Not So Retro Review: Contra 4 Nintendo DS

When a gaming company attempts to put out a new version of a classic, beloved series, sometimes you just have to accept that it's not going to have that same flair your old favorites did. Sometimes you have to remember that the tried and true formula that made the original titles the masterpieces they were are going to be replaced by new and questionable features in an attempt to add freshness to an antiquated series. Sometimes you just have to accept that it's not going to be the same.

Luckily, in the case of Contra 4, that entire opening paragraph is entirely irrelevant.

If you want to run and gun, if you want to shoot up a base pseudo-3D style, if you want to search desperately for the spread shot while navigating the narrow platforms of the jungle, if you want to be irritatingly be hit by falling rocks on the way to an Alien Fortress on top of a waterfall, if you want to spend an RPG amount of time trying to survive 9 merciless stages with the brutal, console-throwingly difficult 2D gameplay that defined the late 80's and early 90's portion of your childhood, then you probably want Contra 4.

Get Psyched! Oh wait, wrong game.

Graphics:
 Graphically the game is an example of how instead of putting all of our energy into 3D rendering, we should also appreciate just how much we can do with 2D graphics in the modern era. This is a gorgeous game with very nice background visuals with some 3D effects added in nicely. The player sprites are a bit pixelated but animate very smoothly. The game doesn't suffer from intense flickering like the games of old do, which is nice because with all of the on-screen activity it's going to be hard enough to keep track of things. Artistically the game looks a lot like Contra III, which isn't surprising given how most fans loved that one the most. Many of the enemies retain their original look and the player sprites are very similar to their classic counterparts.

Alien breeding programs have eliminated the "ball arms" gene

Controls:
The controls are as responsive as they need to be and simple to get the hang off for the most part. The direction pad on the DS may give you some problems, especially when trying to shoot diagonally which may prove frustrating while you're new to the game. It's a little harder to really mash the shoot button on the DS due to the small size of the buttons and the fact that it causes the whole console to shake. By holding the R button, you can at least stand safely in place while you fire in any direction, which also allows you to fire directly downward without having to jump. If you've only played Contra and Super C with lacked this feature, that's an incredible button right there. The simplicity of Contra's controls will lead to the same problems they did in the old days, such as accidentally dropping down from a ledge when you try to jump too soon after shooting at an enemy below you. The new ability to climb ropes affords itself many opportunities at accidental and deadly dismounts when you're trying to do too much at once and while none of these issues are necessarily new to this game, they are a perennial source of frustration.

Sounds:
The sound effects are crisp although some are rather quiet, so you'll have to strain a little to enjoy that classic 'p-choom' sound unless you've got headphones. The classic ricochet noise which denoted a successful shot on an enemy returns for added nostalgia, though most of the sounds in the game will be more updated. The game's music features some new tracks and several remixes of the ones you remember. If you're playing on Hard then you're rewarded with an enhanced version of the original Jungle track. Arguably the greatest 8 bit music ever, the Base Boss music from the first Contra returns in two of the three base-style levels as you're fighting the final enemy there, offering a more percussive and instrumental version, coming off as more dramatic (though not necessarily better) than the original version.

Gameplay:

 Mad Dog has chosen the passive-aggressive approach

After years of questionable titles and a few decent but very different ones, Konami's Contra 4 on the Nintendo DS is clearly meant as fan service to the long time fans of the run n' gun series, from the game itself, to the bonus unlockables, and even the booklet is made lovingly with long-time fans in mind. The game takes its overall design from the first three Contra games, featuring levels, weapons, music, and bosses borrowed or inspired from Contra, Super Contra, and Contra III: The Alien Wars. Contra 4 takes place soon after the events of Contra III, serving as a direct sequel to that game and ignoring all the rest that came in between (which is good because those storylines were crazy and the characters were wearing shirts). Midst the familiar features, the game brings fresh new ones to ensure that it isn't just a phoned-in reboot. While a few of the levels are clearly inspired by the look of some of the classics, they are set up in brand new, challenging ways while retaining the original feel. This includes the pseudo-3D shooting galley-like base levels which retain the "shoot the red things" goal but with beefed up enemies and hazards. One of the biggest new factors in the game is the simultaneous use of both the upper and lower screen, adding a huge new challenge to a game that was not exactly short on them to begin with. The insane difficulty remains intact, so only elite players will see the end. All in all, the easiest way to describe the game is...it's a Contra game, with all of the good and bad that comes with that status.

 With the addition of only a few new tricks, the core gameplay is unaltered from what we've grown accustomed to, feeling the most like Contra III, which might seem expected, given the numbering, but let's remember that they're 15 years apart. Before starting the game you can select which character you want to use. So if you're like me and sad that you have to be player two to enjoy the benefits of red pants, now you can choose Lance (the red pants guy) instead of that stuck up Blue Pants Bill right out of the starting block. Two other characters, Mad Dog and Scorpion, are also immediately selectable, and if you're familiar with the regional differences between the original Contra games, you know why that's such a delightful addition. All of these initial characters are just color palette swaps of each other, but if you ever felt that Bill Rizer would be better represented as a black guy with a golden rifle then this game's for you.

This seems very familiar

After your support chopper drops you into the jungle, careful not to insult your manhood with a helpful missile or two aimed at your enemies, you'll find yourself in the same position in which you found yourself way back in the original Contra, with a big gun that shoots one small, pathetic round at a time. Even the sound effect is exactly the same as it was in the NES days. Your mission on every level is simple to say but nearly impossible to do, run to the end of the level while shooting everything in sight before it gets you. If you take one shot from anything, you lose a life.

