The most diabolical Contra yet is also the most satisfying shooter on DS and the best game in the series.
• Flawless controls
• Extremely memorable levels with heavy doses of nostalgia and plenty of "Oh crap" moments
• Bright graphics with zero slowdown
• Piles of great unlockables include Contra and Super C
• It's a great challenge that will keep you coming back for more
Cons:
• Certainly far too difficult for some members of gaming society – this game will be seen as a delightful challenge for some and as a form of torture for others.
• No multiplayer on the unlockable games
Contra's been around for a while, and given that the first one was released back in 1987, this latest entry celebrates its 20th anniversary. Now, it certainly isn't the fourth game, but since there have been a number of dull or even downright awful (the PlayStation and Contra obviously did not get along) titles since the third numbered game, Alien Wars, Konami apparently felt the need to redeem the series through WayForward, who thankfully did an incredible job, yielding the best side-scrolling shooter on the DS, and possibly the best Contra yet.
In case you haven't played a Contra before, the general idea is simple. It entails running through a series of progressively more challenging levels, dying over and over while some carnal "just one more try" emotion keeps the player from throwing their system at the wall. Yes, Contra games are hard, but none more so than the newest. I can safely say that Contra 4 is the most unforgiving one yet. Unlike most of the previous titles, it offers no manageable first level, and many gamers will die multiple times in the first few seconds of play. Don't expect to make it to the boss before seeing the retry screen when you first begin playing. It's very probable that most will exhaust their meager supply of continues before making it to the end of the third level. To give some perspective, Normal mode is rather like the "INSANE" of most contemporary games, and Hard is something delightfully nerve-wracking for the hardcore masochists to test themselves against. Fight your way to the end of Easy mode to have the game silently laugh at you and recommend trying a higher difficulty mode for a "Real Contra experience". The last two viciously wonderful levels aren't even accessible on Easy.
This would be an instant turn-off, except that the game is designed so perfectly that it draws one in. Deaths are never unfair, as it's completely possible to run through the game without using a continue or even losing more than a few lives. Certainly, this is a daunting task, but by no means unachievable. You see, Contra 4 harks back to the good old days, when games did not feature thousands of save points and quick-loads and regenerating health. The manual itself mocks these titles. "Contra isn't some RPG", it states with a sneer. "You won't be able to save your progress every ten steps". It reassures you by saying that you can erase your saved data if you're "embarrassed by your low scores". That's the kind of game Contra is. It's not a game made for the casual audience, nor for your little nephew who likes big-boy games. It's made for people who want to do more than just slog through a monotonously simple gunfight. In short, if you loved the previous old-school Contra's, or any other shooter renowned for blistering difficulty, this is a title you cannot pass up. It's just a pity that so many people will be repulsed by the challenge before they give the game a chance.
But it's always a good sign when a video game's title sequence involves sinister aliens from space turning Earth into a living hell, and an even better one when a group of ripped guys hefting oversized armaments show up in a helicopter to save the day. That's about as deep as Contra 4's plot goes, but it's on par with most shooters, and takes delight in its corny nature. About as serious as a B-movie from the 60s, it involves a lot of corny enemies, violent explosions, and the aforementioned large weapons. Guns, aliens, and carnage are what it's about, and it doesn't need an amazingly moving plot to keep things together, nor does it try to shoehorn one in. It knows its audience well.
Past the cool-looking art of the introduction scenes, Contra 4 could be mistaken for a Super Nintendo game on heavy doses of some performance-enhancing drug. The game has lovely sharp sprites with beautifully fluid hand-drawn animation, bosses that fill both screens with their malevolence, and a bright color palette; but overall it doesn't push the DS hardware very much. Side-scrolling environments are perfect in their smooth sprite-filled glory, but the pseudo-3D "tunnel" stages returning from the first game look very monotonous. Thankfully, they function only as a short ,relaxing reprieve, and in general the graphics are of very good quality, if not high-tech; though it's probably a good thing given that there can be dozens of bullets and baddies all running around at the same time with no slowdown whatsoever. Bosses are naturally the most impressive-looking creatures, with some obsessive amounts of detail. It's even better that many of the old favorite enemies return with a new coat of paint – not to mention enhanced killing efficacy. And coming under attack by a new variety of monster is also an experience to remember.
The bosses are the highlight of the game, as they're all huge, nasty, and tons of fun to scrap with. Some of them will bring back fond memories of previous Contra encounters, and then suddenly overlay that nostalgia with a heaping helping of "Oh crap" as their newer abilities come into play. The boss of the second level, while rather tame compared to later ones, probably inspired this feeling more than any other due to a sudden twist. I won't spoil it for you.
An action game isn't right without sound, but Contra 4 delivers well. It has a DOOM-esque rock soundtrack that changes depending on difficulty level (Hard mode nets you remixes of old Contra level themes), lots of fitting enemy shrieks and growls, and some cool-but-tinny little voice clips that characters utter after leaping up from death. The only flaws here are the weapon effects, which are shrill. While the Flame gun or the Crush missile have nice roaring noises, the Machine Gun sounds like the bird section of a pet shop. Thankfully the awesomeness of these weapons makes up for this, as new to the series are upgradeable guns – snag a power-up for a second time and you get a super version of it. For example, the legendary Spread Shot goes from firing three blasts to firing five more quickly, and the Hunter missile goes from shooting just one missile to shooting three. Flame morphs from its mostly useless Contra 1 incarnation into the explosive Super C version. And like Contra III: The Alien Wars, there are two weapons slots, active and reserve. Death loses you your active weapon, but the reserve remains there until a "continue" screen, making it handy for storing a boss-killer weapon or a rarer gun whose power-ups are trickier to find.
Defeating the game on any difficulty unlocks Challenge Mode, which is a series of 40 missions which take place in the game's various levels. Divided into categories such as Bad Guy Blitz (surviving attacks from large numbers of enemies), Low Ammunition (limited ammo), and Friendly Fire (must not shoot civilians) among others, they all entail passing a section of a level – any level. Beating all 40 is an extremely difficult task, but for every four challenges surmounted a new item becomes available in the bonus menu. The first two are actually perfect ports of Contra 1 and Super C, whose only flaw is that two-player co-op is disabled for them. Other unlockables include some well-drawn comics, a text interview with one of the series' designers, a sound gallery, and even a gang of new characters to play as, such as Lucia (with an apparent boob job) from the PS2's Shattered Soldier and the original Probotector robot from the censored PAL-region releases of the first three games. It's a treasure trove of nostalgia for any Contra fan, though I wish that Contra III were also included.
The somehow flawless balance between avoiding traps, blasting enemies, and navigating hazard-filled levels with every sense tuned to twitch-gaming maximum is what sets Contra 4 above others. There's no save feature outside of sacrificing a continue to restart at the beginning of the level last played with no collected weapons, and extra lives must be earned the old-school way by gaining points. Yet the amazing unlockables and undeniably awesome action provide excellent motivation for sticking with the game. Contra 4 is a modern classic whose difficulty unfortunately will put a lot of people off of it. Persistence, however, will yield an experience nearly forgotten in our age of shiny modern checkpoints-and-quicksave gaming.