Bio Menace

I loved this game as a teenager, but looking back at it now it leaves something to be desired. The atmosphere is great - a cheesy platformer with a 90's action hero. A lot of bloody scenes with the cartoon-like monsters. The controls are typical of the time. They suffice, but do not live up to todays expectation. The worst part is the steep difficulty curve over episodes. Episode 3 has levels that you can set in an unwinnable state. This is due to the fact that all level elements do not respawn after death. Like platforms that disintegrate only exist once - die after using one and you can never get back! Only play this one out of nostalgia or if you like similar games of the era and know what to expect. Personally I only find episode one enjoyable - lots of variation and it shows all the features of the game.

I also played the Bio Menace demo a lot when I was younger and liked it but nostalgia isn't blinding me for this review. The platforming is absolutely atrocious. Mid air control is absolutely terrible, trying to control mid jump you're more than likely to under or over shoot your target. If you jump and hit the ceiling, forward momentum just tanks. This is particularly jarring as some of these jumps are over instadeath pits. Sometimes you need precision to jump onto really small platforms but the clunky jumping make the jump difficult. If you jumped on the edge of the platform, sometimes you'll "slip" down, often resulting in death. The enemies can be frustrating to deal with too. The spitting snakes are obnoxious unless you already know their position as the only other way to avoid getting hit is by inching forward. Casually moving will result in you walking into their projectiles. Some of the enemies move so fast that if you don't have any ammo for your gun, you may have to retreat. This is a problem in areas like the ant mine in the 2nd episode as there's so many ramps making the enemies untouchable. You'll have to run to the top of the ramp and wait for the enemies to follow so you can finally shoot them, further ruining the games pacing. The 2nd and 3rd episodes made me feel like I was getting trolled. 2nd epsiode for the first 5 or so areas, there are barely any (visible) weapon pick ups. I only found 3 but 2 of those where when I pretty much cleared out the level already. 3rd episode 1st level has 5 landmines hidden in the grass and YOU CAN'T SEE THEM resulting in some cheap shots, you can only take 4 hits on normal difficulty. There are other problems but I don't have space to mention them. If you want a platformer with some focus on using weapons, there are better games on GOG. Cuphead and Shovel Knight being two that readily come to mind. If you must play this, just play the 1st episode and call it a day, it's the least obnoxious of the 3.

Part action hero, part cupboard opening simulator. It’s very colourful and has catchy tunes, but also feels unfair a lot of the time. Ranged enemies always seem to be able to hit you before you can kill them (even from off screen), you can’t change weapon/grenade type and the jumping isn’t great, which means the instant deaths from bottomless pits or other obstacles becomes really frustrating. There isn’t much of a plot, the level sequence and enemies aren’t really cohesive and although there is variety in the enemies and weapons, there isn’t much. No modern conveniences like a map of where you’ve, or a key counter, but it’s still worth playing if you have the patience for it.

I played the shareware multiple times back in the 90’s and loved it. Only recently did I realise that there was a full version to play. I was so excited but very soon excitement became frustration. The game becomes so difficult, so unfair and so frustrating so soon, it’s almost impossible to have fun with it. No matter what guns you pick up on each level, they all get lost in each new level, so you always left with your basic weapon, only that game difficulty raises exponentially on every new level. Episode 3 becomes almost impossible to beat and you’ll load the game ALL THE TIME. I must have loaded the game more than a thousand times during the whole game. The final boss is impossible to beat with no lives and no other weapons other than the basic. After trying close to three hours, I gave up and decided to cheat for the first time during the whole game. Even after that, it took me close to 5 minutes to beat him, which may doesn’t sound like a lot but normally I would have died another 1000 times during these 5 minutes if I wasn’t invincible. If you really want to play Bio Menace, do your self a favour and play it on Easy mode. You’ll be glad you did and you’ll miss nothing.

This was a great game when it was first released. Nice varied graphics and enemies and the classical sci fi sound effects. Nowdays, playing it again is a little frustrating as you take more note of the development and level design issues. Some areas are frustrating and if not tackled correctly can impact on the gameplay further through the levels. Nice if you want experience a blast from the past.