    Enemies come in all forms, from the backpack carrying cannon-fodder guys who used to irritate us on the waterfall (and still do) to durable gun turrets which take many shots to destroy. There's an increased premium on mid-bosses in Contra 4 which help give each level some added depth and challenge on the way to the eventual main boss. Mid bosses are among the most interesting enemies and may take the form of a large alien, a powerful tank, a giant robot, and more. It's not uncommon to encounter a mid boss that's actually more difficult than the level's final boss.

Spreadshot is love

   To help you navigate all of these hazards, your character can climb certain walls, hang on bars and certain ceilings, and can now climb ropes or rope-shaped alien entrails, which does unfortunately open the door to the 2D platformer rope nightmares we all remember, and more than once you'll be lamenting the loss of a life while asking, "why didn't we grab that rope, Bill?" New to the series, you are also given a grapple hook which is used to latch onto hangable objects above you. The grapple hook with shoot all the way to the heights of the level but you're very vulnerable to attack while it's pulling you up there. In an effort to make use out of this new tactic, weapon pods can often be found over deadly chasms, forcing you to shoot them open, jump down just far enough to collect the item before it's lost, and then grapple back to safety before it's too late, which looks pretty darn cool when you pull it off, but is rarely worth the trouble. Perhaps you might feel the use of the grapple hook adds a needless new learning curve in a series that's already too damn hard, but you'd better get used to it, as several key parts of the game require it. Sticking to running and gunning and some light climbing would be ideal but the grapple hook just may save your life one day. Or possibly cost you one.

Grappling can also leave you temporarily headless

Better weapons and powerups are shot out of pods imbedded into the background, or from flying pods which look very similar to those found in Contra III. If you're hoping for some new toys to play with here then you'll be somewhat disappointed as all of the weapons within have been featured in previous titles. However, all of the weapons can be upgraded by picking them up twice, so their functionality will improve in ways you may not expect. In some cases, the upgraded weapon is If you're playing on Easy, they all start off fully upgraded. Being able to upgrade the weapons puts an increased premium on collecting them as well as making it more tragic when you're killed, and your weapon is lost. Like in Contra III, you're allowed to carry two different weapons which is awfully helpful, since you only lose the one who had equipped when you die. Unlike Contra III you can't fire both weapons at once although there was really no tactically sound reason to do so in the first place. You can also discard your weapon, tossing it to the ground. This is useful if you're playing with a friend and are generous enough to share the wealth. It can also be helpful if you know you're about to get hit by something that don't want to lose the weapon permanently. Although if you're new to the controls you'll find yourself accidentally throwing away your weapons at very inopportune times.

Crap.

The levels play similarly to how they'd play in Contra III, with most of them being a side-scrolling format allowing you to climb rails, walls, and ropes in order to get to higher plains. Many portions of the game give you the option to take the high or low path, so you can run along the roof tops of the crumbling city or try your luck on the mean streets below. This would be especially helpful on multiplayer so you can finally get your buddy the hell out of your way, relegating him to whatever path you don't take. One of the levels takes place over the ocean on a futuristic jet ski, sort of like an aquatic version of the hover bike level in Contra III. And to the delight of fans of the original Contra, there are three shooting-gallery levels reminiscent of the bases from the first game. These levels are even harder than they were in 1987 with more tricks and traps awaiting you, but with the faster pacing and new features, may be even more fun than the bases you remember. Or maybe just more infuriating.

Aside from the regular campaign, you can also unlock Challenge Mode, which sticks you in 40 different scenarios, demanding that you complete tasks ranging from completing a section of a level without being able to shoot, having to retain extreme accuracy, taking on a boss without sustaining a single hit, and more. Some of these are unimaginably annoying, and not in the good Contra way, but just in an unfair, irritating way, which I assure you is actually different. For example, when playing some of the Pacifism modes, where you can't shoot, you're basically at the mercy of what the game throws at you. Sure, it might give you 3 paths to take but say enemies are on all three paths, preventing you from jumping, dropping, or standing your ground. What do you do? Nothing, you're screwed. Most of the challenges are fair in some very hidden way, but some of them will have you contemplating just how important a DS really is while you're looking for a hammer. As you complete these tasks you'll be rewarded with various unlockable bonuses which actually manage to justify the injustice you've just suffered. These bonuses...these bonuses are perhaps the greatest example of fan service the game has to offer. The booklet specifically says it offers no spoilers on what these prizes are, and in honor of that they won't be mentioned here, but to give you a small idea, if Contra 4 itself were absent from the game and only the unlockables remained, it would still be worth buying. Seriously.

So the gameplay in general is pretty great, classic Contra at its finest with a few new abilities. But alas, we must also cover the grim matter of the difficulty. First the good news: It's not as hard as Contra III. But then, few things in life are. However, the difficulty of Contra 4 is still insane and will scare off the modern gamer used to endless life bars and unlimited continues. It's much harder than Contra and Super Contra and requires extremely skillful maneuvering and heroic patience. The game can be set to 'easy' but the last two levels won't be available, and it's not as if "Easy" isactually all that easy anyway. If you're feeling extra masochistic, you can put the game on hard, where enemy bullets are almost too fast to see and bosses boast a carpal tunnel inducing number of hit points. As eluded to earlier, one of the hardest things about Contra 4 is that it takes place on both screens, making it very hard to see threats coming from the screen opposite of the one you currently occupy. You either have to look at what's coming or keep and eye on what's happening on your screen, either option increasing your mortality significantly. Plus, enemy fire briefly gets lost in the space between the two screens making it extra difficult to keep track of it. Honestly this is one of the more frustrating facets of the game, and whether it's intentionally meant to increase difficulty or just an unfortunate side effect of an attempt to take advantage of the DS platform, it does beg for an eventual adaptation to a single-screen platform if ever possible. Fortunately the overall game is great enough for this not to ruin it.

