Dude, Contra is a classic! Run, gun, and try not to die in a hail of bullets – pure arcade insanity. The graphics are old-school but charming, the music is an absolute banger, and teaming up with a friend is the best way to play. Those 80s difficulty spikes though? Brutal. It might feel outdated to some, but if you want a dose of retro challenge with that iconic Konami action, Contra still kicks butt.
Played through the NES version with the Konami Code, it’s fun to just run and gun through levels in a very much Rambo 3 setting morphing to a full on Aliens set-pieces by the end. Better with a friend.
Weapons are great when you can hold onto them, I think with an good level of practice Contra can be beaten organically with continues. 1CC seems inhumane or built for specialty runners.
Weapons are great when you can hold onto them, I think with an good level of practice Contra can be beaten organically with continues. 1CC seems inhumane or built for specialty runners.
juego del diablo que me lo pasé hace años en una tarde cuando descubrí los emuladores de la nes
A fantastic run 'n gun action experience on the NES.
The controls are tight, the level design great, the action thrilling, and the few memorization sections in the game's later half never few like so much like you can't deal with them after dying to it once or twice.
The inclusion of a continue system also does wonders for the game's accessibility.
Overall, an absolute recommend.
The controls are tight, the level design great, the action thrilling, and the few memorization sections in the game's later half never few like so much like you can't deal with them after dying to it once or twice.
The inclusion of a continue system also does wonders for the game's accessibility.
Overall, an absolute recommend.
Run ‘n Gun-a-thon — Part 1
I love platformers and action games, so it’s weird that I haven’t actually played many entries in the genre that combines the two. Time to fix that. To kick off this marathon, I will be starting with the game that started it all: the original Contra.
The Contra series, and run ‘n guns in general, are notorious for their difficulty. Even easy run ‘n guns tend to be hard to get into. That’s why I recommend playing something like Cuphead before playing Contra. In the latter, you die in one hit and only get three continues of three lives to conquer eight progressively difficult levels. Extra lives can be earned at specific score targets, but they won’t be earned so easily. Without save states or the Konami code, you can only afford to die 12-15 times before it’s game over.
Contra doesn’t beat you to the ground when you lose, it kicks you down a well. Oh, you got hit? Die and lose your upgrades! Used a continue? Better start from the beginning of the level! Lost all of your continues? Start the whole game over! However, the level design is fair. Enemy attack patterns are so simple you can deduce them in a second. This is important since there’s a lot of on-the-fly decision-making as to where to jump and what weapon is best for the occasion. You are also rewarded for handicapping yourself in the current situation if you know an upcoming scenario will be much easier as a result. The laser gun, for example, initially seems like a worse option than the default rifle because most enemies die so quickly anyway, but it makes short work of bosses and security walls if utilized properly. You can plan a strategy prior to a level since weapons always drop in the same locations, but be ready to improvise when something inevitably goes wrong.
If I had to criticize anything about Contra, it would be the two security base levels employing a pseudo-3D perspective. They didn’t bother me too much, but the lack of platforming and less-than-stellar depth perception made them less fun than the side-scroller levels. I also think the spiked walls in level 7 are a throwaway mechanic. They’re only good for catching first-time players, after which they will never pose a serious threat and will slow the player down by a few seconds. It’s a jarring pace-breaker for a game so eager to throw you in the action.
Other than those nitpicks, Contra is a good time. When you know what you’re doing, the game can be demolished in an hour. Understandable considering it was originally an arcade release and I’d rather have that than something that greatly overstays its welcome.
I love platformers and action games, so it’s weird that I haven’t actually played many entries in the genre that combines the two. Time to fix that. To kick off this marathon, I will be starting with the game that started it all: the original Contra.
The Contra series, and run ‘n guns in general, are notorious for their difficulty. Even easy run ‘n guns tend to be hard to get into. That’s why I recommend playing something like Cuphead before playing Contra. In the latter, you die in one hit and only get three continues of three lives to conquer eight progressively difficult levels. Extra lives can be earned at specific score targets, but they won’t be earned so easily. Without save states or the Konami code, you can only afford to die 12-15 times before it’s game over.
