Which Version of Commando Did I Rank No.1?
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- Опубліковано 20 січ 2025
- In this video, I will be ranking 13 various ports of the 1985 Capcom arcade classic - Commando. This ranges from home micro computers as well as consoles.
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#capcomgames #c64 #amiga #zxspectrum #atarist #16bitgaming #32bit #retrogaming #retrogames #justjamie
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The C64 SID chip music is legendary!
Incredible how it was originally going to be better but ran out of time. I like the sound of both revisions but some people are fussy.
my favourite newest channel. Been a gamer since the 70s so loving all these ports videos especially the speccy ones.Dont suppose you've looked at gauntlet yet
Hey there, thank you. Gauntlet has been requested lots. Watch this space and remember to keep notifications turned on 😀
@JustJamie1983 will do
I'm a Yank and I really want to get my hands on the New Speccy. With the differences in power supplies and video standards importing a real one wasn't really an option. You can get them to work here but it's a pain to do so.
If you can get one. Get a Retro Games LTD "The Spectrum". Other than that. Google around for zx spectrum new motherboard clones. Their is a lot around to look at. You will likely come across Soviet era clones. Not these ones.
chuck the egg,horace,manic miner,etc etc
This has quickly become my favourite channel
Awww, thank you. It's always great to hear positive feedback.
Same! I love seeing old games AND old consoles (especially the difference, unlike new gen)
I had this on amstrad , ST and then Amiga. Loved it. Another beloved game circa 1985 was “who dares wins”
Ah that was pretty much a clone..good though.
A little message of encouragement to tell these videos are ultra cool
Thank you very much. They are time consuming admittedly but fun at the same time, plus they seem to be loved by a lot of people.
A visit to the arcade was something you did on holiday or they'd have the odd one or two at various lesiure orientated venues or when the fun fayre came about so i remember this mainly from the speccy! If we did manage to get near an arcade it would be something we'd buzz off for days😂 good times though. Great videos pal👌
Thank you. Seems most of us only played arcade games whilst on holiday. Thought i was the only one.
The first time I played Commando was on NES at my best friend’s cousin’s house it was so much fun taking turns 😊😊😊😊😊
Hi!. Thanks for the video Jamie. When i played Commando on my Amiga was a wonderful Arcade expirience, what a great port! 🤩👌
Glad you enjoyed it!
I played the NES and Arcade versions. Both good fun. I always thought these games would play better if your character strafed when you held down the fire button.
So glad I found this channel!! Good fun looking back at some of these ports I played as a kid
Ah, it's nicely hidden away for now.
I have only played arcade at a Laundromat when I was a kid and of course the Capcom Arcade Classics with invincibility enabled haha.
For me it will always be the arcade version and NES version.
Nice job sir!!!
Great music on the Amstrad version. In Germany it was known as Space Invasion and had a sci fi change because of war sensitivity
I had the Apple2e version of this. I found that infinitely spawning enemies and a taped down button = infinite lives. It just looped endlessly if you beat it.
Good video enjoyed it keep them coming
Hey, thanks. Glad you are enjoying them 😀
BBC Micro/Acorn version did wonders with 32K of memory
Absolutely.
Great vid! Liked and subscribed! Always nice to see games in which the 7800 holds it's own against the NES and it's strangle hold on the North American gaming market in the 1980s. The two consoles are actually pretty comparable in terms of hardware specs. I doubt you'll ever compare ports of Ballblazer, but the 7800 version absolutely destroys the NES version including the sound and music thanks to the Atari POKEY chip in the game cartridge. Commando 7800 is the only other game aside from modern homebrew that uses the POKEY chip. Otherwise, for the sake of backwards compatibility (and probably cost) the sound hardware of the 7800 is the same as the sound hardware that was used in the 2600.
I personally love it when other systems rather than the obvious Nintendo or Sega gets destroyed. It's happened a good few times so far in this series.
It's indeed a rare win for the 7800!