Bill must eliminate all the Aliens before 20th Century Fox sues him.

Conclusion:

Contra 4 is a prime example of what can be accomplished two decades into a long-running series when its made with the fans in mind and not just the money. Contra 4 isn't made to appeal to a new generation of gamers. It doesn't even try. This game is solely for those who loved Contra, Super C, and Contra III, loved the punishment and tragedy they dished out, and wanted more. Fifteen years after the last classic Contra, this game proves it can hang with its iconic predecessors and is easily the best Contra to come out in the 2000's. It doesn't try to be new or different, it just tries to be good. There is no fathomable reason that any classic Contra fan wouldn't become an immediate fan of this classic Run and Gun experience.

~Richard

* A few of these screenshots came from IGN.

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Retro Review Tuesday: Operation C

-Introduction-

As a long time Contra fan, finding out it could be made portable for me was quite exciting news. And unlike the disappointing Gameboy port of Contra III, the MOSTLY original Gameboy title Operation C proved to be a fun and compact Contra experience, exhibiting both familiar features and charming little new ones. With pleasure, I now wish to share it with the rest of the gaming world who may be unaware of its very existence.

-Overview-

The basic idea of the game remains the same as the good old days (Not that this game could be considered new...). Run the side-scrolling course of the level, and if it moves, shoot it. And if it doesn't...try anyway. At the end of each level you will face a boss. Destroy it, and you will move on to the next area.

Graphically it is quite an impressive piece of work considering it is an early Gameboy game. There is an animation for aiming forward, upward, and in all diagonal directions (Shooting downward in normal levels is only possible when doing so during a spin jump). Enemy sprites are rather detailed and mostly easy to distinguish the identity of. Backgrounds aren't too terribly detailed in come areas but are still pretty good in others. The game is colorless played on a normal gameboy, and on a Gameboy Color or Gameboy Advance it is very basically colored.

Operation C's controls are responsive and easy to get the hang of. Their simplicity remains the same as the Nintendo originals. You jump with A and shoot with B. Using the Directional buttons is what aims, and you can aim in eight different directions. If you are used to the classic Contra games, you will certainly notice the lack of speed your character boasts, most likely in an effort of stretch out the course of the 5-level game. Along with low speed, your character's jumping is far from impressive, making several jumps in this game quite nerve-racking situations. These are the only real issues with controls.

The sounds are rather complex for a Gameboy game. A lot sounds for games of this period were basically a series of "thuds" and what not. This one however has nice, large explosion sounds, the sounds of motors in attack vehicles, the high-pitched bullet-ricochet sound indicating a hit target, a notably nice machine-gun sound effect, and many other distinct sounds.

Not only is the music none-too-repetitive, but if you're a Contra fan, you should find it familiar. All the levels play Gameboy-modified versions of the music heard in the original classic. This is with exception to Area 2, which seems to exhibit an original but energetic musical composition. Additionally, the music that plays during Boss battles is a modified version of the great music that played during the Base Boss battles of the first Contra.

-Your Operation C Experience-

The gameplay of Operation C is quite easy compared to the classic Contra and Super C games. This in mind, it is still a Contra game, and should not be taken
lightly. You are always busy as enemies are constantly running at you from every direction, a common nuisance. Like usual, you also have to destroy gun turrets, tanks, and other machinery, which take multiple shots. This makes the game more interesting, and keeps you a little more off balance. Gunshots coming at you are

reasonably slow which is good as you yourself are rather slow. However, some move very quickly and are very hard to avoid. A different array of battle styles from level to level ensure the
gameplay never gets too stale.

Battle takes place sometimes on flat ground, and other times as you jump from ledge to ledge, or even on rising and lowering elevators. The occasional mini boss or just rather large vehicle make their appearances throughout gameplay and certainly add to excitement and breaking up the usual flow of things. The slightly slower pace of this game doesn't really allow for the death-defying jumps and evasion maneuvers the classic games turned into necessity. This is good or bad, depending on how you look at it. As was said earlier, jumps ARE dramatic only because you can't jump far in Operation: C so getting over certain crevasses takes some thought and timing, but this isn't necessarily a high intensity moment.

If you're well acquainted with the second Contra installment, Super C, then these levels may seem a bit familiar, as the whole game seems based on it. Respectively, levels 2, 3, and 4 in Operation C bear notable resemblance to Super C's second, third, and sixth area. Also, parts of Op-C's  fifth and final level could be compared to Super C's Area 4. And as these levels were fun in Super C, that tells a good tale for this one's performance. Along with these similar features, the classic Konami way of changing view modes is in effect here as well, so a couple of the stages (two and four) are played in a top-down mode. This limits your maneuverability and evasion tactics to just simply walking in a different direction. You can, however, wander the screen freely in all directions adding more interest to the gameplay.

Your boss battles can still prove as epic as those found in the classic games. They are still many, many times the size of your character and are loaded with weaponry. Level 4's boss is especially notable, as its alien qualities and stressful difficulty start to really remind you just what game you are playing. Of course, you can expect the end of a Boss's life to be signified with plenty of explosions and sound. None of the Operation C bosses are exactly what you'd call classic, and aside from Boss 4, aren't terribly memorable, but they still tack on the difficulty and bring a decent enough conclusion to an area.

As with the original games, this one allows you to pick up different weapons, each with different abilities and uses. The gun selection is not as plentiful as the other games but it's still enough to make it interesting for you, especially considering how different the weapons that are here are. Along with that, all the guns are now fully automatic, meaning you can just hold the button for continued fire. And of course, the everlasting salvation that is the Spread Shot is present and more alive than ever.

