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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Oh yeah baby, this is the Contra I remember, November 20, 2007
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
Konami's legendary Contra series makes it's debut on the DS in all it's old school, arcade shoot 'em up action glory. Proving that the series is best in the realm of 2-D, Contra 4 is a throwback to the glory days of the original arcade game and the 8 and 16-bit era of gaming, as it provides huge levels, insane weapons, and unnerving difficulty. The game's grueling levels are spread about using both of the DS' screens, as enemies come at you from all sides. This alone makes Contra 4 worth checking out, and only adds to the game's difficulty, which even on Easy mode, is provides quite a bit of challenge. The controls are dead-on, the level designs are flawless, and the boss battles are epic; all of which adds up to one of the best action games to hit the DS yet. There are extras included as well to celebrate the Contra series' 20th Anniversary, including a Museum that reflects the series' run on consoles over the years, and an interesting Challenge mode that once completed, can unlock the NES versions of Contra and Super C. The only downside to Contra 4 is what has already been said: the difficulty. The difficulty may be a turn-off for new age gamers who didn't grow up with the Contra series, but for the rest of us who did, Contra 4 is a sheer blast.
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26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Old School Right Down to the Core, November 16, 2007
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
In the mid to late eighties a run and gun shoot 'em up game called Contra hit store shelves. It's a game mostly remembered for being insanely difficult. So much so that the developers gave players a code (which would later be dubbed the "Classic Konami Code") that would give them thirty lives and they'd still end up seeing the game over screen. But with persistence (and a good memory) Contra could be conquered. Later, we got Super C as a follow up and later the all time best: Contra III: The Alien Wars. Unfortunately, after that, many Contra games to follow (save for Hard Corps on the Genesis) were not good games at all. The Playstation games were said to be the worst of the series, and even though Shattered Soldier returned to old roots, it just wasn't enough.
Now, fifteen years after Contra III: The Alien Wars, we finally get a true Contra sequel. And it's everything the original Contra back in the 80's was. That is to say it's insanely hard, you only have so many lives and you'll see that game over screen millions of times, maybe within the first level alone. When I say this game is difficult, it's no joke. This game was specifically made for Contra fans. So if you didn't like the series before, you are surely not going to like this game by any means.
Contra 4 takes the basic run and gun gameplay of the original and does nothing to mess with a tried and true formula. You'll go through the levels blasting anything and everything that moves while you jump from one platform to the next to avoid falling in chasms. You'll also be avoiding enemy gun fire and watching out for enemies that are running blindly from one side of the screen to another. Your eyes must be sharp if you want to survive. You begin with a basic rifle, but along the way you'll be able to find other guns. Such as the Machine Gun, the Laser, and the Contra classic: The Spread Gun. There are more weapons to collect. You can carry two guns at a time and switch between them on the fly. You can also "upgrade" a weapon by collecting it a second time on top of the original for an extra punch. Very simple game to play, but insanely difficult to master. Luckily, there are difficulty levels to choose from, but choosing Easy will cause you to miss out on the real experience of what Contra is.
Unfortunately, like the previous games, once you get enemy movements down, it will actually become insanely easy. That is to say if you memorize where every enemy appears and when you'll succeed. The problem is learning this trick of trade as you'll have to die several times. Each level also ends with a boss who is just as difficult as the level itself. Many times you'll do well in a level only to be killed by the bosses. This Contra has the biggest, baddest boss battles yet.
Contra is also unforgiving in the fact that its one hit and you're dead. You have a set number of lives to begin with, depending on which difficulty level you choose. Once all those lives are gone its game over. You have a set number of continues to use. This is not a game for the casual gamer. It doesn't let up for a second.
That may ultimately be the problem with Contra 4. The simple fact that it's just an insanely difficult game overall. So much so that most gamers will be turned off simply because of being frustrated to death. Not even the first level is simple. If you really want to test how good a gamer you are, by all means, pick up Contra 4. Another small problem is that it spans two screens and keeping an eye on both screens when there is literally danger coming from all around can take a moment to get used to. It doesn't help that the little space in between can hide some of those dangers as well.
Contra 4 doesn't use the DS to its full potential. This is a 2D side scroller through and through. There are some 3D effects brought out, but not a whole lot. Your character sprites are a little pixilated. It doesn't push the DS to its limits but the levels are incredibly detailed with great looking backgrounds. The level design of this game is ingenious. For anyone who is a fan of the Contra series, there's a lot of nostalgia in the level designs (the very first level, for example, is a jungle). The game also sounds fantastic, with some great sound effects. Some of which were lifted from the original games. Even better, some levels use old classic tunes that are remixed.
There is also challenge mode. This is a mode where Contra veterans can really test their skills by having to do certain task in some stages. Here you'll do some things like go through a challenge without missing a single enemy or going through a challenge using limited ammo or sometimes even no ammo at all! There are 40 challenges in all and they'll test even the best Contra players.
Contra 4 really is a good game. A game that relies heavily on the old school roots that made the first three games such a heaping success. If you stick with it and don't wimp out, Contra 4 is rewarding.
Pros:
+Intense gameplay to keep you on your toes
+Really great soundtrack
+Simplistic gameplay
+A good challenge
Cons:
-When I say a good challenge... I'm not kidding. And while many will like a good challenge, there will still be some gamers--perhaps even Contra fans--who will believe this game to be a little much
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic Contra gameplay, December 23, 2007
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
Instead of trying to experiment with new gameplay mechanics, WayForward decided to just use the old mechanics and update the presentation. So basically you have the "feel" of the old games, but with more frames of animation, better graphics with great colors, and so on.
The best thing about this game is how they managed to capture the "feel" of the old Contra. They made certain things right, like the arc of the jumps, the travel speed of the bullets, the way they blink that certain way, the noise that your character makes when he lands on a platform, or the particular noise that a bullet makes when it hits a target. They also kept a lot of the enemies in the same poses and gave them similar animations to the ones in the older games. It's the subtle details like this that let you know that this is a genuine Contra game and not some experimental project that they just slapped the Contra name on.
You see many other franchises lose sight of the little things that made a particular game stand out. They may have similar characters and other qualities that justify it as a franchise game, but the qualities that made the original special are not there. Many of the later Sonic games have been accused of this, as well as the 3D Castlevania titles, and of course the 3D Contra titles as well. Contra: Shattered Soldier, while a decent game, suffered from this as well. In contrast, Contra 4 really is a true franchise title.
Overall, the game plays like a mix of Contra for the NES and Contra III: the Alien Wars for the SNES. If you liked those games, you will enjoy Contra 4.
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