Commando

Commando

+ Fast and frantic gameplay
+ Top notch Hubbard score

- frequent visual glitches and slowdowns
- quite short and feels rushed at places

7/10

Another misleading conversion by Elite; as with Ghosts 'n Goblins, you got a really nice looking game resembling the arcade, smooth gameplay and top-notch music by Hubbard, but it's got only three levels! After playing it a few times, you could easily complete it in about 4 minutes. Definitely a bit of a rip-off operation from Elite, that most people seem to hold rose-tinted memories of mainly thanx to nostalgia.

Driving music and fast arcade action. Commando is a C64 classic arcade conversion, if only missing a number of levels. (Elite would pull this stunt again with cut-down versions of 1942, Ghosts'n'Goblins, and Space Harrier unfortunately).
The game starts out being quite difficult, but with some persistence, the player will get the hang of it and then easily romp through all three areas - making the game disappointingly short and repetitive. Graphically it's competent despite the glitches, but it's Rob Hubbard's music that gets a 10/10.

This 1985 release is the best version of Commando, better than the new 2015 rerelease in playability and hands down better than the 86 version, both of which are also great.
The Music composition from Rob Hubbard is incredible and the graphics and gameplay are top notch and make you want to keep playing.

It was fine, but way too easy to beat. I think I did it on my second go, once I realised you could run past a lot of the enemies.

I remember taping the music, then playing Who Dares Wins 2 with the Commando tune blasting out. Much better experience!

It was well received initially but the original conversion was really only half a game and could be completed in around 10 minutes; not to mention that I personally didn't rate the original arcade game much. I think this is another game with an unjustified reputation but Rob Hubbard did a great job with the music conversion.

As a kid I always thought this was based on the Arnold Schwarzenegger film Commando but didn't follow the movie plot. Probably because I had Rambo first blood part 2 and jumped to conclusions. A pretty good little game here, it did not take long to clock. Special mention goes to Rob Hubbard tune which is pretty awesome.

Its all been said before so I'll just say I enjoyed it for what it was at the time, despite the missing levels, glitching, bugs etc etc but it could have been better.
Music was superb and very memorable though.

@swuthmaster You like sh#tting on people don't ya ? Why you hating on chris butler ? Is it cause his games are better than your horsesh#t lol

Fast, great music, but too short and easy to finish. Shame, as it is/was a good fun shoot-em-up. Had a real arcade feel to it too. This was the first game that introduced me to the musical talents of Rob Hubbard - what an exhilerating theme tune!

Gameplay Video Link:
youtube.com/watch?v=ABdAsEYp4-Q

This game was good but too short imho I'll admit I like the Atari 7800 version more but this is still one of the better C64 games I own

I know it's been said many times but this game is just too darn small. The fact that it only has 3 levels meant that I was only prepared to give 6 out of 10.

Just checked the release date of this on Crash.
They are talking about games for Christmas there.

So probably this game was another victim of "Let's get this rushed out by Christmas! ".
In this case Christmas 1985.

Not a bad game by any means.
Just some Levels fell off the bandwagon before the deadline.

Even if the coder had a lack of understanding regarding compression techniques in memory...
Why not utilise multiload?
Most C64 owners had disc drives anyway...
At lease the ones I knew.

Chris Harvey here again!

I did the graphics on this one (taking a break from programming AND graphics on Frank Brunos). We had the arcade game in the office canteen. This was banged out by Chris Butler in 6 weeks. His sprite multiplexer was a bit shit, but it was his 1st pass and there wasn't time for second. Elite pulled out all the stops for this as they were FLUSH with cash that their 45 quid a week monkeys had made them... So in came Rob Hubbard (much to the Chagrin of Mark Cooksey) and Chris Butler.

FUN FACT: I got a "golden joystick" for the graphics on this.

FUN FACT 2

In Germany it was called "Space Invasion" and all the characters were robots, because... Hitler.

FUN FACT 3

It could have had all the levels of the arcade but at the time Chris Butler didn't understand the concept of data compression, so everything was stored 1:1. Even though Neil Bate and I explained it multiple times.

FUN FACT 4:

He still didn't get data compression on Ghosts and Goblins, which is why a bunch of levels were missing from that too.

