Video Game / Captain Commando

"I am... CAPTAIN COMMANDO"

Captain Commando is an arcade Beat 'em Up created by Capcom in 1991, based on its at-the-time Mascot, the titular captain. It was one of many spiritual successors of Capcom's first Beat 'em Up, Final Fight. Among its unique features (back then) were the option for 4 simultaneous co-op play and the ability to control mecha suits scattered on the stages (similar to Mega Man X's Rider armors). The arcade game received a SNES port in '95 and a PlayStation one in '98.

The game deals with the Commando Team, a four-man group formed by the Captain himself, Sho (Ginzu the Ninja in English), Jennety (Mack the Knife) and Hoover (Baby Head). Together, they stand up against a futuristic world filled up with crime with the intent of cleaning it out, and are faced against a group of Super Criminals terrorizing Earth, commanded by an alien Evil Overlord known as Genocide (Scumocide).

And that was it. Good ol' Captain would fall into obscurity for a good few years, until he was picked up to join the roster of the first Marvel vs. Capcom, which led to subsequent appareances in other Crossover games like Namco × Capcom and the Card Fighters series with SNK. Though unlike Capcom's other forgotten character, Strider Hiryu, he'd not receive any sequel out of this, but his game would later get a re-release through the Capcom Beat'Em Up Bundle and the Capcom Arcade Stadium, the former available for Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows worldwide and the latter being exclusive to the Nintendo Switch.There was also a short-lived manga adaptation as well.

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The game has examples of:

