Well, even though I've been looking forward to this game for a while, I had convinced myself not to buy it a while back, because I'm low on $$$$$ right now. Well, last week I started really getting hyped for it, as I'm a Contra nut from way back in the day. I had a rental copy reserved at Blockbuster and a local store, depending on who got it in first. Neither one has it in yet, nor do any other rental places. I at least wanted to see the game, so I went to Best Buy, Circuit City, and Babbage's, and no one had it, and didn't know when they would get it. I head to EB, they had it, I told them I had been looking all over for it, they said "You should have come here first man, we're the only place that cares about gamers. We have any game on time every time." Needless to say, holding the game in my hands, I couldn't resist, so I bought it. This game rocks! It has an awesome soundtrack, and looks great. The opening video is sweet, has awesome music playing throughout. This game is just like the original Contra, but it's very fast-paced. I've only been playing it for about an hour, but I'm hooked, and probably won't get a bit of sleep tonight.
I definitely recommend that you check it out, if you can find it anywhere.
noonan4224
10-23-02, 04:07 PM
Thanks for the quick review. I myself was wondering if I should pick it up or not. After reading your post I'll give it a try. Probably not till next week though. I'll have the money then.
KingSmoth
10-23-02, 04:13 PM
Did you ever play The Aliens Wars on SNES, or Hard Corps on Genesis? It is a mix between the original Contra and those two games, which I consider the best of the series. It is pretty tough so far, but it does give you 99 continues for once. I've already gone through 3 of them(each starts you off with 8 lives), and only made it halfway through the first level(the continue feature lets you choose where to start - beginning or middle of level if you made it there, but affects your score if you start in the middle I believe). Aside from being similar in gameplay to those, there are a lot of scenes reminiscient of those games as well.
I love the feature of starting out with all the weapons, though I do miss the spread gun. :(
MrSneis
10-23-02, 04:39 PM
CONTRA!!! SUIKODEN 3!!! THPS4!!! VICE CITY!!! TOO MUCH AAGGHHH!!!!
Stoolie
10-23-02, 04:41 PM
What does the code do?
bothanspy
10-23-02, 04:59 PM
I was kinda curious if the Konami code is intact.
SPY
Lastblade
10-23-02, 05:22 PM
Is it as good as Metal Slug 3? :)
DVDHO
10-23-02, 08:12 PM
I had read awile back that they took the spread gun out because it made the game way to easy,but it might be a bonus gun or somewhere hidden in the game later after you beat it,this game is all mine this weekend,thanks for the review.
young
10-23-02, 08:44 PM
NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!!!! yes, i loved contra - the arcade machines, that is... a friend and i spent way too much time at the video arcade beating that game.
i will get it as soon as i can get it for under $20 and i finish a game. that is my goal... finish at least one game before i buy another. maybe...
DVDKrayzie
10-23-02, 09:05 PM
i didnt even realize this was out. im starting to feel old. i went and asked the pimply kid in the electronics dept at Target and he was like "contra, what's that?"
ChefWinduAZ
10-23-02, 09:20 PM
When I went to my local GameCrazy today to trade in some games and pick up SOCOM and Toe Jam and Earl III, the guys working in there were playing this. They tried to get me to buy a copy but I am not a big Contra fan. They said that if you really like Contra, especially the sequels on Genesis and Super Nintendo, then you will love this one.
Ralph Wiggum
10-23-02, 09:58 PM
I played C:SS tonight for a couple hours and don't think I'm going to buy it now. I already have Contra 3 for SNES and this game borrows *heavily* from that. Large sections of the levels are identical as are some bosses. The control is definitely more sluggish than that game too. It's harder than most games now, but nowhere near as hard as NES Contra. After playing each of the levels I'm pretty disappointed thus far. :(
Are there more than four levels? What are the unlockable extras like?
MrSneis
10-23-02, 10:51 PM
im a die hard contra fan and i got into playin SS a lil bit and i found myself underwhelmed, my reasons are this: the graphics dont look ps2 esque, i mean, they weren't horrible, but they could have been lots better. The guns: dual guns while jumping was the shiznit! I don't understand why they took this out! Weapon upgrades: What weapon upgrades? There's no fun in having all the guns all the time, one of the best parts of contra was earning a good gun and staying alive long enough to kick some ass with it! I think they spent too much time making the game difficult and not enough time ensuring that the game kicked ass and took names... Maybe I'm wrong because I only got about 20 minutes into it, but i'll stick with contra, super C, and the alien wars. I work in gamecrazy BTW and it's goin for 39.99 right now, great deal on a new release game!