Nostalgia finished the game and you can download it Commando Arcade and even newer version Commando Arcade Special Edition. The Arcade version has all the 8 lvls, same background, music etc. SE has more updates.

But back to the original: I just LOVE it. I was able to finish it without a poke... And it was a good feeling. I never was a big shoot em'up fan. Yeah played uridiom, this and that, never went crazy about r-type, cybernoid. I loved the tunes so I used pokes for cheat and was listening the musics. This one was different. I know many peps said it's is way to easy etc. Yes but it was my level and I loved it.

I give 10/10 for the gameplay. The rest is not that important, we all know this game didn't fall apart because the bugs kept it together.

Tested version: Remember +5
Tested on: C128 NTSC - OK

Use real hardware for real experience!

One of few arcade conversions on the 8bit systems that didn't look or play too badly.

@Monk. Again! The arcade was a great machine for the time but Chris Butler and Rob Hubbard squeezed a far superior game into a one one load 4 level game (as opposed to the arcade's six) with two great Hubbard tunes and the game was addictive apart from the busy slow down of the raster effects. Chris Butler done well in the Commy version and went onto other, harder, more superior games. Take Space Harrier and Power Drift. The C64 was never gonnae hit the heights of the arcade masterpiece, but hey ho, he done bloody well.

Rocking music, fast game play and lots happening on screen - but once you beat it, it became rather repetitive and pretty much a case of "more of the same". Similarities with "Rambo 2".

I never adored this type of game, although when I first saw Commando on a friend's C64, it seemed like an exciting game. I'd rather play a space shooter any day anyway.

Still, the graphics felt atmospheric and 'realistic' to me, especially in comparison to the awful cartoon crap in 'Who Dares Wins' games.

However, I learned to complete Commando, and it was kind of fun - someone I knew completed this like 10 times in a row. I never knew it was missing some levels, since I never got very far in the Arcade version, but Commando had a great Hubbard tune (though a bit annoying at parts), some nice playability and atmospheric sceneries.

The new version of this game (a bit of a case of 'too little, too late') is 'expanded' or 'added on' kind of a deal. The title picture is pretty cool, with a definite "wow"-factor, as in "Wow, I didn't realize C64 could display such great graphics".

But at the same time, the picture is kind of messy and 'over-pixelated'. What I mean is, even on surfaces that could be drawn with a single color, there is a mess of dithered pixels everywhere. The artist also uses black in this picture in a bit annoying way, and the 'sunrise' effect doesn't quite work, because the transition is blocked by the black trees. It's a cleverlyl designed picture, with the tilted grenades using straight lines to produce an illusion of the proper shape. The helmet is a bit fuzzy. So, a great picture, a bit too much dithering perhaps. At the same time, it shows technical and visual skill that I will probably not be able to reach in this incarnation.

As far as the game itself - well, it's... Commando. The 'arcade colors' do not seem to make the graphics look arcade-ish at all, but somehow a bit worse for some reason. The new levels don't really show much new and unique scenery, but more of the same ol' elements that we have already seen.

You still can't throw the grenade to any direction you want, but only straight up (I can't remember how it was in the arcade). I think in the Amstrad or MSX version (can't remember, which), you can use any direction you want.

The new levels don't really add much to the experience, because they don't give new gameplay elements, there's hardly any new graphics (except a couple of dull bunkers etc. ), and a lot of the 'old' graphics are repeated.

Every level now has to be separately LOADED, which pauses the gameplay for a few seconds, breaking the flow that existed in the original.

The sprite flickering is almost gone, so you can't utilize this to your favor anymore and trust that the bullet will flicker out before it hits you, making the game harder.

There are no new enemies (that I can remember), and the 'level complete' animations don't really add much - and they are kind of uninspired-looking and unclear (though my small TV is kinda fuzzy and unclear in itself).

Of course the atmosphere has been changed and broken, now the old tries to exist intertwined with the new, and this kind of thing never sits well with me. The original has still the better atmosphere (of course this is not fair criticism, because how can the wonderful and magnificent eighties atmosphere be recreated in the '10s? It can't. Regardless, it is a fact, and deserves to be mentioned).

As far as the 'new music' - well... Hubbard Classic vs. Some dude without the same musical understanding, inspiration or energy/atmosphere-output trying to effectize the SID - you do the math. Left brain can never beat right brain when it comes to creativity.

