Bionic Commando is a video game franchise built around a single, stubborn idea: a soldier with a bionic arm who can climb, swing and grapple his way across enemy territory, but who cannot jump. Instead of hopping over obstacles, players fire a hook into the ceiling or a distant ledge and pull themselves through the level, dodging fire the whole way down. It began as an arcade game from Capcom, and its best-known chapter is the Nintendo Entertainment System version, remembered for its swinging movement, its top-down map screens and its unusually grim wartime tone.

Later entries revisited the premise in new forms, and a 2009 revival reimagined the series with a more modern, darker edge. Across its incarnations the franchise remains known for one thing above all: turning a missing jump button into its signature.