KingSmoth
10-23-02, 11:44 PM
I agree it does suck(somewhat) to start out with all the guns - on the other hand, I enjoy having them all at my disposal for kicking ass in various ways, and not worrying about touching something and losing the frickin gun, which has happened thousands of times over the years, with me being stuck with the crappy gun against a boss. I do want my spread gun back though, that is my complaint with the game :(.
To me the graphics are just fine - of course, I've never really cared for graphics anyway, as long as the game is fun as hell, which this one is for me.
KingSmoth
10-24-02, 02:35 AM
Well, in typical Contra style, once you learn the patterns, it's pretty easy to finish the game.
I just beat C:SS on Easy Mode. From start to finish of this game took me 2 hours 8 minutes, and over 160 lives. Of course I won't give away the ending I got, but it was a loooooooooong battle. When I finished, it told me to try Normal Mode to be able to unlock secrets, so I'll work on that later. In the game menu, there's three sections marked with "???????", I want to know what's to be found.
The final stage is awesome - won't give it away, but it brings back good memories of the original Contra.
The entire game is full of things from the previous games - good or bad, depending on how you view it. I enjoyed seeing all the throwbacks to the old days, but I'm sure some would think it's a waste to go through the same old stuff...
Overall, I give it an 8/10. The levels could be longer, and I want my frickin Spread Gun.
zero
10-24-02, 03:30 AM
A customer bought this today and I asked him if he could demo it for us. He said "sure" He and I played it for about 20 minutes. And DAMN I was so envious of him I came home and booted up Contra 3(SNES). Why envious? Well Im PS2 less right now. I had to ship it out because the laser is effen-up on me. But come next month I will own this game :D.
darqleo
10-30-02, 01:29 PM
Just started playing this game last night. Great game. I was laughing at myself because it took a while to adjust my mindset back to play a 2-D scrolling game. For those that miss the spread gun, I don't see what's wrong with using the "power up" versions of the machine gun (shoots out a mechanical ball that rotates and shoots everything on the screen at once) or grenade laucher (shoots out guided missles ala ROBOTECH) they basically do the same thing. I do miss getting power-ups, so far I haven't found anything you'd pick up and use.
Gromit
10-30-02, 02:57 PM
I bought this as one of my ToysRUs 3 for 2 games. I haven't opened it as I'm hoping to trade it for Shenmue 2.
I didn't think this was a game I'd like, maybe you guys can confirm.
I never played Contra and based on the reviews, I think this game would drive me nuts. I don't mind shooters, but I don't think I'd like it if it's a "jump over there to avoid that, move to the right to avoid this, jump over the doo-dad, all while shooting". Is it a reflex testing shooter?
The 2 player aspect sounds great, but I'm afraid I'd just get frustrated with it.
zero
10-31-02, 11:40 AM
I never played Contra
YOU'VE NEVER PLAYED CONTRA!!?!?!?!
....man I thought I knew you :(
s}{ammer
10-31-02, 11:49 AM
I had never played contra before but I was in fry's picking up Vice Ciity so I looked at the game. I didn't like the graphics. The game is fun to play but it just isn't a pretty game to look at.
zero
10-31-02, 11:56 AM
Originally posted by s}{ammer
I had never played contra before but I was in fry's picking up Vice Ciity so I looked at the game. I didn't like the graphics. The game is fun to play but it just isn't a pretty game to look at.
If you've never played Contra..then you wont appreciate this game. Contra isnt about looking pretty, its about the gameplay.
djones6746
10-31-02, 12:12 PM
Originally posted by zero
If you've never played Contra..then you wont appreciate this game. Contra isnt about looking pretty, its about the gameplay.
:thumbsup:
The problem with many games today is they look too good and do not play all too well.
zero
10-31-02, 12:19 PM
Originally posted by djones6746
:thumbsup:
The problem with many games today is they look too good and do not play all too well.
Too true
s}{ammer
10-31-02, 12:19 PM
I have to say it was fun to play, brought back the old 2d side scrollers and that was fun.
Aghama
10-31-02, 01:22 PM
Originally posted by DVD Lamer
Most likely, you have to be an oldschooler to truly appreciate the goodness in Contra. If that's true, it's not a very good game.
