The 3D Bionic Commando from 2009 is actually pretty good
About 5 years ago, right before I embarked on my PhD studies, I harassed a few of you to play this game. Didn't have a computer or console that could play it, and no one seemed terribly interested.
I was surprised it's actually a lot of fun--they got the mechanics just right, the swinging mechanics are just perfect. I mean, it's as good as a transition from NES to 3D as Metal Gear Solid or Metroid Prime was. The arm is actually more fun than the gravity gun in HL2--probably one of the more original weapons in modern games I've seen.
I didn't think the writing was bad--they took the cheesy story of the original and did what they could with it. It's a little jarring to hear Rad Spencer drop the F-bomb, but it seems aware of its own absurdity and t manages to walk the line between the cheesy anime story of the original and a modern gritty FPS sci-fi story line. His dreads don't seem out of place considering how nonsensical the whole thing is anyway, which was one of the beefs many had with it.
I find this a lot more fun to play than other third person action games from around the same time, because the whole focus is on the swinging, which actually works well.