So if you don't care about atmosphere, and don't mind waiting inbetween every level, and think basically repeating the same thing a lot with slightly different setup somehow makes the game better than playing the original a few times through in a row, you can probably enjoy this game.

For me, it just felt like the original makers probably thought three levels of this is enough - and after completing all 8 levels, I can wholeheartedly agree.

Eight levels is just too long, when there's no variety, you already get everything you are going to have in the three levels, and the rest of the five is just as much repeating the whole thing as is playing the three levels over again (except the three original levels are more fun).

And even the Hubbard's classic song starts to feel a bit grating when you have to listen to it for eight whole levels.

But as I expressed, this type of game was never really my favorite, so perhaps the remake will make some people extatic, now that the Atari and Spectrum owners can't say that a C64 Commando version doesn't have all the levels.

I give the original version 7/10. The nostalgia remake (see below) is 9/10.

Not bad, if a little rushed. Best check out the remake: Commando Arcade [2014] csdb.dk/release/?id=130973

Had to give this one a score of 9 because of the music and great memories taking turns playing it with friends. I remember the sprites flickering and sometimes the screen not scrolling correctly, but it never took away from the game for me and my cronies. Easy game. Classic C64 game.

Well, we at Nostalgia listened and here it is... The Ultimate version of Commando... Everything you mentioned was fixed now. It is a decade or two too late, but for those that stuck with C64 will have a great time playing this classic now.

Link: csdb.dk/release/?id=130973

An enjoyable game, good intensity and feeling! Especially the music is wonderful!

I would have to say that this is almost too easy though. One or two additional levels could have been added.

Commando for the Commodore 64. The first thing I noticed when I first saw it was the multicolored graphics. It was clearly better looking than the Spectrum version I knew. The second thing was the great music. Not uncommon on the C64 was it? Now the gameplay. Plays OK. I have a feeling the Spectrum version has more shots going on, or at least feels more frantic. The C64 is somewhat sleepy, not that much but the difference is there. The design problem: the C64 Commando has only a very few levels unlike the Spectrum version!!! Big big drawback. You finish the game earlier than you start enjoying it. Technical side: occasional sprites overflow issues (parts of objects disappering - not uncommon on the NES as well) - does not happen at all on Spectrum. Glitches in overall display handling (timing) where the engine probably tries to max out the sprites overkilling the potential and causes the whole screen timing collapse - you will notice it where from time to time the scrolling stutters and the whole playfield and sprites sort of flickers. Quite disturbing to be honest. So overall, do I recommend C64 Commando? Well, yes, it is a good game with nice music. But expect the very short game and partial GFX issues. And definitely have a look at the Spectrum version, trust me. 7/10.

This is one of these conversions that beat the original.

The word to define this game is SPEED.

It was frenetically fast compared to the other home conversions.

It beats the original in that field. However it's a bit too short and graphics could have been better.

Music is good, but too repetitive.

Atari ST and Amiga versions are almost pixel perfect to the original but they seem to lack of "spirit".

On the 8bit side, C64 versión is among the best ones, along the Atari 7800, Atari XE (2007) and NES versions.

XE version is new, so it takes adventage of a better knowledge of the hardware, plus needs 320kb AFAIK.

Atari 7800 version is a really good one, but maybe sound is not the best we have Heard.

NES version is very good either, but as usual, Nintendo changed everything in the game.

C64 is, again, SPEED and ACTION involving more than OK-ish GFX and sound.

Thumbs up for the 64.

C64 Commando is highly playable, the awesome Rob Hubbard in-game music keeps pushing you forward. Graphics are a bit blocky but do the trick. However, as other have mentioned already, the Commie conversion is way too short. The arcade version has four missions with four areas each, the C64 conv only three measly levels. This never stopped me from loving and playing it to bits and pieces and I still do, games like Commando simply never get old. 8/10.

Frustrating game, brilliant main tune though.

This is the game that I fell in love with. I was 10 at the time of its release and thought I could program the same game if I ever wanted to. That day I started learning programming and... 10/10

Very easy game to complete (even clock). Still, I always enjoyed playing it and I loved the music, including the hi-score theme.

Is this game based off the movie Commando?

