Until you’re really comfortable with using the bionic arm, you can’t be very successful in Bionic Commando. Many BC (Bionic Commando) players who describe themselves as “experienced” don’t know how to "properly" use the bionic arm. This is the longest and most tedious part of this walkthrough, BUT IT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT PART, TOO, AS IT TELLS ABOUT ALL THE TERMS AND STUFF YOU NEED TO KNOW FOR THE REST OF THE WALKTHROUGH!!!
The Basic Grapple, AKA The Diagonal Grapple- This is the basic grapple of BC. If you just stand still and don’t press any arrows (direction keys, arrow keys, etc.) and tap the A button, then you will execute a basic grapple. DON’T GET IT? LOOK AT BASIC.NSM. Once you have attached yourself thus with this grapple, you can break the connection, swing with the connection, or hook up to the point of connection (where your bionic arm meets whatever it’s attached to.) If you press left when you are grappling to the right, you’ll break the connection. You’ll also break the connection if you duck (press down.) If you swing, you keep on going left to right to left to right WITHOUT SHORTENING YOUR CONNECTION. How do you swing? Suppose you’re facing right and you have a basic grapple on the platform above you to the right. Then, press right and you’ll start swinging from side to side. DON’T GET IT? LOOK AT SIDETOSIDE.NSM. Look closely when you start to swing. You’ll see that when you start to swing, you move a little in the opposite direction. So when you’re swinging right, you move to the left first. This is hard to explain. Look at it like this: this guy on his bionic arm is like a pendulum. To swing to the right, you push the pendulum left first so that it gets momentum to go as far right as possible. Notice also that when you are swinging, you cannot shoot your gun. Anyways, lastly, you can hook up: if you tap the A button again, you’ll swing left to right while shortening your connection. DON’T GET IT? LOOK AT SHORTENING.NSM.
OK! Got all of that? You better have, because we’re moving on…
The Upwards Grapple, AKA The Vertical Grapple- This is another basic grapple, executed if you hold up while tapping the A button. DON’T GET IT? LOOK AT UPWARDS.NSM. If in such a position, you can break the connection by ducking, face either left or right (by pressing the left and right direction arrows,) and lastly, hook up to the top by tapping the A button again. DON’T GET IT? LOOK AT HOOK.NSM.
The Forwards Grapple, AKA The Side Grapple- This is a rarely used grapple, executed (while standing) by tapping the A button while holding either the left or right button down. DON’T GET IT? LOOK AT FORWARDS.NSM. Since this is a weird grapple, it has weird qualities. For example, ducking, pressing up, and pressing forwards have no effects. The only way to break the connection is by turning to the other direction. If you tap the A button again, you’ll shorten the connection up to the place where you connected. However, if you connected over a gap, you’ll shorten up to the gap, then start swinging. DON’T GET IT? LOOK AT CONNECTED.NSM. If you tap the A button again while swinging, you’ll hook up, just as if you started off with a basic/diagonal grapple.
Ducking Grapple, AKA The Low Grapple and The Under-Grapple- This is used actually more often than the Forwards or Side grapple. It’s often used to connect to a barrel or a slightly higher platform. DON’T GET IT? LOOK AT DUCKING.NSM. Don’t worry too much about this one or the last one; they’re not really important. Just know what I call them.
Series of Connections- This just means a bunch of swings put together. DON’T GET IT? LOOK AT SERIES.NSM. This brings up an important point: while swinging, there are a few ways to break the connection. First, you can just press either the left or right button and swing off as far as you can. DON’T GET IT? LOOK AT SWINGOFF.NSM. WHEN YOU SWING OFF, YOU ONLY HAVE TO PRESS LEFT OR RIGHT. DO NOT PRESS THE A BUTTON AGAIN WHILE YOU'RE SWINGING. DON'T DO THIS UNLESS YOU WANT A SHORT SWING (WHICH IS NOT OFTEN THE CASE.) Second, you can drop off by pressing down. DON’T GET IT? LOOK AT DROPOFF.NSM. When you drop off like this by pressing the down button, there are many different places where you can drop. For example, if you drop off near the edge of your swing, you won’t go very far. If you drop off near the middle, you’ll go a medium length. OK!!! Let’s get on with this!!!
You can also use the bionic arm to hit guys. In fact, you might as well harass them.
There are at least three ways to play this game: to beat it for the first time, to improve at playing the game, and to beat it quickly. This walkthrough covers all of these. This walkthrough is designed to SAVE TIME, and, therefore, the nonessential parts are skipped. If you want to “experience the entire game by yourself through exploration and yadda yadda yadda,” do it by yourself.