Your default gun has been upgraded to a Machine Gun, which obviously is rather nice. It generally shoots in 5-bullet bursts and has enough speed to be its own best option for some situations.

Heat-Seekers or Homing Rounds are new to this game and are a very useful weapon. Basically, the gun's bullets seek out targets without you having to aim and in addition to that, have a slight Spread-Shot like quality, shooting three at a time.

Fireballs are just as they were in Super C, large balls that disperse into four others when they hit their target. Taking out multiple enemies is made easier with these. However unlike the Super C version of this gun, you can't charge it for a huge blast.

The Spread Shot is amped up in this game and is quite amazing the first time you see it. Interestingly, you have to sort of level it up first. When you first collect the universally beloved S-marked falcon, your Spread Shot shoots in 3-round belts, mildly useful. But if you collect a second Spread Shot while you still have the first, it turns into a nearly unstoppable weapon of Mass Destruction (The kind you're already aware of that doesn't act a cover story for the securement of foreign oil). It shoots the full, big, bad 5-round belts with an added rapid-fire feature that just obliterates all opposition. As it was in the early days, not all the belts are full but the initial few that are tend to take care of any issue that would cause. It's certainly worth your time to see this weapon in action.

So is portable Contra fun? Why yes it is. All the elements are there, and the difficulty is enough to keep you on edge but not too overbearing, allowing the average Joe to pick it up and enjoy it, something that can't necessarily be said for the original Contra and Super C. The action is a bit slower than its NES predecessors but it's still a pretty fast paced game for an early hand-held. You will still find yourself taking out the triple-barrel tanks, alien pods, and huge bosses just like you love. You get the classic Contra feel with the strange after taste that comes with all Gameboy versions of video games. The downfalls of this game will probably be how slowly you move and how poorly you jump, which accounts for about half of its difficulty. I personally could stand to see this game be a bit longer but I suppose I understand that it's merely a handheld. Now while the first four levels are pretty tame compared to the Contra you are accustomed to but worry not. The final level, five, comes roaring at you in true Contra spirit, with fast guns, dangerous aliens, and plenty of player death. If you wanted Contra, you're getting it now.

-Conclusion-

Your Contra experience isn't going to be exactly the same as the classic play through you may be familiar with upon turning on this game. However, as a long time Contra veteran, I can personally vouch for the quality of this game as a hand-held version of possibly the most popular shooter ever crafted. Operation C is sure to be an exciting addition to your hand-held collection and possibly your entire video game collection if you are a Contra fan like I am. It's small, it's different, it's quaint, it's Contra. Pop it into your Gameboy and love it like I do.

~Richard M.




*Scan of Operation C Box art from giantbomb.com

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Retro Review Tuesday: Contra

INTRODUCTION

Chances are that if you're old enough to ever be sitting around with your friends discussing your favorite classic NES games, Contra is going to come up. Somehow the abuse delivered by this Konami classic was well received, back when gamers were truly an elite corps, and willing to take it. Within the seemingly simple run-and-shoot format there is a lot going on here, and to make it out alive you'll need to boast pinpoint accuracy, maneuvers that cheat death, and an unwavering will to live . If you don't have any of that, then you'd better have the Spread Shot.

OVERVIEW

With alien forces and mind control capabilities at their disposal, the Red Falcon is threatening the very livelihood of the Earth it is up to you and one hell of a gun to destroy them and their stronghold. The fate of the world is on your shoulders.

In simplest terms, your goal here sounds impossible - go eight levels in a Konami game without completely dying. Now for those of you who might not know the game and think "eight levels, what a gip" rest assured that classic Konami games and NES games in generally are made to ensure that you get a lifetime of effort out of eight levels.

Contra is a very fun, extremely difficult platformer where, as stated earlier, you run and shoot everything that moves. At the end of each level you will face a boss, generally many times larger than the protagonist. There are two types of levels - side scrolling levels, and pseudo 3D "base" levels that exhibit shooting gallery-style gameplay. Your enemies in this game can be anything from a possessed South American soldier, to a robotic, motion-detecting gun turret, to a huge, nearly unstoppable tank which will run you down if it can't get you with the gun and that doesn't even included the bosses. Beginning with only three lives, you'll find it very hard to get on your feet with this one. But with hard work and determination, you just might see level 3.

The graphics of the game are simplistic but they get the job done. Like all Konami games of the time, there are many, many sprites on screen at once, so the sprites will frequently flicker to compensate. As a fast paced game, this really isn't too much of a problem (except for when you're getting screenshots for a review), and it adds to the illusion of quick, aggressive action. Contra also features several distinctive, none-too-repetitive musical tracks, and is especially known for the catchy music that plays throughout the base levels.




GAMEPLAY

After choosing between playing alone or with a friend (and whether or not you want to be a wimp and use the infamous Konami Code), you literally drop into the first level, gun already firing if you know what's good for you. You scroll the level shooting your enemies first with your default gun and special weapons you can acquire as you go along. Your character showcases very versatile maneuverability for a game of this vintage. You're able to jump, hit the ground, and shoot forward, straight up, diagonally up, diagonally down, shoot from forward from on the ground, and in every direction while in mid-air, including straight down, and can change direction while in the air at any time. Enemies, enemy fire, fireballs, grenades and more come at you from every direction at once, making all these maneuvers a necessity. Many enemies take several shots to destroy so you're need to be quick on the trigger. If you stop moving or shooting, there's a good chance bad things are going to happen to you.

Once you've reached the end of an area, you'll have a confrontation with a boss enemy, usually robotic or mechanical in nature, and usually loaded with several guns. When you've taken down the boss, you will progress to the next area and in the early levels that means getting through the games signature areas, the bases.

