Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

Suburban Commando delivers a somewhat schizophrenic gameplay experience by blending three distinct genres—space shooter, platform jumper, and beat-’em-up—into one cartridge. The opening stage feels like a homage to classic shooters such as R-Type: you pilot an interstellar craft, blaze through formations of enemy drones and gather sporadic weapon upgrades. These power‐ups inject brief moments of intensity, but the controls can feel slippery when swarms close in, making tight maneuvers frustrating at times.

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Transitioning from the cockpit to the streets of suburbia, the game switches gears into a platformer. You’ll guide Shep Ramsey in three side‐scrolling levels, each littered with nine hidden items you must collect to progress. The challenge lies in balancing precision jumps over bottomless pits with fending off ground troops. Enemy placement is generous, and the collision detection occasionally errs on the side of unfair, leading to sudden, unavoidable hits.

Finally, each mission culminates in a Street Fighter–style boss battle against oversized foes reminiscent of ’90s arcade brawlers. Here, your martial‐arts button mashing is put to the test: punches, kicks and throws form the basis of your arsenal. Unfortunately, the boss AI is relentless, often spamming the same move until you find the narrow timing window. Fans of combo‐driven combat may find the mechanics too simplistic, but there’s undeniable satisfaction in landing a perfectly timed uppercut.

While the genre‐hopping approach is ambitious, it leads to an uneven rhythm. Moments of high‐octane shooting are undercut by the slower, methodical pace of item hunts and then ramp right back up to frantic punching sequences. If you relish variety and don’t mind a learning curve with inconsistent controls, Suburban Commando’s mash-up could be a guilty pleasure. For players seeking a focused or polished gameplay loop, however, the experience may feel disjointed.

Graphics

The visual presentation of Suburban Commando is a mixed bag. Sprite work on the ground sections features chunky, cartoon-style characters that evoke comic books more than the live‐action movie. Shep’s exaggerated proportions—huge head, tiny body—lend the game a campy charm, but the animation frames are sparse, making movement appear jerky rather than fluid.

Space shooter backgrounds are painted in dark hues, giving a subtle sense of depth, yet the starfields and enemy sprites lack variety once you play past the first level. Explosions and weapon effects are serviceable but uninspired, often reusing the same pixel patterns to represent different power-ups. As a result, it’s easy to lose track of your current weapon’s strength indicators during hectic dogfights.

On the platforming stages, the color palette shifts to bright suburban blues and greens, with house facades, fences and street lamps serving as set dressing. These backgrounds are charming at first glance, but closer inspection reveals tile repetition and flicker issues on older hardware. Enemy sprites—ranging from generic goons to oversized boss characters—stand out due to bold outlines, though the lack of animation frames again hampers the overall polish.

Despite its technical limitations, Suburban Commando’s graphics carry a nostalgic appeal for retro aficionados. The developers clearly aimed for a comic‐book aesthetic that complements Hulk Hogan’s larger-than-life persona. If you approach the visuals with low expectations and a fondness for pixel art from the early ’90s, you’ll find enough personality to keep you engaged, even if the game never reaches modern standards of fluid animation or intricate detail.

Story

The narrative of Suburban Commando hews loosely to the film’s plot: intergalactic hero Shep Ramsey (played by Hulk Hogan in the movie) crash-lands on Earth and sets out to recover stolen alien artifacts while dispensing justice. In practice, the game’s story is little more than a backdrop for its eclectic gameplay segments, delivered via a handful of title screens and sparse text interludes.

Aside from a stylized portrait of Hogan as Shep, there’s minimal connection to the movie’s characters or humor. No sidekicks, no colorful villains from the film, and not a single spoken line. Longtime fans might be disappointed at the absence of film references, quotable one-liners or even a nod to Shep’s otherworldly gadgetry. Instead, you’re flung directly into the action with only a cursory explanation of your goals.

While the game’s brevity limits story development—most players can see all four levels in under an hour—there is a semblance of progression. Each segment feels like a chapter: blast through the skies, scour the streets for vital items and then face down a powerful boss before moving on. Yet the lack of cinematic cutscenes or dynamic dialogue means emotional investment is minimal.

In summary, Suburban Commando’s storyline functions purely as a framework for its genre‐blending design. If you’re looking for a deep narrative with character arcs and plot twists, this game won’t satisfy. But if the idea of a musclebound hero smashing aliens and street punks across space and suburban America appeals to your inner ’90s kid, the barebones tale may be enough to keep you pressing Start.

Overall Experience

Suburban Commando is a curious relic from the early ’90s era of cross‐genre experimentation. Its bravado lies in daring to mix a side‐scroll shooter, platformer and fighting game into one package, but that same ambition results in uneven pacing and uneven gameplay quality. The lack of polish in controls and animation can frustrate, yet there’s an undeniable charm to its campy presentation.

For retro gamers or Hulk Hogan enthusiasts seeking a novelty title, Suburban Commando might offer a few hours of silly, button‐mashing fun. The game’s pick-up-and-play nature makes it accessible for brief sessions, and completing all four levels in succession can be oddly satisfying once you master each segment’s quirks.

However, modern players accustomed to tight mechanics and cohesive design may find themselves perplexed by the abrupt genre switches and inconsistent difficulty. The absence of deeper story elements or varied boss encounters further limits replay value once you’ve seen all the stages.

Ultimately, Suburban Commando is best approached as a nostalgic detour rather than a timeless classic. It won’t redefine your expectations for licensed games, but it does encapsulate the experimental spirit of its time. If you’re curious to sample a three-in-one retro mash-up starring a pixelated Hulk Hogan lookalike, this cart might still have some surprises in store.

Retro Replay Score

6/10