• All There in the Manual: A rather unique case, as not even the manuals provide much backstory for the game. In this case the information is in the concept arts and in a scrapped comic drawn by Akiman of which only 4 pages were published, revealing most of the backstory for the main characters and their beef with the Big Bad, who among other things killed Commando's parents and destroyed Mack's home planet.
• Absurdly Sharp Blade: Ginzu's katana, Lightning Light, said to cut things at an atomic level.
• Amazonian Beauty: Carol and Brenda, two scantily clad palette-swapped enemies that use electric attacks. The in-game sprites◊ have huge arms, but the enemy is shown to have a feminine figure, not to mention the leather costume and high heels.
• Art Evolution: The original appearance of the Captain as a Capcom's spokesman in NES manuals was as a sort of space cowboy with a purple uniform and rayguns in hands; then he got redesigned in 1989 to be a space pilot in a more realistic artstyle with a space monkey. When considering bringing the character back in his own game, Akiman saw these designs and thought they were "uncool", so he redesigned the Cap into his final and current design.
• Artificial Limbs: Sorta. Blood got his two arms replaced with those of a black man. Oddly enough, he's almost exclusively a kicking boss.
• Automatic Crossbows: Rapid-fire harpoon guns are the weapons of Shtrom Jr., Shtrom, and Druk.
• Bank Robbery: The Commandos step in their first Boss Fight just as the boss (Dolg) is robbing a bank.
• BFS: The missile launcher counts as this. It's one of the weapons that can deal massive amounts of damage for players.
• Bald of Evil: Genocide/Scumocide is the main villain of the game and does not have a strand of hair. The manga expands on his evil where he is shown to be a mass murdering Social Darwinist who would only value underlings for how useful they can be for him.
• Blue Means Cold:
  • The blue mechas have iceballs that can freeze enemies.
  • Scumocide will turn blue when he's about to launch ice balls.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Carol and Brenda, the smaller female enemies, cannot be sliced in half or melted into goo like everyone else. Although they are susceptible to the animation of being reduced to a pile of ash if killed by a flame attack.
• Bottomless Magazines: Baby Head's robot has a missile production FACILITY on one of its legs, that's constantly supplying ammo for the robot's attacks.
• Bowdlerise: For the SNES port, as usual: the special kill animation for bladed hits (which sliced foes in half) and Mack's poisoned daggers (melted foes) were removed, the boss Blood was renamed Boots, the Mardia enemy "acid puke" attack (which also had the melting effect on deathblow) was replaced by bomb tossing, and the female mook graphics were touched up a little to cover more.
• Breath Weapon: The Marbin enemy is a small rotund enemy that attacks by spewing flames out of his mouth.
• The Brute: Dolg is a big Dumb Muscle that was a former American Football player. The mooks Organo and Samson are cavemen-dressing muscle men stated to be very unintelligent.
• The Captain: Captain Commando, super hero leader of his own team of commandos.
• Captain Space, Defender of Earth!: The Commando Team's stated goal is not only to protect Earth, but the whole galaxy from Scumocide's villainy. Namco × Capcom has pretty much everyone in the "future" recognize Captain Commando and his team as heroes.
• Child Prodigy: Baby Head, a baby who manufactured his own Mini-Mecha!
• Competitive Balance:
  • Fragile Speedsters: Mack and Ginzu are quick characters, but can't take hits as good as the other.
  • Jack of All Stats: Captain Commando has a balance of speed and strength in the team.
  • Mighty Glacier: Baby Head, as the rider of a big Mini-Mecha, can dish out damage but moves the slowest.
• Cool Shades: The Captain. Not even being in civilian clothes stops him from wearing a pair. And he even transforms by placing one pair over the other! The glasses are also linked to a criminal database, which means that Commando gets criminal data on any baddie he puts his eyes on.
• The Cameo:
  • Ginzu's father Gou was only ever mentioned in concept art as Guy's student and the future 40th Bushinryu Grandmaster. Then, for the first time ever since the game's release, Gou made a cameo appearance in Street Fighter 6, in one of the artworks in Kimberly's flashback story as a fellow student, and one Kim couldn't beat in battle.
  • Carol also appears in World Tour mode as one of the enemies faced in "The Mighty Fighty" side-quest.
• Crapsack World: The world in 2025 is overrun with crime, and the criminals are stronger than normal humans thanks to an Evil Overlord desiring to rule over the galaxy.
• Critical Existence Failure: A bizarre example with the Dual Boss fight against Shtrom and Druk. Once one goes down, the other dies instantly, regardless of his remaining Hit Points.
• Damage-Sponge Boss: Fittingly enough, the Final Boss, Scumocide, who has at least 8 levels of health bars.
• Death by Origin Story: Captain Commando's father and mother were secretly researching Mack's technology in order to create his power suit, trying to avoid it from falling into Scumocide's hands. Too bad for them, Scumocide learned of this and has them (and the whole team helping them) killed. Commando takes upon himself to continue the fight and take care of Scumocide once and for all.