Awesome, classic game! Even grew fond on it's bugs and glitches. Action is totally hectic, so when I was in the mood I used to take a seat and run six times trough it's 3 levels. Hadn't even noticed this limitation, specially back then after seeing Platoon on big screen. I was rushing around full of adrenaline cursing and swearing...

The music is amazing! But my favourite thing about this game is it so playable! One can just pick up a joystick and go for it!

Great game with great music, but why is it only 3 levels??? And when you have completed all those three levels, it's no more challenging.

Two ways to look at this. On the one hand a poor conversion as only having 3 levels made the whole thing clockable within 5 minutes (a disgrace even for that era of £9. 95 gaming) But on the other hand it is incredibly playable, faster and more compulsive than the arcade version and actually I prefered the graphics on the C64 to the arcade machine. (and the music added tons)
So, I suppose completely lacking in substance, but still fun for a quick blast. Maybe 25 years on the laughable lack of levels is less of an issue, as lets face it, most of us like to flit through a number of old classics in one little emulation gaming session from time to time, so perhaps it matters less.

Cool, sure, but not one of the top's imo.

Graphics: 65
Sound: 78
Gameplay: 72

Yyyyeeeeeessss !!
An another of my favourite games! Awesome!
One of the best shooters of all time, I finished this game very times!

One of the best game music ever! Didn't play it much. But the music was spread in the scene by crackers, demotunes etc. Iirc

I prefer the graphics of who dares wins II, but the action performed here (more accured to the original) and Rob hubbard's brilliant tune on this one it's simply amazing!!! Great game, forever a classic.

Way too easy and also too short! Gameplay's good, but it just doesn't hook me. The music ROCKS!! 6/10

Conversion: Atari XL/XE -->> atarimania.com/detail_soft.php?MENU=8&VERSION_ID=1153

Excellent. It's a lousy arcade conversion with only an interpretation of the original's music, some of the levels and some of the gameplay; but what that gives you is an excellent Rob Hubbard soundtrack outscoring the original, and pure shoot-em-up arcade gameplay with no crap.

On the downside: It's going to be either way too difficult, or way too easy. There isn't really any middle ground. And if it's too easy, eventually you'll discover an uinfortunate bug where your grenade counter wraps around like the score counter. Very owch.

Quite possibly one of the best shooters of all time, though - at the very least on C64!

We all know that this is pure classic. Nice graphics, great music (in terms of composition, it could sound better), really good gameplay. It is buggy, though. Flashing sprites are really annoying. It could be much longer, too. That's why only 7 for gameplay and the game.

ps. For me the second level -at least the end gate- is much harder than the last one. Anyone agree?

Too short to get more than 8 points. But one of the best arcade games for the C64. The gameplay is better than the arcade machine.

A great game! Remember playing this in the arcades and later on the 64. A great conversion indeed!!!

Fantastic!!! A bit too short... Well, not just a bit
But it's very playable, it catch all your attention all over the game.

Rob Hubbard Smily

I ran through this game 67 times without getting a game over.

The music never got repetitive... Hubbard is god!

One of the top 10 Commodore 64 games ever!

Another Classic!

Remember the music to this one, simply fantastic and quite hectic just like the game action. Well worth booting up your emulator for!

Always a good blast

It was damn fun! To me, slighty better than Ikari Warrior, and 10000 times better than Rambo series.

I take back my last comment. After playing this game some more I realize how good it is. There is indeed something magic about this game. It gets me pumped up and my heart racing. The excellent Hubbard music offsets the average only graphics. Changing my vote to 8/10

It's really not that good of a game at all. I remember it being OK 20 years ago, but I recently played it again and was disappointed. The music is OK but gets old quickly. Too many other great games out there. This is hardly a 'classic'. I'm being GENEROUS and giving it a 6/10.

Hmm... I may be in the minority here in the sense that I didn't care for the music, it got on my nerves rather quickly. This game is pretty much run & shoot. Similar to the "iron man race" in Combat school but much easier on the hands. Overall, not a bad game.

It's time someone adds the missing levels to the game

Great game, bit easy though.
just weren't enough levels.
Hubbards tune was all class.

One of Mr Hubbards best compositions imho. The game was just OK with a few annoying sprite glitches but it was playable enough. Was a lot shorter than the arcade though.