Gromit
10-31-02, 01:30 PM
Originally posted by zero
YOU'VE NEVER PLAYED CONTRA!!?!?!?!
....man I thought I knew you :(
Hah! I never had the NES or the SNES. I went from the 2600 when I was a kid to the Genesis in college.
darqleo
10-31-02, 01:39 PM
Originally posted by DVD Lamer
Most likely, you have to be an oldschooler to truly appreciate the goodness in Contra.
And if you are a new-schooler, playing this game will give you a good indication of what the old-school games were like.... well, not too old-school because the graphics weren't this good back then.
Josh H
10-31-02, 01:39 PM
Originally posted by Aghama
If that's true, it's not a very good game.
Not necessarily. I loved the old games, and expect the new one to be more of the same. Basically just frantic, timing based twitch gameplay.
Gamers that didn't play these type of old school games may be put of by it's simplicity and linearity, just like I'm put off by complexity and open-endedness in many newer games.
Most likely, you have to be an oldschooler to truly appreciate the goodness in Contra.
KingSmoth
10-31-02, 02:20 PM
I took this over to a friends house a few days ago to show to him and his two brothers. None of them ever played any Contra games. After about 10 minutes, they said "this game sucks hard, let's go ahead and watch Blade 2." Another friend of mine who didn't play any other Contra games said it was okay, but nothing great.
In EB the other day, this guy who was probably 40 came in and bought it. He was on his cell phone when he got it, talking to someone, and said "I'm getting Contra for PS2 right now. This is that awesome game we played back in the 80's together all the time, made like the original. I'll bring it over later man."
So far the only people I know who have liked it are old-school Contra players. It really is a sad day when a game like this gets passed up by people because of the graphics or linear gameplay. This game brought back years of great memories, fully worth the $50 I paid for it.
All hail Contra.
KingSmoth
10-31-02, 02:22 PM
Originally posted by Josh Hinkle
Not necessarily. I loved the old games, and expect the new one to be more of the same. Basically just frantic, timing based twitch gameplay.
Gamers that didn't play these type of old school games may be put of by it's simplicity and linearity, just like I'm put off by complexity and open-endedness in many newer games.
The new one is the same as the others - shooting, jumping, timing your movements, and the frickin laser beams above you that you have to dodge and move back and forth so they don't frickin kill you. It's all good.
darqleo
10-31-02, 02:38 PM
Contra : Shattered Soldier "is da bomb, yo!"
Catch 21
11-11-02, 03:58 AM
up up down down L1 R1 L2 R2 L3 R3
30 men he he
Ralph Wiggum
02-18-03, 08:09 PM
This damn_game ended up really growing on me. A buddy of mine has had since launch so I got to play frequently and finally picked it up today. I came to appreciate the changes for what they were, not what the game wasn't.
Co-op makes this game all that much sweeter.
:thumbsup: Contra
Josh H
02-18-03, 10:20 PM
I got this for x-mas, played it for a couple weeks and traded it in. I just couldn't get into it.
The main things I didn't like were the added complexity. The old contra games were just run, jump, dodge stuff and shoot stuff, while trying to stay alive so you don't lose your weapon power up (especially the spread gun).
They complicated things by adding the lock aim and lock position functions, and giving you 3 permanent guns that also have charge up shots. The games just too hectic to have to use that many buttons as well as screw with the strategy of which gun to use on what enemies.
The old contra games were just pure mindless shooters, this one requires a little strategy, and that just ruined the experience for me as I was wanting the good, ole mindless twitch reflex gameplay of the NES contra.
zero
02-19-03, 02:16 AM
Originally posted by Josh Hinkle
The old contra games were just pure mindless shooters, this one requires a little strategy, and that just ruined the experience for me as I was wanting the good, ole mindless twitch reflex gameplay of the NES contra.
I beg to differ, have you ever tried beating that game without your precious 30 men code? I like this Contra incarnation, and hope that Konami does it again with the new Castlevania coming our way. I dont think that the old Contra was mindless in any sense, it did require you to remember paterns and use a proper gun for a certain boss. You cant tell me the laser gun was completely useless. Ive found that if you keep comparing the new to what was, your always going to yearn for the old than appreciate the new.
Josh H
02-19-03, 02:29 PM
Well, I should have prefaced my comments by saying I didn't like the old contra games much either. Just good for mindless 2-player fun with the 30 man code.
Buy: