It's an ok remake. I'm a HUGE fan of the original NES version, and to be honest, I would still choose that over this new one.
I think they should've used the triggers to shoot your grappling diagonally as the stick is not precise enough, and well, the d-pad on the xbox360 controller sucks ass.
I've never been a fan of small characters on high-res, they are harder to spot and sometimes you can't tell very well a platform from a background.
You cannot push back enemies if you hit 'em with your grappling shoot like in the original.
About the top down levels, I also think they are unnecessary, but I bet they were added to create a bigger connection between this game and Commando which is played that way.
Call me old fashioned, but like I said, the NES one is still my fav.