By far one of the best games I ever played on the Commodore 64, even with the very short third level.
I remember put my machine on the floor when I played so I could grenade with my foot and not lose any control of the joystick.

First game in this genre I played, so it has sentimental value. Ikari Warriors is much better indeed.

Who Dares Wins II is much better than this was. I have to agree that this conversion was very poor, it could have been done, and if Elite had the guts to make it a disk multiload then we could have had all the levels improved graphics etc... Play the arcade version of this instead, it really is far superior in every way. I'll not say there was no playability, but it certainly was a rather hollow affair. I can't believe how well this has been received, no offence, but I guess there is a lot to say for the power of nostalgia!

Who dares wins is shit. THIS is lenght better! The music is godly.

Superb. 9 out of 10

Crap game. No lastability compared with the intense and sophisticated green beret and the epic adventure that was ikari warriors. Had it, finished it, forgot about it. I'm still playing green beret today, and there's so much more to ikari. Lazy conversion. 8/10 playability, 5/10 overall.

Commande was a terrific game until I got a copy of Who dares wins. But anyway it is a good game with feeling
rating 8

"Commando" was good but "Who dars wins" was better ;-P

The music for the bit where you enter your name for the high score table was brilliant. I still think Ikari warriors was a much better game.

I agree with Mr_viper89, this deserves at least a 9, could of got 10 has this been bug-fixed before release, but classic by all means.

Awesome music!!!
Great action game and deserves at least 9/10

The soundtrack is possibly the best on any game... Ever!

Simple concept, but a classic.

Great music (both in game music and when you enter your name for the hall of fame), one of the best soundtracks in the C64 gaming scene.

Though easy, this game rules! I still remember my highscore, though it's been nearly 15 years since I set it. 1. 212. 500 and more than 255 grenades! (yeah, I know the counter resets after 999999)

Easy but fun.

Like The Down and Out said.

Too easy. Nice game but not challenging at all. It was the first game in its kind I've ever played, so it was a trendsetter.

Embrace the bugs. Embrace the disturbingly easy to complete levels. And embrace the fantastic feeling of blowing up dudes with grenades found behind trees and trench walls.
A great game, simplistic and with all the factors which make a good game great-cool tunes, addictive qualities and lots of 'evil do-ers' to wipe out. An all time classic!

A classic game and a must have for all collectors

I love this game, folks! And unlike the rest of you out there... I *NEVER* once completed this game. I loved it, though... In fact, I'd go so far as to say I prefer it to the arcade (MAME) version! Yes, the sprites were slow and as flickery as the remastered version of "Star Wars: A New Hope", but that just added to the overall charm! Even the sound effects (esp. Picking up the grenades) that displaced the music... Just AWESOME! And the title theme still stands as my all time fave SID tune. This game is vertical-action personified. In a cassette. Oh, one question... What's that sci-fi type thing that flies up the screen at the start of Level Two?

All-time-classic!
overall 10/10

Buggy but great music.
Isn't that the Beatles!?

So easy it's a joke - I beat it on my first go and made my commando commit suicide out of boredom in the end. Crap "flikkery" graphics as well. Good tune tho...

Best C64 game ever my arse, most overrated C64 game more like. Apart from Hubbards music nothing about this disgustingly small rip off of a game was particularly great. Even the Spectrum version had a couple more levels.

I use to have this, but I lost it. Anyways It's a good game, music is good so is the graphics and sounds.

The best C64 game ever... No more no less! GREAT soundtrack!!!

I cant believe this game isn't in the top 25! You think of C64 you think of Commando. The game might have been mega blocky, small and easy but with Hubbards soundtrack that kicked ass you just couldn't stop playing it. AHH! The memorys

Best game ever.
Best soundtrack ever.
'nuff said!

Great game! Wonderfull soundtrack!

If I remember correctly, the alternate 'Commando'-version called 'Space Invasion' that was released in Germany, featuring extraterrestial rather than human soldiers, did not have the flickering sprite-bug. I also felt that the new soldier-sprites, which wore a whitish full-body armour (hmm, actually almost like the Clones from Episode II... ), looked much better.

Apart from the brilliant music this game was crap. Far too small and far too easy. I finished it in no time.

Yeah, Commando!!! (Which I had in L. M. Cassette as "Commando" And yes, I agree with you all, this game has also great Rob Hubbard music!! But pity it has less levels than the other ones.