@ralang999 100% but worth its place.
Great video...great game...my favorite game of this type was Who Dare Wins 2 on the c64.
Hey, thanks for watching 👀
this a cool channel .. i luv the comparisons..cant wait too see more.
Thanks. Have you seen the rest in my playlist?
@@JustJamie1983 i just seen the final fight comparaion..i liv final fight back in the day.. i thiught might final fight be in the video but inguess thats a diffent game.
@ootwii yup. A spin off so to speak.
@@JustJamie1983 i wiah i owned a pysical copy if that spin off.
I remember playing a 'bootleg' C64 version where the sprites had been ripped from some other star wars game, it was something unbelievable for the young me.
Keep up these compare lists. I’m loving them. Congrats on an amazing video topic/format
Glad you like them! No intentions of stopping 😀
C64 will always be the winner in my heart, just for the music alone!
Yup. I get what you mean. Have you tried the arcade version?
Acorn Electron owner here 😊. Loved commando when it came out, quite a feat for the time
Absolutely. I appreciate the attempt made on the Beeb/Electron for sure.
I'm surprised it looked as good as it did for the Electron, it could most things the BBC Model B could do including operating at a much higher resolution than other 8 bit computers at the time like the C64, but it wasn't really a very good gaming computer and it ran considerably slower than it's more expensive big brother due to having much slower RAM access speeds on a smaller data bus to save costs, many games only ran at half the speed.
The Electron was a great machine for it's time, as you say it wasn't the best for gaming due to it's painfully slow ram and other concessions made to get the price down from it's BBC model B big brother. It did run a good version of Elite though iirc. And those (for the time) hi res graphics were a real step up in clarity from the spectrum.
NES port is my fav because Capcom added stuff like the underground bunkers
My first taste of commando was on the BBC micro, which I loved as I was unaware of the original game so I didn't know any better lol.
Likely the case for many haha
Played Speccy and C64 versions back in the day. Kind of a frustrating gane. I preferred Rambo. Cheers for the ongoing uploads ❤ Now subscribed ❤
Hey, welcome aboard 😀
You should have played the BBC version, it may look just like the Electron but it doesn't play like it, it's much better.
The saturn capcom generation version is the closest arcade comparison ive seen for this port this and ghost n goblins.
Spectrum version first then after Christmas 87 my ST😘😘
Big upgrade indeed.
I had the amstrad version. One of my favorite amstrad games. Great nostalgia seeing it here. Loved commando arcade.
Although it's not strictly commando I think Sega master system secret command is great and a good commando equivalent.
Yeah. I remember that, never played it though.
I had 'who dares wins' on the C64, I'm sure it was just commando with a different opening title graphic and case.
BTW what set of bezels/overlays do you use? Ones I've seen covered too much of the screen but in your videos the "console" sides look pretty nice.
This is through retrobat. Just a case of downloading the bezels from there. It should auto configure for you.
@@JustJamie1983 Thanks, I am using Retroarch on Steam because I launch it and control everything from the couch)
@KasumiRINA ah that's cool
Didnt the c64 version only have 3 stages as opposed to 8? Seem to remember being pretty disappointed about it back in the day, other than that great game
Armstrad CPC?! Sixth place?! That's insane (it looks quite nice too)
ZX Spectrum runs well (despite missing other stuff), the Intellivision is technically impressive (despite being called the worst console by some people)
I would've ranked them a bit higher but this list is pretty reasonable, good stuff
Well measured vid as always mate. I’d have rated that awesome Intelivision and the ZX version a notch higher as they both were beaten by really unoptimised games which feels like a step down. But I’m not mad :)
It's all good 😀
I have the C64 and Atari 7800 versions. Both are fun. By the way, I think the Intellivision controller is better than you would think at first. I prefer it over the ColecoVision controller, the US Atari 7800 and the SG-1000 controllers for sure.