-Bases-

Two stages (Two and Four) are played in a Base, where the gameplay takes place in several consecutive corridors and changes from scrolling to pseudo-3D, and the player's viewpoint is from just behind the protagonist. These levels are often compared to a shooting gallery, with enemies appearing in front of you, and running and literally bounding from one side of the room to another. As they do this, they shoot at you, throw grenades at you, and attack you in other forms. You are separated from them by an electrical beam, allowing you to only move side-to-side or lay on the ground while the beam is activated. If you try to cross the beam, you will get shocked. This does not kill you, but renders you immobile for just under a full second, more than enough time to be killed in most Konami games.

Your goal in these levels is to destroy the round, flashing target(s) located on the wall in front of you. Once you do this, via shooting them several times, the wall will be destroyed, along with all remaining guns and enemies. The electrical beam will now be deactivated and you can finally move forward to the next corridor. Once you've cleared the final corridor (Indicated in both bases by its especially large center target, surrounded by guns), you will encounter the Base Boss, a huge, multi-story control panel armed with an arsenal of artillery shooting energy blasts from every which way and carrying enemy soldiers. Defeating this insidious machination won't be enough, in both bases they're hiding a nasty little secret you'll have to deal with before you can move on. Also, of note, these bosses have their own music, which is some of the best boss music you'll hear, by the way.

-Weapons-

Aside from the insane difficulty, Contra is probably best known for its gun augments (which apparently just "plug in" in a split second) and pickups to aid your trek into this nearly impossible situation. Without them, you have no realistic chance of victory, or at least not a pretty one. Weapons are acquired by shooting them out of the pods that fly above you, and in some cases, below you. The type of the weapon is indicated by the single letter set into the center of the falcon graphic that makes up the pickup.

Default Gun (No Letter) - The gun you start off with, it fires a single shot at a time, its rate of fire completely dependent on the speed of your fingers. When you die, you will lose whatever special weapon you may have and will be defaulted back to this. There is no actual pickup for this gun and it won't get you very far.

Machine Gun (M) - The first special weapon available to you, this one allows you to just hold the shoot button and enjoy its rapid-fire properties. The rounds (designed like the signature Konami Eye) are no more powerful than those of the default gun, but the added speed makes a galaxy of difference.

Fireball (F) - This might just be called fire, although it really looks nothing like fire. It fires rounds that revolve in a circle as they go. Although it's a wider shot radius and possibly more powerful, it's still easily the most useless weapon in the game, in some cases even harder to deal with than the Default Gun.

Spread Shot (S) - This is the gun that's going to win this game for you. The most famous gun of the entire Contra series fires a belt of five rounds that spread out as they go, taking out multiple enemies at once, requiring virtually no accuracy to hit your enemy. Firing this weapon quickly causes the belts to loose some rounds, which can get as small as just a single round, but the initial, full five-round belt will usually take care of most of your hostiles, which makes this not too much of a problem. Besides, if every belt were full it would almost make this game fair...

Laser (L) - High risk, high reward would be a good way to sum up this weapon. The laser fires in large, very powerful beams that just cut right through enemy soldiers as if they weren't even there. This means you can destroy an entire line of enemy soldiers in one shot. And for the more powerful robotic enemies such as gun turrets, it only takes about one and a half beams to destroy most of them. So what's the catch. Well, you can only fire one beam at a time. Meaning, only one beam can be in flight at once. You fire a beam while another has yet to disappear, then the initial beam will be canceled out, and disappear. This means that you can't really rapid fire this gun, even manually. if you try, a beam will just pulse in and out of your gun, meaning you can only kill enemies at point blank range. There's a price to be paid for this enormous power.

Rifle (R) - The rifle or range add-on will increase the flight speed of the rounds of the gun you're currently using. Unfortunately, this upgrade does not carry over to a different weapon, so if you pick up a normal gun, it will fire at normal speed.

Shield (B) - Maybe it means barrier? At any rate, this will makes you invincible for a short time, allowing you kill enemies just by walking into them. Don't get over confident, though. There's no warning to indicate when it's about to deactivate.

Smart Bomb (No Letter) - Appearing just once throughout the game in Area Five, this pickup takes the form of a flashing Falcon and upon acquiring it, every enemy on the screen with be destroyed.


CONCLUSION

Contra is a sure staple of classic NES gaming for anyone who can truly be considered an old-school gamer. From the intense difficulty, to the fast action, to the Spread Shot, this game has definitely secured a strong place in the history of video games. A victory over this game means a lifetime of bragging rights. So put your "skills" to the test and see if you have what it takes to overcome one of Konami's greatest achievements.

Because most people do not.

~RM


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Retro Review Tuesday: The best Contra III review ever part II

Today's Retro Review is Part II of The Best Contra III Review Ever. Shorter than the last segment, but this part covers Contra III's most well known feature, it's insane difficulty.

So on to Part II: Difficulty, Details and Conclusion.



DIFFICULTY

Contra III - The Alien Wars is a relentless assault on your reflexes, your determination, your devotion, and your self-esteem. Enemies come at you from any which way, firing anything from energy blasts, missiles, lasers, man-sized drills, everything. The classic "Shot in the toe, ya die" principles apply in this game, and have never been more pronounced. Nearly every level is choked with mini-boss after mini-boss, complete with their much-more-difficult-than-the-actual-boss cronies, a law that has reigned over many video game Boss characters throughout the history of time (roughly thirty years). Don't believe anything can get worse than those hours you spent crying over Super Ghouls and Ghosts? Here are some specific examples of the heartlessness that is Contra III.