Contra doesn’t beat you to the ground when you lose, it kicks you down a well. Oh, you got hit? Die and lose your upgrades! Used a continue? Better start from the beginning of the level! Lost all of your continues? Start the whole game over! However, the level design is fair. Enemy attack patterns are so simple you can deduce them in a second. This is important since there’s a lot of on-the-fly decision-making as to where to jump and what weapon is best for the occasion. You are also rewarded for handicapping yourself in the current situation if you know an upcoming scenario will be much easier as a result. The laser gun, for example, initially seems like a worse option than the default rifle because most enemies die so quickly anyway, but it makes short work of bosses and security walls if utilized properly. You can plan a strategy prior to a level since weapons always drop in the same locations, but be ready to improvise when something inevitably goes wrong.
If I had to criticize anything about Contra, it would be the two security base levels employing a pseudo-3D perspective. They didn’t bother me too much, but the lack of platforming and less-than-stellar depth perception made them less fun than the side-scroller levels. I also think the spiked walls in level 7 are a throwaway mechanic. They’re only good for catching first-time players, after which they will never pose a serious threat and will slow the player down by a few seconds. It’s a jarring pace-breaker for a game so eager to throw you in the action.
Other than those nitpicks, Contra is a good time. When you know what you’re doing, the game can be demolished in an hour. Understandable considering it was originally an arcade release and I’d rather have that than something that greatly overstays its welcome.
up up down down left right left right b a b a start
dynavision.
Bom👍
Really fun but very hard.
Ich mag altes Contra nicht so, habs mit dem 30-Leben Cheat gemacht, sorry.
Umso mehr wundert es mich, wie, immer wenn Nostalgie für diese Reihe verlangt wird, sich wieder auf Teil 1 bezogen wird.
Ja, der erste Song ist gut, ja der Dschungel ist ikonisch, genau so wie die Wand als ersten Boss, der Wasserfall, das Riesenalien danach... aber das heißt nicht, dass das alles sonderlich gut ist. Bis auf die Musik, die ist super.
Die frühen Contra Spiele waren noch nicht so setpiece driven wie es die Reihe ab Teil 3 werden sollte und baut stattdessen auf einige sehr tight designte und sehr sehr präzise Platforming-Herausforderungen mit so ein bisschen Run'n'Gun dabei.
Klar schießt man jede menge auf random Gegner, doch geht es primär darum Schusswinkel für Kanonen zu finden, fallenden Steinen im perfekten Pattern auszuweichen oder sich unter Zermalmungsdingern zu ducken bis man die Wand aufgeschossen hat.
Allgemein geht es sehr viel um "genau sein", ohne viel Raum für Fehler. Und das ist an sich okay und vor allem für ein NES Spiel auch extrem gut durchgeplant worden, aber auch nicht das was ich in einem Contra suche.
Die Bosse sind im Vergleich zum Beispiel fast schon mickrig und bis auf wenige Ausnahmen nicht gerade ein Highlight des Spiels. Ein paar beeindruckende Monstrositäten sind dabei, aber ansonsten bekämpft man... Wand. Oder so'n Män der hüpft.
Trotzdem, ehrliche Meinung: Level 1 und 3 sind ikonisch und machen tatsächlich auch ziemlich viel Spaß. Danach hat das Spiel leider einen enormen Hänger nach unten und wird erst wieder im Finallevel interessant.
Die Bonusmissionen zwischendrin, im Falle von Teil 1 sind es diese 3D-Korridorlevel, sind nicht furchtbar, aber definitiv ein Lowlight des Spiels und besonders das letzte davon zieht sich sehr.
Grafik und Musik dafür hervorragend, besonders in der japanischen Version mit seinen zusätzlichen Animationen.
Umso mehr wundert es mich, wie, immer wenn Nostalgie für diese Reihe verlangt wird, sich wieder auf Teil 1 bezogen wird.
Ja, der erste Song ist gut, ja der Dschungel ist ikonisch, genau so wie die Wand als ersten Boss, der Wasserfall, das Riesenalien danach... aber das heißt nicht, dass das alles sonderlich gut ist. Bis auf die Musik, die ist super.
