Contra 4 is a mean little cartridge packed with classic, difficult gameplay, content and surprises.
There are several playable characters; some new characters can be unlocked, but each character plays the same. With your trigger happy, alien blasting, robot bashing hero chosen, you must play through six to eight stages of sheer brutality. The stages are set in various locations and provide some nice scenary. The first stage will be instantly recognizable as it is a redone version of the first stage in the original Contra. There is a waterfall stage that contains some decent platforming, a laboratory crawling with mutant freaks and monsters, a city under the destruction of androids, and even a jet ski stage.
Contra 4 utilizes both DS screens. It is a good thing considering that the stage could be panned out abroad. Sometimes, however, there are bullets a blazin' on both screens and it becomes very difficult to keep up with all of the action. The divide between the two DS screens also creates a blind spot which can cause some annoyances, deaths.
There are a total of eight stages to be played in Contra 4's campaign, but the final two stages can not even be seen on easy mode, as the game ends at stage 6. The game forces you to play through on normal or hard mode to experience all of the campaign. This would not be a terrible idea (because the game is so short) if it were not for the game's punishing difficulty. Gamers with little experience in the 2D side scrolling shooter genre will have their rears handed to them time after time again on normal difficulty. Even experienced Contra players will find themselves frequently dying on normal difficulty. Contra 4's difficulty is not a flaw however. If anything, it is good fan service and proudly lives up to the Contra name. But it certainly is not for everyone.
At the end of each stage is usually a freakishly huge boss, making for an exhilirating boss battle.The boss battles are possibly the greatest highlight of Contra 4's campaign. The animation and look of the bosses are superb, but trying to take them down is adrenaline inducing fun. Good timing and pattern memorization of the bosses' attacks will be key to defeating the bosses, not so much strategy.
One hit from an enemy kills your character. Just touching an enemy results in instant death. With each stage littered with enemies running, flying, and shooting from every direction, suddenly jumping out in front of you, and constantly respawning, the odds are against you. Regular stage enemies are actually quite easy to kill. What makes the stages difficult is that the enemies are always present on screen in large quantities. Many of the enemies are armed. Some shoot typical guns, others throw grenades, some fly, and some are quite fast. Luckily, you have a chance to get some awesome weapons within the game's stages.
Your character can carry up to two weapons. Weapons come in the form of winged badges with a letter symbol on them, abbreviating the weapon name. Weapons are obtained when the gamer shoots little flashing tubes that have eagle logos on them or by shooting little flying saucers within the stages. Each weapon has a standard level and an upgraded level. When the player obtains the same weapon icon on screen twice, it enhances the weapon, making it stronger, sometimes faster, with a wider range of shootability. There is a homing device, when shot, fires several missiles at several of the nearest enemies. There is also a laser gun, flamethrower, machine gun, and a weapon that simultaneously fires several large bullets in several different directions. Some bosses and enemies are more easily defeated with certain weapons, but the each weapon does the same basic thing, kill, which is fine.
The campaign may be short, but there is a wealth of content to be unlocked. The bonus content in the game is unlocked via challenge mode. There are fourty challenges in challenge mode. Each challenge throws the player into a stage with a unique scenario and goal at hand. Each challenge must be completed by the gamer without dying once. Dying results in the player starting the challenge all over again. There are speed trials, pacifist challenges in which the player must traverse through a stage without any weapons, accuracy challenges in which the player must have a certain accuracy percentage of shots fired by the end of the stage, rematch boss battles, and more.
The challenges in challenge mode are no joke. The later challenges are every bit as hard as anything in the single player campaign. Conquering these challenges results in some pleasant rewards. The best unlockables are emulated versions of Contra and Super C, both originally released for the Nintendo Entertainment System. New characters and developer interviews can also be unlocked.
Contra has always been a good co-op multiplayer series. Unfortunately, this is one area where Contra 4 fails to keep alive a good traditional aspect of the series. A gamer and a friend can play through Contra 4's campaign together, but it requires both gamers to have a copy of the game. There is no download play option. The original Contra and Super C completely lose their co-op multiplayer. Surely it could not have been too difficult a task to implement co-op into games that shone partly because of their multiplayer component in the first place.
Contra 4 is a sweet looking game. Stages and their backgrounds are nicely varied and detailed. Character animations are fluent, nice to look at. Boss designs are over-the-top, and everything runs smoothly. The sound is also impressive. The game boasts a rock out soundtrack worthy of the Contra name. Sound effects both new and nostalgic, are crisp and intact.
Contra 4 is a mean little cartridge. It will most likely, from time to time, anger most who play it. Its difficulty can be appreciated by some, forgiven by some, and a barrier for others. Those willing to patiently take on the task of conquering this insane shooter will find a rewarding, content packed DS game.