Stage Three First Mini-Boss: As you hang above the oblivion from a high railing, a spiked-mech-pod with rotating arms floats up, revving its giant drill at you, swaying left and right. Unless you have the surface-piercing Fire weapon, you need to grab onto the spinning arms to get a vantage point of the vulnerable area, located underneath the pod. Touch the pod, or more obviously the drill, and an unforgiving death. Once you've defeated the mini-boss, the arms will spin very furiously as the pod goes down, trying to take you with it. You must jump from its arms, back onto the stationary railing, and try to avoid latching onto the arms again (the character does it automatically when he comes into contact with a graspable object). Once the pod has disappeared from view, it will shoot about 5 homing rockets up at you. And you're not even halfway done with this boss yet.

You jump up to a few more rails and then latch onto a wall. Your pod buddy is back, flying back into play, growing two robotic legs and joining you on the wall (he does this whether or not you're on the wall...and you'd better be there if you don't want to die, right then). The Boss with then scale the wall as you climb with it, trying to stay within the confines of the area between its legs as it frequently shoots two rockets at you. When it gets to a certain height, two spiked panels grow out of the wall and the pod latches on, relocating to the far left side of the screen. As you try to, once again, blow thing thing to hell, It tries to line up with you on the wall, and when it's confident that it's got a shot at you, it viciously charges at you, now erecting TWO huge drills, and smashing into the wall, taking your sorry ass with it if you don't get the hell out of its way.

Stage Four: This entire level is the absolute incarnation of what Contra III is about, easily the most notorious part of the game. You spend the majority of the level on a futuristic motor bike, battling what look like flying jet skis, tanks, and a giant, half-mile long flying gunship, attacking you with energy blasts, lasers, fireballs, and its own crew. When you progress past this point (after another mini-boss), a helicopter floats in above you, prompting you to hop onto the missile it is carrying. Once you do this, the helicopter ascends high into the air with nothing between you and the ground but imagination. Some little fruit looking like a medieval warrior with a sword and grapple hook latches onto the missile with you for a mid-air battle. Once you defeat him, the missile is launched - with you on it. Several other regenerating missiles from inexplicable sources come into view. Get acquainted with them...they are now your only means of movement. A large ship comes into view at the right side of the screen. A giant red core is protected by a yellow forcefield, powered by two units on the top and bottom of the ship. You must take out these units as you ride the missles - as they detonate upon contact with the forcefield. If the missile you're riding explodes, you drop. Hope there's a missle underneath you when this happens. Oh, and a swarm of bombs shoot at you from the shielded core as you hop from missile to missile.

But just in case that's just an insult to your Contra abilities, the units powering the shield also shoot at you. Once both power units are destroyed and the shield is down, you can now begin to work on the core. The bombs are now replaced by balls of fire shooting from the core, instantly detonating the missiles they hit. Good luck.

CONCLUSION

Contra III - The Alien Wars makes the the difficulty of the classic Contra games look like that of Ernie's Magic Shapes & Astro Grover. When you first throw this into your SNES (Or more likely, download it on your WII or click it into your Emulator), you will be killed 7 times before you hit the ground. If you've got the patience, and more importantly, the structural integrity of your controller and console, Contra III - The Alien Wars will prove to be a strange kind of abusive fun, and perhaps in time, your life's greatest accomplishment. So give it your best shot.

It will never be enough.

~RM

That's all for this week's review. Next week's review should be written by yours truly on an as yet to be determined gaming classic. (I should probably start moving my butt on that...)

~Stephanie

Don't forget to stop by our shop vintage gaming collectibles:

Retro Review Tuesday: The best Contra III review ever

Something I've wanted to do for a long time is write vintage game reviews for a blog. So, in order to make my dream a reality, we're going to be attempting to post a new review every Tuesday. Our first one is a guest review by my awesome brother(though I helped a tiny bit with some wording and editing), mentioned previously in this blog, and focuses on one of the hardest games ever to grace the SNES, Contra III: The Alien wars. I can say without a doubt (and without bias) this is the best, most comprehensive Contra review you will ever read. It is so full of awesome that you would be overwhelmed if you were to read it all at once so it will be split into two parts.

So without further dawdling here's part I of the best Contra III review ever written:

PROLOGUE

Around fifteen years ago on a wet and gloomy morning, a main video game developer at Konami woke up late. He was in such a rush that he accidentally put body-wash in his hair, instead of shampoo. Getting out of the shower, he slipped on the edge of the tub, totally racking himself. In his haste, he spilled piping hot tea all over his outfit. He missed his train and ran a mile to his office. There, he got a call from his wife. Shame or not, she was leaving him and taking their son after his immense loss from the stock market. It all became too much. The world would feel his vengeance for this unbelievably unbearable day. They would all pay. At the weekly brainstorming session, the disgruntled developer begins to put his vindictive plan into order.

Contra III is introduced.



INTRODUCTION

First, a bit of Nostalgia, Contra III features many cameo appearances from past enemies. These instances include: two incarnations of the Stage One boss, the final boss from Super C, and a newly tricked-out version of Super C's Stage Six boss. The warm fuzzy feelings of nostalgia are nice before you realize that these enemies have now subscribed to Contra III's policy of "Take no Prisoners or Distinguishable Corpses."

Contra III - The Alien Wars is easily the most difficult chapter the already trying Contra series has enjoyed within its legacy. It will take you, hurt you, abuse you, and laugh in your tear-drowned face. Even the all-new even deadlier weapons and the luxury of being armed with two interchangeable guns won't soften the blow to your self-esteem that this game brutally delivers. With two fewer levels than the Original Contra and Super C, Contra III - The Alien Wars does to you in six levels what its predecessors couldn't do in a sum of sixteen.

