| The North American manual says the game was created by Capcom, which it calls a premier arcade game designer, and the NES title screen reads © 1988 Capcom Co., Ltd. and © 1988 Capcom U.S.A., Inc., licensed by Nintendo of America. | printed p. 2 (PDF p. 3), A Special Message From Captain Commando!printed p. 2 (PDF p. 3), A Special Message From Captain Commando! | Manual |
| In North America the game was sold as one of Capcom U.S.A.'s Captain Commando "Challenge Series" games, and its manual was written by Paul Biederman. | printed p. 2 (PDF p. 3), A Special Message From Captain Commando!printed p. 21 (PDF p. 22), Hints/Scoring/Memo | Manual |
| In the North American manual's story, set in 198X, a Nazi plan called Abatros that was never carried out has been found; the empire's Generalissimo Killt sets out to carry it out, the federation sends its hero Super Joe to stop him and loses contact, and the player, unnamed, is sent into the empire to rescue Super Joe. | printed p. 4 (PDF p. 5), Bionic Commando Storyprinted p. 4 (PDF p. 5), Bionic Commando Storyprinted p. 4 (PDF p. 5), Bionic Commando Storyprinted p. 4 (PDF p. 5), Bionic Commando Storyprinted p. 4 (PDF p. 5), Bionic Commando Storyprinted p. 4 (PDF p. 5), Bionic Commando Story | Manual |
| The player picks a route on a map of numbered areas, 0 to 19, starting from area 0, and a helicopter carries him from area to area; enemy vehicles move on the map as he does. On reaching an area without meeting one, the player can descend and play it, which switches to the battle scene, or fly on. | printed pp. 7-9 (PDF pp. 8-10), Stage Mapprinted p. 8 (PDF p. 9), Stage Mapprinted p. 8 (PDF p. 9), Stage Mapprinted p. 8 (PDF p. 9), Stage Mapprinted p. 9 (PDF p. 10), Stage Mapprinted p. 9 (PDF p. 10), Stage Map | Manual |
| Before descending into an area the player picks one each of a weapon, a protector, a special weapon, and a communicator, and more are found and stocked during play. | printed p. 12 (PDF p. 13), Weapon Selectionprinted p. 12 (PDF p. 13), Weapon Selectionprinted p. 12 (PDF p. 13), Weapon Selection | Manual |
| The manual's guns run from the Normal Gun the player starts with to the Wide Gun, Rocket Gun, 3-Way Gun, Machine Gun, and Hyper Bazooka. Among its other items, Iron Boots let the player kick enemies, a Permit is needed to enter certain neutral areas, and communicators work with compatible ones. | printed p. 6 (PDF p. 7), How to Playprinted p. 13 (PDF p. 14), Earned Weaponsprinted p. 15 (PDF p. 16), Bonus Charactersprinted p. 15 (PDF p. 16), Bonus Charactersprinted p. 16 (PDF p. 17), Bonus Characters | Manual |
| The hero carries the Bionic Arm, a wire grappling device, which the North American manual puts on the B button. Nintendo Power noted that it can't be used to climb down, and Famicom Hisshoubon that on the side-view screens the player can't fire while hanging from the wire and swinging. | printed p. 5 (PDF p. 6), How to Play | Magazine |