Bionic Commando Was the First Video Game That Ever Swore at Me

I have found memories of playing Bionic Commando with my older brother. We would invent our own dialogue and storylines to accompany the gameplay — something we did while playing most games back then.

When looked at without the glare of nostalgia, the game is nothing special, but back then it seemed totally rad. Simply swinging around with that bionic arm, shooting dudes, and avoiding being shot was more action than my youthful brain could ask for.

And those funny messages you received after hacking computer modules, or getting stuck behind that steel barrier at the beginning of one of the levels if you hadn’t acquired the bazooka… Ah, the memories.

But nothing about Bionic Commando stands out more to me now than the simple fact that this was the first video game that I had played that had a swear word in it. Sure, it’s only a mild “damn,” but at the time this seemed like the coolest thing ever.

Mario never swore. Shit, that little bastard didn’t even speak.

Seeing a curse word emblazoned across my 13” television was pretty cool in and of itself. But shouting it along with the game’s text while my mother was out of earshot was the absolute best.

So thank you, Bionic Commando, for teaching me what a potty mouth was at the tender young age of 9.