Oh, and the Konami Code, that guardian angel of vintage gamers everywhere, has no power in this godless realm.



GAMEPLAY

--Layout--



Contra III follows the basic side-scroller game layout of the earlier games in the series, down to the occasional top-down view levels a' la Super C. Both level types display number of lives, weapon type, and number of smartbombs. On the main, side-scrolling levels, the classic "gun-'n'-run" principle applies, with a boss waiting for you at the end of the line.



On the top-down view levels, you are granted full control of movement (Forward, Backwards, left, Right), and you must located and destroy certain targets before you are given access to the level's boss. A map flashes onto the screen before you begin to play the top-down levels, allowing you to choose where in the level you would like to begin, and showing you where the main targets are located throughout the area. When playing two-player, you have the option to play these levels Split-screened, allowing both players to wander, freely (2 Player mode A) and with both players confined to the view of one full screen (2 Player mode B).

--Options--

Unlike the previous Contra games, Contra III allows you to choose the difficulty of the game (Easy, Medium, and Hard), and the amount of lives per continue. Easy is damn-near impossible, Normal is virtually impossible, and as far as I know, Hard is just impossible.

You may also alter the sound style (Stereo/Mono), Which is probably the only part of the game where you're really in control, ever.

--Maneuvers/Actions--

As in the classic Contra Games, your character can run forward, turn around, jump and duck. New to Contra III, your character can also hang onto and move along railings and ceilings, and climb up the sides of certain structures (it's not always clear which ones you can and can't climb).

In top-down levels, you can move forward, backwards, strafe left and right, and turn to the left or right. These levels can be difficult to get used to do to the strange controls.

Pushing left or right on the Directional Pad will cause you to strafe in the respective direction. To actually turn and aim that way, you need to push L or R (left and right, respectively). Jump has been replaced by the less-effective crouch in these levels, disabling you from movement while you're on the ground.

You can shoot ahead, up, down, diagonally up and diagonally down. You can also shoot in any of these directions while in the air, or hanging. You now carry two guns which you can change between to decide the best weapon for the given situation. You could use the perennial Spread Shot for clearing out a group, or switch to the unrelenting power that is the Laser for a concentrated attack on an enemy's core. When the player loses a life, the gun that was highlighted is also lost, but not the one in reserve. So for example, if you have both the Laser and the Spread Shot, and you're using the Laser, if you die, you will lose that gun, but the Spread Shot will still be available. You can then choose to switch to that gun, or just continue your battle with the default gun. If you push both L and R and the Fire button, your character will jump in the air, firing both guns in a spinning-attack*, with rounds flying every which way.

On a top-down level, this attack is a stationary spin from the ground. If the player holds down the dual-gun command in these levels, the attack is non-stop until the player lets go of the controls. Beware - if you die while highlighting both guns at once (It can be down without attacking) you will LOSE BOTH GUNS.

You cannot perform this technique if you're hanging on a railing/ceiling/wall or crouched in a top-down level.

*It should be noted that while is does turn you into a whirling ball of death, I've never found a realistic or useful time to perform the dual-gun technique however, performing it with Fire loaded in each barrel does look pretty spectacular.



--Weapons--

Contra III exhibits the classic weapons you remember from the past games, along with some of its own new arsenal. Here, the weapons are all listed, in order of their appearance, and broken down into their strengths and weaknesses, as well as the alternate effect(s) that some enjoy (or rue...) in the top-down areas (levels 2 and 5).


Default: Contra III finally figured out that if two guys are going to save the Earth from diabolical, ruthless invading Aliens, they're probably going to bring more than just a semi-automatic rifle. And thus, there is no Machine Gun pickup in this game, as it is your default weapon, firing at about 3 times the rate as the old Machine Gun. Don't get too excited, however. Although this gun does have a truly incredible rate of fire, it is still very weak. However, you will find more than one situation where the default weapon proves more useful than the others, even the Spread Shot. Like the original Contra games, you start off with this gun, and when you die, it resets to it.

Level 2 & 5: Basically the same thing. The shot travels for a bit then disappears into an unfilled circle, like any classic shooting game has taught us.

Shield: Going all the way back to the original Contra, nobody, probably not even the game developers, knows what the hell "B" stands for on this pickup. Nevertheless, in this updated version of the shield will surround your character in a blue aura, protecting you from all enemies and attacks, and destroying the hostiles that touch it. The aura will turn red when it's about to expire, a feature that would have been very convenient in the old games.

Level 2 & 5: Other than an inexplicable change to a different, less-cool color, this is essentially the same thing.

Smart Bombs: The falcon-shaped, flashing, classic smart bomb that destroyed all on-screen enemies in the classic Contra games now takes the shape of a small nuclear bomb that is collectible and detonated at the player's discretion. An alternating red and yellow energy sphere forms around you and gradually spreads throughout the screen, destroying/damaging all enemies on the screen until it is spent. These are generally a desperation weapon, used when you're surrounded with nowhere to go, need to hit an extremely elusive target, or, more commonly, when you accidentally press "A." Be aware though that your count goes back to one when you lose a life, nice if you had none, not so nice if you had four.

Level 2 & 5: Same thing. Virtually no change.

Spread Shot: If you've beaten Contra or Super C, this gun is why. Appearing in a pair early in the first stage of Contra III, you have the option of equipping both barrels with this classic multi-shot bad boy. Unlike the original games, the Spread Shot is now somewhat automatic, firing in very quick bursts of two to three belts (fully automatic in close-quarter situations). There is a slight pause after this, which, due to the high-speed environment of Contra III can be a very fatal quarter of a second. Due to that, it's sad to say that the Spread Shot, the gun that saved your ass (admit it) in the classic NES Contra games, doesn't quite live up to the demands of Contra III's relentless onslaught. It is still a useful pickup, good for close-range battles with high-HP enemies, but in multiple situations, this gun is easily traded for another.