• Devious Daggers: Mack the Knife wields a pair of knives as his weapon, and he's the most chill member of the team, always keeping himself calm and collected even in the middle of battle.
• Dominatrix: Carol and Brenda◊ surely dress like one.
• Doomed Hometown: Mack's home planet was Scumocide's first target, as he was seeking to claim its technology. Mack escaped it for Earth after its destruction.
• The Dragon: Blood, the third-to-last boss, is Scumocide's right hand man and overseer of his operations on Earth.
• Dub Name Change
  • Sho to Ginzu (Ninja Commando).
  • Jennety to Mack (Mummy Commando).
  • Hoover to Baby Head (Baby Commando).
  • Genocide to Scumocide (the Big Bad).
• Duel Boss: Shtrom and Druk are fought as a duo, although they share a single life. Doppel can become this against multiple players, or if injured enough in single player.
• Dumb Muscle: Dolg is a big muscular dude, but not too bright as he only knows how to rush and tackle. Monster by virtue of being a normal man converted into a mindless monstrosity.
• Elevator Action Sequence: A very brief section in the last stage is a ascending elevator where enemies drop down on the players.
• Empathic Weapon: Ginzu's katana may be this, as it's said to serve no one but him.
• Excuse Plot: There is a plot hidden somewhere in this game, but nobody really cares when there's a whole city of enemy punks they can massacre.
• Extra Eyes: Monster has 3 red eyes.
• Genius Bruiser: Baby Head is a super-intelligent baby piloting a robot he himself created.
• The Good Captain: Captain Commando is justice incarnate, can't stand evildoers and will go to any length to ensure the galaxy is safe from evil.
• The Goomba: The green-clad Wooky mooks are the first enemies faced in the game. They're as weak as they're incompetent, and only serves as practice for new players before moving on to tougher enemies in later stages.
• Ground Punch: Commando's Captain Corridor is initiated by him punching the ground, releasing electricity to his left and right to strike enemies.
• Half the Man He Used to Be: Any character who suffers a deathblow from a bladed weapon (such as Ginzu's katana) will be sliced in half at the waist, complete with requisite gore. That is, aside from Carol and Brenda for unknown reasons, and Baby Head, due to his physical size (his robot mount suffers the effect instead). Mack's daggers are the sole exception to this, having their own special deathblow animation.
• Hell-Bent for Leather: Carol and Brenda wear leather suits with plenty of visible skin.
• Henshin Hero: While not mentioned in the actual game, Marvel vs. Capcom gave Commando an introduction sequence where he changes from civilian clothes to his Captain armor, all while screaming "Henshin Commando!!"
• Highly-Visible Ninja: Among the three ninja Mooks, the worst offender is Kojiro (red), with Sasuke (green) and Hanzo (blue) following behind. Ginzu is a moderate example with his purple uniform.
• Hollywood Acid: Mardia's acid puke and, technically, Mack's daggers leave enemies Stripped to the Bone.
• Humanoid Aliens: Mack is actually an alien resembling a mummy (his bandages serve as life-support and allow him to survive on Earth). A crime-fighting alien mummy commando.
• I'm Melting!: Mack landing a killing blow with his daggers causes his victims to melt. Same deal with Mardia and her acidic spew attack.
• Imported Alien Phlebotinum: Captain Commando's armor and gadgets were created using Mack's technology, the same kind of technology Scumocide is after to rule the galaxy.
• Improbable Infant Survival: It's impossible for Baby Head to "die" in combat, if his health bar is spent, his suit will simply rip apart without hurting Baby Head in any way. If "killed" by Mardia's acid puke, the suit suffers the melting, leaving him unharmed, and crying on the ground.
• Interspecies Friendship: The first person Mack met when he landed on Earth was the Captain, and the two hit it off soon after. Mack received his cap (the Captain Cap) from him, and he keeps it ever since as a memory of their meeting.
• It's Personal: As shown in concept art and the scrapped Akiman comic, each member of the Commando Team has a personal peeve against Scumocide: He killed Commando's parents, destroyed the home planet of Mack and almost killed Baby Head, forcing him into his current baby form as the only way he survived. Ginzu's ties are less personal, as he's a childhood friend of Commando whose father worked as bodyguard for the Cap's parents, but it is not clear if he was killed with them or not.
• Katanas Are Just Better: Ginzu's preferred weapon is his katana, a "Servant Sword" called Lightning Light.
• Last of His Kind: Mack the Knife appears to be the only survivor after Scumocide destroyed his home planet, Planet Genetic.
• Mad Scientist: Dr T.W. (Tea Water) who mutates people in unethical experiments. Scumocide is called an "evil genetic engineer" in the ending, and he's the one who turned normal criminals into Super Criminals through genetic surgery.
• Meaningful Name:
  • CAPtain COMmando.
  • And Doppel(ganger), given his ability to transform into an exact copy of the player characters.
  • Dr. T.W's full name is Tea Water, which is apparently a reference to Dr. Ochanomizu from Astro Boy, whose name translates to "tea water".
• Meta Mecha: Happens whenever Baby Head, riding a Mini-Mecha, commandeers an enemy walker.