One of the many classic games I missed out on my older brother’s Amiga growing up. I later discovered it in emulation, and can’t argue with your ranking. The Apple II and PC88 versions are also good. One question: for the DOS version, did you get the joystick to work? In emulation, it always malfunctioned for me. I eventually resorted to a keymapper (antimicro) to get it to work. Thanks for the great review!
No probs. Most of the time with DOSbox/Pure. It's a matter of some times randomly getting the inputs that work. Personally. This is through Retroarch where just by pressing F1 brings me to controller menu. I have a fair few guides for dosbox in my computer emulation playlist. As well as Retroarch and Retrobat playlists.
I like the Apple II version of Commando.
Commando on the NES was ok and the only home port I ever played.Ikari Warriors was the game I was obsessed with when I was a kid,I don't know how many ports they did but the NES version was great.
Yup. Ikari was a great shooter around this time too.
Remember, ABBA... but... where did the balls go?!
You are right the Commando Sid is definitely Top 10! Still hum it all the time 4 decades later!
The finest was going to be even better but the creators had a deadline.
Strangely never saw this on Amiga.
Truly loved it on C64 - which of course also had the copycat Who Dares Wins.
Yup. That was an awesome clone.
The first time I was exposed to this game was on the ZX Spectrum. Still have a soft spot for that version.
It's a great conversion, one that I go back to often.
I love the speccy version! Weird to say but I had much more fun with that than C64 version. C64 version was too easy and got boring very quickly despite the better graphics and awesome music.
I have the same feeling with some spectrum games. Much nicer to play.
The 7800 version was superior to the NES. I don't know about the NES version, but the 7800 game has the hidden underground dungeons.With the autofire machine gun and knife powerups, it's a fantastic game.
Played the 64 version a TON! Amiga version is the best one, even though it could have been even better graphically
Thanks for another video. The cpc had a decent port.
It most certainly did my friend.
Very nice review...!
I'd like you to check out the various versions of Yie Ar Kung Fu.
And please consider including the Atari 8 Bitters as well... :)
On the list 😀
@@JustJamie1983
Thanks Jamie.
Im surprised there wasn't a snes and megadrive version of this game.
Mercs, the sequel on Sega MegaDrive/Genesis is sadly only 1 player.
@adamkane7513 still a superb game which I will likely cover too.
Sadly not. Although the MD did have Mercs 😉
Nintendo or Sega possibly thought why put a 1985 Commando arcade game on a 1990, 1991, 1992 Super NES console or on a 1988, 1989, 1990 Genesis/Mega-Drive console i guess it made no sense for them is it going to sell, is it too old? do they keep it as it is? or do they update the audio, graphics, music, sound, visuals?
it surprised me Commando didn’t get a Sega Master System port
Shame there wasn't a port of this on the Colecovision but this does remind me of "Front Line" from that console it also reminds me of Bloody Wolf for the Turbografx-16.
There could well be an after market release? The 2600 has got an active scene..even a demake of Halo!
I remember as a kid being on holiday in Minehead and bumped into a games shop in town. They had a dazzling array of Commodore 16 games I never knew existed. I bought everything I could afford and spent the rest of the holiday eager to get home and play the games. One of them was Commando - it was utterly abysmal and played nothing like the arcade or any other conversions. Nothing more than a shameless cash in. Fully deserves its bottom ranking here.
Discoveries like that were amazing.
I bought the original Commando on the C64, but it would always crash at the same point, I think just after completing the 1st level if I remember rightly, what was odd is every other game on my C64 worked perfectly with no problems whatsoever, I suspected it was a specific problem with my C64 older revision, later I got the C64 swapped and it worked perfectly. It was a shame the conversion only had 3 levels out of the original 8 which was a big loss that I would had mentioned, not sure if all the other conversions only had 3 levels? The modern version you mentioned somehow managed to squeeze in all 8 levels, if they'd achieved that back in the day it would have been incredible.