Die frühen Contra Spiele waren noch nicht so setpiece driven wie es die Reihe ab Teil 3 werden sollte und baut stattdessen auf einige sehr tight designte und sehr sehr präzise Platforming-Herausforderungen mit so ein bisschen Run'n'Gun dabei.
Klar schießt man jede menge auf random Gegner, doch geht es primär darum Schusswinkel für Kanonen zu finden, fallenden Steinen im perfekten Pattern auszuweichen oder sich unter Zermalmungsdingern zu ducken bis man die Wand aufgeschossen hat.
Allgemein geht es sehr viel um "genau sein", ohne viel Raum für Fehler. Und das ist an sich okay und vor allem für ein NES Spiel auch extrem gut durchgeplant worden, aber auch nicht das was ich in einem Contra suche.
Die Bosse sind im Vergleich zum Beispiel fast schon mickrig und bis auf wenige Ausnahmen nicht gerade ein Highlight des Spiels. Ein paar beeindruckende Monstrositäten sind dabei, aber ansonsten bekämpft man... Wand. Oder so'n Män der hüpft.
Trotzdem, ehrliche Meinung: Level 1 und 3 sind ikonisch und machen tatsächlich auch ziemlich viel Spaß. Danach hat das Spiel leider einen enormen Hänger nach unten und wird erst wieder im Finallevel interessant.
Die Bonusmissionen zwischendrin, im Falle von Teil 1 sind es diese 3D-Korridorlevel, sind nicht furchtbar, aber definitiv ein Lowlight des Spiels und besonders das letzte davon zieht sich sehr.
Grafik und Musik dafür hervorragend, besonders in der japanischen Version mit seinen zusätzlichen Animationen.
Iconic - the second level design?? :O
Sendo um jogo que nunca consegui zerar na infância, acabei de realizar o feito pelo próprio navegador. Admito, fiz uso de save state. Acho perda de tempo e sem sentido voltar ao início sempre que for pego por uma novidade. O ideal seria que apenas o estágio fosse reiniciado.
Enfim, falando sobre o jogo, gostaria de iniciar dando uma menção honrosa à música do estágio 1, que se repete ao estágio 8, muito boa apesar de ser em 8bits.
Os gráficos do jogo são muito bonitos para a época. Lembro que quando joguei na infância me conquistaram bastante, e ainda me conquistam. Os cenários são bem variados e expressam bem o universo do jogo, que se passa num futuro que conta com alienígenas.
A história é bem simples, na verdade, é brevemente e má explicada no encerramento do jogo. Obviamente não é o foco.
Sobre a jogabilidade, esse sim é o foco notório. Os controles são bem fluídos, o que colabora bastante com a boa montagem da maioria dos mapas, que, diferente de um Metal Slug da vida, lhe permitem desviar de quase tudo. Podemos atirar tanto para cima, como na diagonal de cima e de baixo, falta a opção de atirar na vertical para baixo. Gosto muito dos upgrades que o jogo oferece, sendo o "S" evidentemente o melhor.
Um problema que vejo no jogo é o fato de que não existe uma progressão de dificuldade tão bem elaborada. O boss do estágio 4, para mim, é disparadamente o mais difícil e, logo após, viria o boss do estágio 2. Ambos , por coincidência, são estágios na base. Os últimos boss do jogo são bem fáceis, isso acaba diminuindo um pouco do impacto. Mas, ao fim, não acho que nada disso seja relevante para diminuir a nota do jogo, apesar da dificuldade dos chefes realmente variar bastante, a dificuldade dos mapas — em sua essência — é bem semelhante.
Enfim, Contra é um jogão e certamente me fará ir atrás de outros jogos do gênero.
Enfim, falando sobre o jogo, gostaria de iniciar dando uma menção honrosa à música do estágio 1, que se repete ao estágio 8, muito boa apesar de ser em 8bits.
Os gráficos do jogo são muito bonitos para a época. Lembro que quando joguei na infância me conquistaram bastante, e ainda me conquistam. Os cenários são bem variados e expressam bem o universo do jogo, que se passa num futuro que conta com alienígenas.
A história é bem simples, na verdade, é brevemente e má explicada no encerramento do jogo. Obviamente não é o foco.