• Mini-Mecha: Besides the one Baby Head has, there are three that can be hijacked throughout the game: a green mech that punches, an orange mech that shoots fire, and a blue mech that fires blasts of ice.
• Mirror Boss: 8th boss Doppel, together with Doppelgänger Attack when faced in multiplayer (or injured enough in single player).
• Ninja: Ginzu is the Ninja Commando, probably the least bizarre member of the Commando Team. There are also three mook ninja varieties that are part of Yamato's rival ninja clan.
• Older Than They Look: Baby Head is a 3-years old baby, but in truth he was a scientist and the teacher of Commando's father, who turned into a baby as the only way he could survive Scumocide's attack on his research group.
• Omniglot through Upgrade Artifact: Baby Head's pacifier is actually a device that allows him to speak the 3 million languages of the cosmos...
• Painful Transformation: The poor experimented guy that becomes the 4th boss, Monster.
• Playing with Fire: Combined with Shock and Awe, Commando's gauntlets employ both fire and electric attacks. Genocide also makes use of fire attacks, alongside ice powers.
• Poisoned Weapons: Mack's daggers have a substance that melts enemies on the killing blow.
• Powered Armor: The Captain's power suit, aptly named Captain Protector.
• Power Fist: Commando's Gauntlets amplify his strength 48 times.
• Power Floats: Genocide never walks, he flies.
• Punny Name: If you haven't been clued in by now "Mack the Knife" is an old-time jazz standard, performed by many artists, including Louis Armstrong.
• Reptiles Are Abhorrent: Shtrom Jr. and his "parents" Shtrom and Druk are theriantropes with a mostly reptilian appearance.
• The Rival: Yamato is one to Ginzu and the Bushinryu. He joined Genocide and subjected himself to Bio-Augmentation just to confront him.
• Shared Universe: Primarily with Final Fight, mostly over the ties he and Bushinryu have with Ginzu and his father Gou, as well as the game's setting in a futuristic Metro City. Gou's cameo in Street Fighter 6 is the first time the game is directly connected to the (ever-expanding) world of Street Fighter.
• Shock and Awe: The good Captain can electrocute his enemies thanks to his gauntlets capable of discharging electrical bolts. Also the Carol and Brenda mooks uses tasers. Expect to see X-Ray Sparks whenever this happens.
• Shout-Out:
  • To Final Fight; Ginzu is the successor of Bushin-ryu Ninjitsu, the same style Guy practices. The setting of the game is Metro City as well, and there are Haggar busts that can be picked up for points. Also, in Namco × Capcom, he was partnered with Guy as well.
  • Ginzu's father (only mentioned in concept art), Gou, is stated to be Guy's student and his direct successor as 40th Bushinryu Grandmaster.
  • Baby Head can also do a piledriver attack that none of the other three can do, similar to Haggar.
  • Near the later stages, there's a type of Elite Mook clad in armour that resembles the titular monsters from the Alien movies.
• The Smart Baby: Baby Head is a highly intelligent baby, able to create such things as his own Mini-Mecha and a pacifier that allows him to speak all the languages in the cosmos. This is justified in his backstory, as he was originally a grown-up scientist before being forced to become a baby to survive the attack on his research team by Scumocide that also claimed the lives of Commando's parents.
• Samurai: The Musashi mooks are big sword-wielding enemies wearing samurai armor, and with several arrows stuck to their back.
• Smoke Out: Ginzu's special attack is a lethal version of this, as he jumps up and throw several smoke bombs around him.
• Spectacular Spinning: Mack's special attack has him spin around with his knives extended, while Baby Head's dashing attack is a spinning dash punch.
• Spin Attack: Mack's special move have him spinning around in circles, dealing damage to unfortunate mooks surrounding him.
• Stripperiffic: Carol and Brenda. How they got away with them dressing like that we will never know.
• Superpowered Mooks: Most Mooks are Super Criminals, said to be gifted with a secret evil power (likely Bio-Augmentation) which grants them abilities beyond human limits.
• Time-Limit Boss: Dr. T.W.'s boss battle, where he must be defeated in 40 seconds before he escapes on a motorboat. Failing it just lets the doctor escape, to be never seen again.
• 20 Minutes into the Future: The game's set in the year 2026 to be exact.
• Underground Monkey: Most mooks come in pairs of two, with the same sprite but different name and colors. Wooky come in three varieties: green (basic), pink (stronger) and blue (proficient with weapons).
• Underwater Base: The 7th stage, Underground Base, is set underwater within a large mountain.
• X-Ray Sparks: Commando's electric attacks, as well as those used by the Carol and Brenda Mooks, reveal the affected's skeleton in much the same way Blanka's electric attacks did in Street Fighter II.
• Wake-Up Call Boss: Stage 2 boss, Shtrom Jr., ups the challenge considerably with his rapid-fire projectile attacks (which he can death blossom with), his aggravatingly fast movements, and ability to break combos. For many, he's That One Boss.
• Wolverine Claws: The Z enemies wield metal claws that can be shot forward.
• Wrestler in All of Us: Baby Head has an air piledriver grab and a dropkick.

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