designs and published by Capcom in 1990.
Having just longplayed the European release by Special FX, I said I'd do the USA version for comparison.
Everything that was great about the European version is missing from this version. I apologise now if the developers stumble across the video and read my description, but this version really is pitiful when compared to Special FX's effort.
There's so much wrong with this version that it's hard to know where to start.
First up is the fact that the barricades at the bottom of the screen do not block enemy bullets and are purely there for aesthetic purposes; they cannot be destroyed.
There is no indication as to which parts of the background are destructible, usually very little. What there is seems to randomly explode, even if the player is shooting at a completely different part of the screen.
The tanks pose no threat whatsoever. Their turrets might swivel to face the player, but they never fire...ever! I can only assume that the programmer forgot to include this feature.
Enemy bullets are incredibly hard to see, especially gunfire from the attack choppers, which is nigh-invisible. Soldiers occasionally adopt a stance where they appear to be throwing a grenade, but none is ever thrown.
There is no sound to speak of in the game apart from the (very poor) gunfire coming from the player's weapon. The game is completely devoid of music, but it would be terrible if there was any, so we should be thankful for small mercies!
Perhaps the most inexcusable issue with the game is the fact that the game ends abruptly when loading a new stage, simply showing the words "Game Over" to the player. I had no choice but to use level skip cheats to finish the game so as to complete each level individually; this explains why my score and grenade count keep changing.
The only thing of merit is the background artwork, which does look quite good. That's the only thing positive i can say about the game.
Having seen how poorly the US version of Bionic Commando faired against the superlative European version, perhaps I shouldn't have been so surprised by the outcome. Nevertheless, this was released as a commercial product and customers looking for a solid conversion of the arcade version would have been bitterly disappointed with this.
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