Bionic Commando for NES was released in December 1988 in North America.

The original Japanese version name translates as 'Hitler's Resurrection - Top Secret', and obviously, the game was heavily edited for its western release and all the Nazi references were removed (thanks to Nintendo's strict censorship policies back in the day). In this version. Hitler was renamed 'Master-D', the Nazis renamed the Badds (although the instruction manual calls them the Nazz in some places) and all the Swastikas were replaced with different and less controversial emblems. Although Hitler was renamed Master-D, his portrait in the game is still the one of Hitler, which must have confused many players back in the days. Additionally, Capcom kept the violence intact and the scene where the head of Hitler graphically explodes at the end of the game (blood and gore included) was left in the western release! Capcom also changed some of the character's names - the enemy's main commander is called 'Wiseman' in the Japanese version but was renamed 'Generalissimo Killt' in the western release. Additionally, a secondary character appears later in the game and helps the player - he is amusingly called Schwarzenegger in the Japanese version, but was renamed Destroyer-3 in the western release. Finally, numerous gameplay elements were changed throughout the game, some enemies were moved around, various placed edited, and the game feels, overall, easier to play than the original Japanese version.