Summarizing, too much fun, too short, too many bugs, the usual, absurd, exciting Hubbard!
7/10

Music made the game... Graphics weren't too bad... More bugs that a $2 salad though.

Classic.

What a brilliant game. Excellent graphics, super mega great Rob Hubbard music and ultra fun to play. Gets a bit too easy after a while but what the heck... It IIIIIIS so GREAT !!!

Cool game my favourite as a young spud! No to hard thou and a bit short !

Great music, great game. I still find myself humming the theme tune even today! My vivid memory of this game was getting up about 2 hours before going to school to playing it, completing it about 9 times on the trot and having to be torn away from it to actually go to school! I could have played it forever regardless of its ease!

True Classic! Became far too easy and still is today. Countless Bugs, Great Music, Excellent Gameplay. I just thought the game was a bit too
short. As you can complete the 3 stages in about 5 mins!

Excellent! Turn off the lights and it's just like playing an arcade game.

Fun game, but it was too easy.

I always thougt my copy was bad: music ends weird and gamplay sometimes isn't fluent... Now I know it's the way it supposed to :-(
however: great music!! & gameplay!

A lot of fun in this game!
Great musik and gfx.
OK, the game is too easy when you have completed 100 times. Anyway, it must be on the top 50 list for sure!

I wonder 'bout jimats comment... To me it is a fucking hard game, but maybe THIS is the reason that this is my ultimate nr. I...

Wicked game - great graphics, sound and playability. But too easy! I could complete the whole game - only 3 levels - without shooting a singlw bullet!! Only hard part was the bit at the end without shooting but if you avoided everyone for a while (and their bullets) they eventually dissapeared. Great game - but too easy!

Yes, yes yes!!!
I loved it!!!
I hated it!!!
I was allways to slow...
but it was sooooo good... And the Music... Yep. It really stunned me...

Great game: gameplay + music + graphics. All is perfect! One of my favourite C64 action games.

This game was the reason to me to buy a C=64 !!!

The slow-downs had helped to complete this cute game again&again in one session!
Played it 9-times - about 30 lives ... ;v)

On your knees to listen to the master's genious ingame-music!

FUN game! And one of the greatest, most memorable tunes on the C64... Rob Hubbard is a genius!

Many bugs, but great gameplay! Superb!

Far better in the C64's version that in the original arcade version.

It was the great game Commando what started the greatness of the Commodore 64. But im annoyed who release Commando 2.

One of the most memorable games on the C64, although faaaar too easy to complete (and many, many times in one session... ), and had only a couple of levels from the original coin-op. Still, the classical tunes by Rob Hubbard alone make this worth playing over and over again.

The game is alright. Too easy to beat @ just three levels. The music does rock though. Play Last Ninja 2 and download the SID of this game instead.

LATER BRO!
-RAJ S. & RODZ

I have been playing the game for 15 years, is that enough? C64 rulez!

Well I thought it was a good 'un. Pre Rambo & addicyive for its time. A great tune from the master of the game music meastro Hubbard... - a rootin shootin great time was had by all - ENJOY!

Decent graphics, classic music by Hubbard.
Very good gameplay. A classic, this one,
worth to play.

Used to fuel "who can complete it the most number of times without getting bored and switching it off" competitions with my mates. And who can't recall the charged-up theme song or the heart-rending final tune as you entered yer initials? Classic.

Slated on release but you cant ignore that its a blast to play - easy to pick up and mindless fun - Fantastic Rob Hubbard Tune - definatly in my top 5 of his collection. So the sprites dissapear - so what - it adds to the charm - have fun people

remix.kwed.org
---
Find here the best remix of a C64 song: THE ROB HUBBARD'S EXCELLENT COMMANDO'S HIGHSCORE SONG (Look for "INTERMENCO MIX" by "HALUDZA"

10!
One of the best game of Chris Butler! And the sound is good too:-)

What's here isn't so bad - but what happened to all the other levels from the coin-op?

Over rated and full of bugs. I'd give it about seven though as it was a decent blast.

Too easy, at least the Spectrum one had more levels

Super game !!!

Not a bad conversion, but surely could've been done better

Fun shoot-em-up with a few imperfections(sprites dissapear, game slows done) but always plenty of action.
Best game on the C64!