The c64 port wasn't 100% perfect. I am pretty sure the copy i was playing here had bug fixes etc. Seriously. Try out Commando Arcade.
Loved the c64 version
The 7800 version is the best. The secret areas are superior to the ones on the NES, and the power-ups are really helpful. The music is great too.
Hey, thanks for your comment
Hands down the best speccy game of all time.
Good list and I can't really argue with any of the listings although simply because I had it back in the day I will always hold the Speccy one as quite a good port given its limitations. There is a 128K hack of the game that includes the CPC music intergrated into the game which makes the game even better.
I do think in sheer terms of arcade accuracy the Amiga version just nails it. I played the arcade a bunch back in the day (although I was never much good at it) and when I booted up the Amiga version I was very happily surprised at just how close it was. if I had to nitpick regarding the Amiga version, I think the music volume is too low on it compared to the arcade but that's a minor quibble.
There is a part of me that wonders what would happen if the AMiga version kept all its sound effects and replaced the music with the C64 version (without the music cutting out for sound effects as it does on the c64). I think that combination, whilst not quite as faithful to the arcade, would be a thumpingly good version to own.
Amiga Commando port could be or might be an inferior lazy ST version
Yup. Many will agree with you here. It's not too often Amiga will win everything else but this and a few others are the case.
@@jasonlee7816 I fully believe that, due to the fact that at that point the ST was outselling the Amiga, the Amiga version probably did use the ST version as its base. However I think the scrolling is better on the Amiga, as are the sound effects and the game play area is bigger so whilst it may be an ST port, I wouldn;t call it an inferior one at all. I think it builds on the ST version and improves upon it.
I liked the C16 version though it wasn't great. Ikari Warriors was a great version though.
Very impressed with the 2600 version.
Yup. The 2600 nailed it for sure.
Sega’s Afterburner next. Loads of different versions on Speccy, C64 all the way up to Amiga, Mega Drive etc
Hey, thanks. It's been on the list for a while.
loved the C64 version back in the day, I think I even enjoyed it a little bit more than the arcade. The Apple II also had a pretty good version for its release at the time, better than the C16 version at least.
Thanks for sharing!
I never owned a Commodore 16, but I'm surprised they even attempted it because they had an almost impossible task with just 16K of memory, but that said even the Atari 2600 version was much better even though it looked super cut down as you'd expect.
I grew up playing the speccy one and loved it but the amiga is clearly the winner.
100% nothing wrong with the Spectrum version. A decent enough port there.
I prefer the Commodore 64 version for the music, and Arcade version for the gameplay.
Another Amiga win, it couldn't be a lazy ST port or it would have been virtually identical except slightly slower and perhaps with better sound, but it was scaled smaller closer to the arcade so more was happening on screen at once and it coped well without the horrid slowdown, so it had to have been utilizing it's custom hardware.
I always judge without bias. Breaks my heart some times to think something other than C= plays and looks better. But i don't lie to myself.
The intellivision one is very impressive
That's exactly what I thought too.
You're probably fair in terms of the accuracy. But I'd rank c64 as the best due to the feel and the music (great loading tune too!), and NES above amiga and st due to the power ips!
Haha. I try not to let nostalgia dictate to me when ranking these but I know what you mean.
Great c64 version as u say , but think missing a level or 2
Another great amiga conversion from elite that wasn't just a straight st port
Have u done r type comparison yet , some great home ports
R type was done around 2 weeks back. Look in my playlist pinned.
Tending to have access to both C64 and speccy in our group generally whatever played best got the nod. Normally a tune wouldn't swing it (especially if levels are missing) But Rob Hubbard BETTERS the original arcade theme with one of the best SID tunes ever (my second all time fave behind only Tim Follins Speccy version of Bionic Commando) and missing levels or not the C64 version plays so well
I totally agree. Rob Hubbard made the original sound silly.
The Atari 800 xl 1989 version was pretty good.
Hmmm, was that actually released or just the prototype?
