A Homage to a Great Series

The Contra timeline has been plagued since its early hits. The NES and SNES sequels which were the heyday of frustrating , but very fun running and gunning.

However, the Contra series took a wrong turn when it went 3-D. In an effort to reclaim the series' popularity, Contra 4 was released.

And it worked. Contra 4 was released to celebrate the series' 20 year anniversary.

I got this game because I had always liked Contra, but recently had not played any of the newer games.

At first I wondered whether it could live up to the last game in the canon Contra Series, Contra 3 for the SNES. My first entry to the series was Contra 3, and that was my basis for all comparison. It widely had been considered the best Contra game, and I agreed, maybe up to now.

Contra 4 is able to compete with the best of Contra 3 action.

When you start up the game, you are greeted with a list of options, which include classic contra action and a lot of cool bonus content.

Arcade Mode

The Contra series has had a very long history of always focusing on the same thing. Killing aliens. We like it that way. So, its the same for Contra 4.

You first get to select your character, which is still the same people from the previous games. As you complete more and more challenges (more on that later), more characters are available, which also adds to the coolness of the game.

The game opens up the same way as it always has. The score and lives are displayed openly. As the game starts, you are first struck by the nostalgia of it. Looking very similar to Contra III, it keeps many of the elements that have kept the Contra series a staple of Nintendo fans. The dual weapon system is till there, along with the powerups that kept the game so cool. This system I found to work very well into keeping the game fun.

There is another new mechanic that has been added to the game: the grappling hook. The grappling hook allows you to traverse from different platforms, and adds a new level of depth to the game. This games makes being on two screens much easier.

You are also immediately struck by the difficulty of it, another hallmark of the Contra series. I am a pretty avid game, no means hardcore, but I was completely blown away starting this game on normal. Completely. You are quickly faced with tons of enemies, and no rest stops. They keep coming. The game is played on both screens at once, which causes the game to be very hectic.

I could not even beat it on easy at first, and after a lot of practice, barely was able to beat easy. And normal, I don't even want to talk about how long it took me to get that good.

Anyways, there are a total of nine levels, all of which are very challenging. Contra 4 keeps your usual 2d fighting/gunning action, and also takes the 3rd person level type from the old Contras.

Each level is very different, and the setting of each really gives a cool feel to the game. No level is really similar to each other, and the game never gets boring or repetitive.

The music is your typical 80's style electronic music, but it blends very well with the fast pace of the game, and the fact that its intended to be nostalgic.

One small complaint I have is the gap between screens, where it is hard to keep track of bullets, but there is nothing you can really do about this, this is an obvious limitation for the maker.

When you complete for the first game, you unlock Challenge mode, which has a lot of cool things for you to do.

Challenge Mode

Challenge mode has a lot of fun challenges, that really test your contra skills to the limit. It has a total of 50 challenges, which each fit into a different category, focusing on a certain aspect of your contra skill. These categories include Accuracy, Pacifism (no shooting) and Gunplay (using non-standard weapons).

You start with 5 challenges unlocked, and as you complete challenges, more and more come available for you to beat. It generally increases in difficulty as you complete more and more. As you been certain numbers of challenges, bonus content gets unlocked, which is really cool.

The challenge mode is very good in adding to the replay value of the game, and also provides a fun short gaming experience for those 5-minute breaks.

I really liked the challenge mode for making the game have more depth and more playing time, along with replay value.

Bonus Content

There is a heck of a lot of bonus content crammed onto that tiny chip. This is one of the things that I love about the game, which adds that tiny little pushover to the class of really really good games. At first,only a museum is available. I really enjoyed this, as it got me up the track the entire Contra series.

The fact that they include NES games (Contra and Super C) is absolutely awesome. I hadn't played them before, and they are really fun (and really hard). These are unlocked when you complete a certain number of challenges.

The comic books are interesting, but aren't really finished drawings and aren't very informative. They're just there as little tidbits.

The interview I found interesting, mostly because I like to read. It provided a lot of insight into the game's creator and how it came to be.

Conclusion

Contra 4 manages to capture all the magic of the first game, combine it with the challenge mode and the bonus content, and shoves it all together in one fun, addicting package. I highly recommend this game and I love nearly everything about it.

Buy it.