Level 2 & 5: Strangely, it's commonly seen releasing three-shot belts to the usual five, the top-down Spread Shot's lack of radius is made up for in its newly acquired fully-automatic properties only truly enjoyed in these levels, making it a noticeably more useful weapon here.

Heat Missiles - A gun new to the Contra series (Unless you count Contra Force, but nobody else did and you shouldn't either), the Heat Missiles prove useful in many situations with their fully-automatic nature, considerable rate of fire, and their homing qualities. The main drawback here is that when battling a boss with multiple targets, these guys don't exactly go for the target you'd prefer, so it's best to use these doing normal gameplay, and trade up when approaching a boss.

Level 2 & 5: You're basically dealing with the same thing. Not much changes here, other than the view.

Laser: Like its classic incarnation, the Laser is a gun of exceptional power, great for use on the core area of boss enemies. The beam damages stronger enemies several times before disappearing, and passes right through weaker enemies. However, with this great power comes foreseeable sacrifices in other areas of performance. The Laser's rate of fire is the lowest in the game, and its beam moves notably slower than the rounds of other weapons, leaving the player vulnerable to enemy attacks between shots. Though it is still much swifter than in Contra and Super C.

Level 2 & 5: This gun is nothing short of a beast in these levels. The slow, separate beams have been transformed into one everlasting, steady beam, quickly eradicating any hostile that crosses it. With all of its original power, the shortened range of the Laser's shot is a small price to pay for this kind of devastation.

A final note on laser, it cannot be ignored, that the new sound has been reduced to an electronic whine, a lamentable change from the classic MUCH more "badass" sound of Contra and Super C.

Cluster Bomb: Contrary to the opinion of the annoying man from the PSP commercials, Cluster bomb is not always the answer. In fact, in Contra III, it is arguably the most useless weapon in the game in most situations.
This gun, on average, shoots in bursts of three to five rounds then pauses and the bombs don't generally span the entire screen's length before detonating. Although quite powerful, more so than the laser even, with its less-than-desirable rate of fire, and lack of range, the Cluster Bomb is a weapon that's usually collected by falling on it.
However, there are very specific situations where the Cluster Bomb proves absolutely invaluable, such as the Boss at the end of the first stage, or the fourth Mini boss on the final stage of the game.

Level 2 & 5: The main difference here is that this weapon might be even MORE useless now, although it is pretty good for use on the giant centipede things.

Fire: First available in Level Two, the weapon that was possibly the most useless special weapon in the earlier Contra games has now proven to be possibly the most potent weapon in Contra III. Designed like an actual flamethrower for the first time, this gun boasts the ability to fire non-stop and pass though surfaces, making difficult targets nothing to blink at. The Fire's short range rarely proves to be much of a problem, although its slow changing of direction can occasionally prove detrimental.

Level 2&5: Only in these levels can the Fire be topped by the nearly unstoppable Laser. However, this gun should still be sought after here, exhibiting great performance clearing out many small enemies to taking down stronger hostiles. It's especially useful for its valuable surface-disregarding properties while fighting Level Two's boss.


Tank: For a brief time in Stage One, you have the option to ride some of it out in a tank. The tank will function until it is destroyed by enemy fire, or until it gets to a certain point - whichever happens first. Pressing the fire button shoots the tank's large gun, a blast so powerful, it blows your vehicle back a few feet, and levels the vintage Contra base-bosses in one shot.
In my opinion, it's best to just run down enemies, and not waste time firing the gun. Then take one shot at the upcoming base.



That's it for Part I come back next Tuesday for part II featuring more screen shots, more details, more bosses and more punishment. PART II NOW POSTED

~Stephanie

Richard's Introduction

My name is Richard, and I'm the younger brother of one half of the owners of this blog, Stephanie.

Like them, I have an undying love for vintage video games, and all of my contributions to this blog will be video game related (never much cared for anime, myself). Primarily, I'll be the author of some of the reviews found here, such as my masterpiece and first review written here, Contra III: The Alien Wars. I also collect all of the screenshots featured in reviews written by me and also many of the shots in those not written by me.

Video games were a part of my life since before I had a steady memory. I believe my earliest distinct memory of the Super Nintendo, my favorite system (and the greatest video game achievement of all time, for that matter), would be us walking into the living room while Dad was playing F-Zero (the first time I had ever seen it) and causing him to lose control and smash back and forth into the walls. But despite that being the earliest thing I remember, I can't help but think that I also played Mortal Kombat before that time, MK probably being my first "favorite" game. Having been born just in time to grow up with the SNES and the NES, I have to be thankful that I didn't get hooked on the Playstation, or even the Nintendo 64, really. I truly was born into the golden age of video games, and now I spend a lot of my time trying to keep it a living part of my life for as long as I can. So if I hear anybody say that their favorite system would be the PS2 or the dreadful Xbox, I might be kind enough to smile and nod, but I truly have little respect for them or their opinions on video games.

Over the years, I've completed some of the most difficult games ever concocted, and take much pride in that. They would include Contra, Super Contra, Contra III (On Normal), Friday the 13th, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!(though that review was done by Stephanie), and some others. At the risk of sounding arrogant, I feel that they entitle me to consider myself a gamer; a title that's otherwise meaningless when awarded to those silly online FPS players. So if you're content to beat HALO 3 three times in a week, fine. But you just be aware that the will and devotion of greatest generation of video game history made it possible for you to save your game, go back, and try again when things don't go so well. If today's generation had been around in the 80s, video games would have never lasted.


~RM