@@JustJamie1983 The Atari 8-Bit version of Commando was fully developed by Sculptured Software for Data East in 1989, but unfortunately the game however was never released.
For ports. Have you done Dig Dug? I would say Ms. Pacman but there might be too many.
Woah. Classic!
Pacman might be an interesting video, especially given the infamy of some of the ports, unless there just weren't enough machines for there to be many ports?
@@varsas10 Dude there are legions of Pacman ports. I have played on Atari 2600 and NES, mostly. I just played it on Google. Lol, they have a free browser version.
@@varsas10 Lol I looked it up, Pacman has like 28 official ports. Doom and Tetris have a ton as well.
Just wondering how you throw a grenade on the atari vcs version
Hold down on fire button.
@JustJamie1983 I see, ingenious
Haha
Commando known it on spectrum computer
Thanks Jamie. Commodore version.
Hey, no probs at all 😀
Commodore Amiga or C64?
I also Did C16 too 😉
@@jasonlee7816 Amiga
How can you get a music copyright strike for the C64 version when it's the same soundtrack as all the other versions?
Likely because it kinda sounds a sound of its own. Totally blows any other versions music out of the water
Out of interest - why in the C64 section did you rave about the amazing music from Rob, but that have section be entirely silent?
Regardless - still a great summary of the Commando ports.
I explained this around the same time as I mentioned the author of the music.
@@JustJamie1983 ahh missed that. Copyright? Bugger.
How can the MSX version rank above the Intellivision and 2600 versions?
Because that's the way i roll.
While I agree that the Amiga version is the closest to the arcade, I can't help noticing that they changed the layout of the first level. In particular, the two guards with the hostage are behind a low wall, rather than a large rock. I know that this doesn't change the gameplay at all, but it makes me wonder why they didn't follow the arcade level. I mean, why does a company make a game to replicate an arcade game as closely as possible, and then decide to make changes to the level?
Personally, i played the C64 version back then. I liked it, but I wasn't very good at it. I had trouble getting past the first level, and never made it very far in the second. I believe the Elite release is missing several of the levels though. That was one of the goals of Commando Arcade, to not only make the game more accurate, but to also add the missing levels.
Absolutely. The C64 port was a beast and fairly difficult too..the Amiga definitely deserved its place in this video. I do notice that most ports - even the very best do have some slight changes. Likely down to space the coders were working with at the time.
@@JustJamie1983 I don't think you can attribute differences in level layouts to any kind of restrictions imposed by the system. I mean, I can understand when games had less colors, or less enemies on the screen, things like that, or even made the levels smaller, but when the levels are the same size as in the arcade, but the layout is simply different, I see no valid reason for the change.
Quite often developers didn't have access to the source code or level data/assets from the arcade original. If they were lucky they got a copy of the machine to play on, but often had to make do with a bunch of video footage of the games in action (which would be VHS and so not easy to pause reliably etc). So a lot of replicating the design was a bit of a "best efforts" approach at trying to replicate things correctly and then hoping nobody noticed any glaring errors.
Yes in 1985 I was 13 years old I played tonnes of games but this one I didn’t like how old were you
I was 2 in 1985. Sadly missed out most of the best era but didn't take me long to catch up. Was knocking around with Micros in the early 90s that I picked up cheap at carboot sales. From everything from Atari XL, Acorn Electrons, Beebs, pretty much everything I could get my hands on.
Why was the c64 music copyrighted?
Because Rob Hubbard copyrighted his version.
I'm just glad the CPC had a decent showing here after doing so poorly in the other games! Everyone knows the Amstrad was the best machine (my mom said so when she bought us one) so I can't understand how these inferior machines keep getting better ports!
Haha, the CPC is like most Micros. If you had a particular one back in the day. You are pretty much of the side of that system for life.
I will never give two shits for ZX Spectrum and Amstrad ports of anything.
Cool
what emulator are you using ?
For which Version?