Sobre a jogabilidade, esse sim é o foco notório. Os controles são bem fluídos, o que colabora bastante com a boa montagem da maioria dos mapas, que, diferente de um Metal Slug da vida, lhe permitem desviar de quase tudo. Podemos atirar tanto para cima, como na diagonal de cima e de baixo, falta a opção de atirar na vertical para baixo. Gosto muito dos upgrades que o jogo oferece, sendo o "S" evidentemente o melhor.
Um problema que vejo no jogo é o fato de que não existe uma progressão de dificuldade tão bem elaborada. O boss do estágio 4, para mim, é disparadamente o mais difícil e, logo após, viria o boss do estágio 2. Ambos , por coincidência, são estágios na base. Os últimos boss do jogo são bem fáceis, isso acaba diminuindo um pouco do impacto. Mas, ao fim, não acho que nada disso seja relevante para diminuir a nota do jogo, apesar da dificuldade dos chefes realmente variar bastante, a dificuldade dos mapas — em sua essência — é bem semelhante.
Enfim, Contra é um jogão e certamente me fará ir atrás de outros jogos do gênero.
It speaks for itself.
You have to try it once to experience what it is really like to be someone in the army. One to. One experience.
Eu sou cria do X360, mas Contra marcou muito minha infância. Não da pra não elogiar a trilha sonora icônica e o gameplay bem fluído pra época, mas não posso deixar de lado o fato de que esse (junto de Battletoads e 80% da biblioteca do NES) tem uma dificuldade extremamente injusta. Joguei usando save state, o que provavelmente me impediu de dar nota baixa, pq uma coisa é um jogo desafiador, outra é um injusto. Mas ok, 1987, eu relevo, jogo continua muito bom.
Primeiro jogo que zerei na minha vida. Zerei com meu primo no pelo (sem konami code) e só Deus sabe como conseguimos essa proeza com 7 anos. Não vou avaliar pq já é lost media na minha memória
Acción y adrenalina! Muy buen contra. Aunque ninguno supera al Alien Wars.
really sick game but not THAT fun on replays
It spawned an entire genre of games, most notably Metal Slug, Sunset Riders, Alien Hominid and Cuphead
Pure unadulterated shooter fun and very addictive, great blend of difficulty and power ups making you feel OP at times. Super satisfying to beat after many tries, and in many ways perfect gameplay. Gameplay in general could not be more visceral for a game this simple. However, it obviously is no looker and very simplistic in terms of presentation. Music is actually pretty impressive for its age though. Gotta play it if you're interested in the shooter genre.
Coming from childhood here, you cannot simply skip on Contra when it comes to NES classics! It's the best run and gun on this console you can play. Challenging alone, but easier and more chaotic when played with a friend.
The military and secret alien base thematic really brings out the 80's trends. I recommend to grab that "S" power up and blast the whole screen away with multiple bullets, it's just so satisfying and fun to play with!
The military and secret alien base thematic really brings out the 80's trends. I recommend to grab that "S" power up and blast the whole screen away with multiple bullets, it's just so satisfying and fun to play with!
Bastante solido, y me maman esos niveles que son como en pseudo 3d
It was a very hard game to play, but you could at least play it with someone else!
Un sueño acabarlo ahora! Cuando niño no era muy hábil y me costaba mucho, es un lindo a pesar del tiempo. Creo que tiene su dificultad pero es pasable.
I feel I have a disease to put 4 stars on every Contra game, even to the original one, but that's how I feel of these games: plays absolutely awesomely and give the best on co-op but they can be challenging with some frustrations to time to time.
This is one of the mandatory games that everyone will say to play for anyone possessing a NES (alongside many other obvious: Megaman, Castlevania, FF I and III, Mario, Zelda etc.). And they're right, the game aged absolutely well.
This is one of the mandatory games that everyone will say to play for anyone possessing a NES (alongside many other obvious: Megaman, Castlevania, FF I and III, Mario, Zelda etc.). And they're right, the game aged absolutely well.
era louco que quanto mais eu matava mais aparecia inimigo, depois resolvi abrir o emulador pra jogar esse jogo
Still my favorite Contra with Super C as a close second. It's the perfect example of how to bring an arcade game home and making it a better experience along the way. It's also surprisingly easy compared to a lot of NES games that make the rounds for "hardest ever" lists. I was able to do a one life clear of it after maybe a week of practice a couple summers ago, and I had a lot of fun in doing so.
