It was developed by Grin and published by Capcom for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Network, and Xbox Live Arcade, and was released in August 2008.

Rearmed follows Nathan "Rad" Spencer, a commando with a bionic left arm that can extend and be used as a weapon, or to swing from various objects.

Rearmed was well-received by critics, who praised the updated gameplay, graphics and faithfulness to the original, with some calling it one of the best downloadable games available on the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network.

In keeping with the North American release of that version, the references to the Nazi party found in the original Japanese title are not featured in Rearmed.

It begins with the Imperial forces discovering classified documents regarding the development of a secret weapon known as the Albatross project, originally started by an organization known as the Badds, but never completed.

The Federation sends in a second operative named Nathan Spencer to rescue Super Joe and assist him in completing his mission.

Often, the player must make a series of grappling actions in a row to successfully traverse hazards such as a wide gap or an electrified floor.

[2][3] While Bionic Commando Rearmed remains mostly true to its NES counterpart, a number of gameplay enhancements were made.

Players can extend Spencer's bionic arm to grab oil barrels and throw them at enemies, or use them as temporary shields.

In one example, the player must latch the arm to a screw on the boss character's vehicle, then pull back to expose a weak point in the armor.

[4] Bionic Commando Rearmed developer Grin made it a priority to preserve as much of the original gameplay and visual stylings as possible.

Lead Gameplay Programmer Håkan Rasmussen expanded on this concept, stating "Since BCR is built on the same engine as the next-gen BC we can also reuse the editor [which] lowers the time before we can start using levels.

"The swing mechanic [is] based on the original [and so is] totally physically incorrect," noted Gameplay Programmer Bertil Hörberg.

[8] "The bionic arm is such an unconventional mechanic that we really wanted to explore everything that it could offer", added Level Designer Viktor Viklund.

[8] Viktor Viklund cited inspiration from several NES games, including Solomon's Key, Wrecking Crew, and Ice Climber, adding that the concept was "very basic, very short stages.

"[8] In redesigning the game's protagonist, Nathan Spencer, Grin cited the characters Iceman from the movie Top Gun and Marty McFly from the Back to the Future series as visual influences in the update.

For the character Super Joe, designers looked to the cowboys of the American Old West, citing actor Sam Elliott as an additional source of inspiration.

[10] Viklund took the original tracks written by Junko Tamiya and rearranged them in Buzz, a freeware virtual studio program.

[11] A Japanese trailer for the game was revealed at San Diego Comic-con 2008, done in the style of an anime opening with a theme song sung by Ichirou Mizuki, titled "Go Go Bionic".

[12] On February 19, 2008 the official Bionic Commando website ran a poll asking gamers to decide between two possible prices for Rearmed —ten or fifteen dollars.

"[citation needed] However, more senior Capcom employees believed that the game had enough features and polish to sell well enough at US15 to warrant that price.

[35][36][37] In an October 2011 ranking, IGN listed Bionic Commando Rearmed fourth in their top twenty-five Xbox Live Arcade titles of all time.

[39] Jeff Gerstmann of Giant Bomb called it "terrific in almost every way" and the reviewer from GameTrailers stated it was "one of those games that feels organic to play.

[24] Multiple reviewers were disappointed in the game controls, citing the lack of updating to analog features and remaining too true to the original.

[42] The sequel's plot revolves around a dictator named General Sabio and a missing commander from Spencer's organization, Colonel Brubaker.