You know the music is fire when it gets a copyright mute.
Exactly.
I would have ranked the 7800 version higher than the NES.
That's cool. They are both really well done.
For me and objectively the 7800 version is much better than NES the Atari 8 bit computer version would be very close to the 7800 maybe losing out in colors.
Request ….. Ikari Warriors compare list
Trust me. It's on the to-do list. This list is getting out of hand. But. I am happy to do it because this is what's popular for the channel at the moment and having a break from emulation tutorials is awesome.
"Like in those arcade games where you use a mallet whack the things that pop up..." Whack-a-mole? BTW, since you're at it, make comparison for SNK top-down run-n-gun games, Ikari Warriors (NES port is notorious as the best AVGN episode) and Guerrilla War / Guevara. The latter was the first game I finished while playing with parents. Second player is Fidel Castro lmao. And after all that, Contra and Super C/ontra. Famicom version is legit better than the arcade.
It's all coming eventually. This series is just too popular not to do it . Thanks
@@JustJamie1983 You're welcome, and take your time!
Great but you always go on about the c64 sounchip which is annoying in my day I was stuck with the amstrad cpc we couldn’t afford a c64 I lobed the ay chip
I am pretty sure Amstrad had a good sound chip? It's not that it wasn't capable. It was a lack of people wanting to program it. The SID chip was the best. Truly awesome for its time.
Sorry but whilst I love the C64 the original should never have been as high as 3, given you were only on stage 1 you missed its biggest negative, 5 missing stages from the original 8, this coupled with horrendous sprite flicker should have relegated this down to about 5 or 6. The updated arcade version you mentioned fixed the sprite flicker and added the 5 missing levels now that I would rate as possibly the best port even beating out the Amiga. Speccy port deserves to be higher, level design pretty spot on and plays fantastically feeling just like the arcade original.
Hey, thanks for your comment. No apology needed.
You did not include the Genesis version!!
Was that a homebrew release?
I thought the Intellivision version looked great, better than the MSX version anyway. I had the speccy and CPC games and both were comparable but at least the Amstrad version wasn’t a dirty port from Sinclair’s machine this time.
Yup. Intellivisions version blew me away too.
Please Please do Indiana Jones and the temple of doom.
It's on the list
The PC version seems to be significantly worse than the Speccy. Not sure how it ranked higher.
Because that's how I roll baby
Speccy is way better than DOS version
Cool 😎
C64 version is missing more than just the helicopter entry - half the levels are missing
Which version did you have?
@@JustJamie1983 The released version which only had 3 levels out of the arcades 8. Comment in the video which says the Elite original release was pretty just missing the helicopter entry is pretty inmaccurate, it's missing more than half the original game
C64 version of Commando only had 3 levels that you could run through in just few minutes, so hardly good value for money and should not be number 3 as such. ZX Spectrum version had full 8 levels and was much more complete game. There is remake version for C64 that has all 8 levels but there are remake versions for ZX Spectrum too with great AY music. There is also a version for GS soundcard that gives Spectrum Amiga quality sound, with digitized gun shots, explosions, death screams and excellent music.
Atari 800 port?
We only do released games with proper commercial years.
@@JustJamie1983 I think it was 1989 late in the systems life. There's also a 2022 hombrew realease. The 89 port seems to have everything in it.
Commando for C64 have best soundtrack.. this is not this Commando for first film
As always -- awesome video. !! C64 - awful version !! MSX -- awful !!!
Hey, thanks
Who Dare Wins on C64 was the same game?
That was Commando clone.
The C16,Plus/4 version back in the day was a travesty. Someone put that right eventually though for the Plus/4:
ua-cam.com/video/_rDXSGP-V9Q/v-deo.html
Thanks.
Amiga Commando = lazy ST port
You could look at it like that lol
@@JustJamie1983 does that mean you agree or you didn’t agree (disagree)?
Your vocals sound like you need a pop shield
@section23 see amazin wishlist.