Twenty years since its release on the NES and Bionic Commando is back. The good news is the Grin-developed remix is everything fans of the original were hoping for. Bionic Commando Rearmed (BCR) is far more than a next-gen makeover, offering compelling 2D gameplay coupled with inspired new content. And despite a couple of troubling flaws, BCR is everything an Xbox Live Arcade game should be: simple, addictive and fun.

The player takes control of Nathan 'Radd' Spencer, a bionic super-soldier tasked with rescuing the heroic Super Joe (whose name you might remember from Capcom's Commando) from the evil clutches of the imperialist enemy. Who, despite what you may think, are not nazis (there were some censorship issues when the original was released in the US).

The player is given a map, divided into numbered zones, and must retake all enemy-controlled territory. Also patrolling the game map are enemy trucks and if you encounter one of these, you're dropped into a brief top-down battle reminiscent of Capcom's Commando series. The meat of Bionic Commando Rearmed, however, lies in its side-scrolling platform levels.

Spencer must make his way up and across these levels in order to reach a boss battle. The first thing you will notice is, for a platform game, there's a distinct lack of jumping. Instead, all vertical movement is achieved by using Spencer's extending bionic arm. The arm allows him climb upwards, as well as swinging across gaps in the platforms. Spencer also has a few weapons at his disposal to take on the game's various enemies, but the real fun of BCR lies in mastering the bionic arm. Chaining swings together to traverse a level quickly is immensely satisfying, especially when you find yourself plummeting towards oblivion only for the arm to grab on to the last possible platform.

Grin made sure that BCR remains highly faithful to its source material while also offering up a few gameplay tweaks to appease the modern gamer. For example, you can now change weapons in-level, (instead of quitting back to the map screen) and the old hit system has been replaced by a health bar. As a result BCR is a little more forgiving to new players, but don't be fooled into thinking this is an easy game. In fact, it's infuriatingly difficult at times and this isn't helped by some annoying control issues.

There are moments in BCR when you can't help but see the 20 year-old game behind the shiny new exterior. You can't jump over waist-high obstacles, you can't drop down to the level below without walking off the edge, you can't aim your weapon. These omissions mean you have to think a little harder about how to beat the game and encourage you to get better with the arm. Which isn't as easy as it should be.

The controls for directing the arm are a little inconsistent, especially when you're trying to shoot it diagonally. It's often easier to use no direction at all and hope that the arm auto-finds the platform you're hoping for. Even when you get the direction right, it's not guaranteed to hook onto the platform. More often than you should, you'll find yourself edging, pixel-by-pixel towards the end of a platform until the hook secures in place.

However, despite the control issues it's clear that Grin has achieved something special with Bionic Commando Rearmed. The developer has struck an almost perfect balance between old and new. The classic platforming gameplay is still as fun as it was 20 years ago, the boss battles are satisfying and this has all been complimented with snappy, modern presentation. The music, especially, is wonderfully-realised, remixing Harumi Fujita's original score into a fantastic electronic soundtrack that sounds unbelievably contemporary.

Grin could have just left it there, offering a great remake of a classic game. But the developer went the extra mile, providing some vital new content. There are local co-op and multiplayer modes which work surprisingly well but the real bonus is the Challenge Room mode. Tipping a nod to Metal Gear's VR training levels, the Challenge Rooms are basically small, quick levels that you must traverse as quickly as possible. The levels are timed and you'll find yourself pulling off some amazing bionic arm combos to reach the end within the time limit. It's incredibly addictive and it's easy to get drawn into replaying one level over and over, comparing your time to the Xbox Live leaderboards.

Capcom is no stranger to Xbox Live Arcade, having recently released remixed versions of arcade classics 1942 and Commando 3, but Bionic Commando Rearmed is undoubtedly the pick of the bunch. Despite the control issues and the dated-mechanics, it's an affectionate, considered remake of a hardcore favourite. 800 MS Points could not be better spent