Anyone who says this game isn't good is just plain wrong. Anyone who says this game is better than Super C...is also just plain wrong. While it's definitely inferior to it's NES sequel, this is still a classic game, and a blast in multiplayer.
First of all, let's get the most insignificant part out of the way. The story. Contra has zero story. That is, if you don't have the manual. (Edit: Apparently, the Japanese version has things such as cutscenes, a map in between levels, numerous graphic changes, etc. You can see them all here)). Even then, it's a few paragraphs, that's it. But genuinely, who in their right mind would play Contra, fuckin' CONTRA for the story? It's a game about buff men with guns who kill a bunch of aliens. Need I say more?
Next is the music. Contra easily has an inferior soundtrack to it's sequel, in my opinion. But I can see why many people would disagree. Contra is a much more popular game, and much more people have nostalgic thoughts of it. Inferior, though, does NOT mean bad. Far from it. This still has one of the coolest soundtracks on the system. The title theme is hype, Jungle is iconic and awesome, Base is headbanging, Waterfall is slapping, Snow Field is just plain cool, Energy Zone is energetic and exciting, Alien's Lair is foreboding and atmospheric, yet gritty, and the Credits theme is truly rewarding after a game like that.
Onto the difficulty. It's no surprise to anyone that Contra is a hard game. When people say "Nintendo Hard", this is what they mean. And yet, unlike many NES games, Contra is at a very good difficulty level. Despite so many deaths, so much trial-and-error, it doesn't feel unfair. There are exceptions, as always. But it really does have a well designed difficulty level, which thankfully carried over to Super C.
And finally, the big one. GAMEPLAY. This is what you play Contra for. For the normal levels, the controls are tight. Jumps are sometimes stretched fairly far, but it's no Castlevania: The Adventure. But what good are good controls if the stages aren't designed around those good controls?(cough cough scv4 i meant uh anyways) But fear not, this is no problem. The controls are designed around the stages and vice versa. On the topic of stages, they are very well designed. Let's take the first stage as an example. In the first stage, better guns like Spread Shot(our lord and saviour) and Machine Gun are on top paths, after the bridges. If you play better, you will get the better guns. If you fall off the bridges, you will get guns like Fireball(coming from Super C as I played that first, it's such a "look how they massacred my boy" despite the fact that this iteration came first) and Laser. It's not just the first stage that has this type of game design, it's recurring, most of the game is designed in this way. Now, for the hallway stages, these are much different. There are only two in the game, and these are stage 2 and 4. Honestly, I question the decision to put them both close to the start, but I digress. These stages...are weird. They take a lot of getting used to, mostly because of the odd angle. But I assume these types of stages worked much better in the arcades; I can see how it would be difficult to move something over to a much weaker console. These are the games' "gimmick stages", the counterpart to Super C's top down stages. And...if I'm being brutally honest, which of course I am: these stages are kind of lame. The top down stages are streets ahead of the hallway stages. It's certainly one thing I think they could have improved if it was kept in the sequel, but I'm glad it was swapped in favor of the top down stages.
Phew. That was a long one. All I'm trying to say is this:
Contra is a great game. Unfortunately, because of my history with playing its sequel first, I can only see it as an inferior game to Super C. But it's still an awesome game with great stages, slappin' music, and amazing gameplay.
First of all, let's get the most insignificant part out of the way. The story. Contra has zero story. That is, if you don't have the manual. (Edit: Apparently, the Japanese version has things such as cutscenes, a map in between levels, numerous graphic changes, etc. You can see them all here)). Even then, it's a few paragraphs, that's it. But genuinely, who in their right mind would play Contra, fuckin' CONTRA for the story? It's a game about buff men with guns who kill a bunch of aliens. Need I say more?
Next is the music. Contra easily has an inferior soundtrack to it's sequel, in my opinion. But I can see why many people would disagree. Contra is a much more popular game, and much more people have nostalgic thoughts of it. Inferior, though, does NOT mean bad. Far from it. This still has one of the coolest soundtracks on the system. The title theme is hype, Jungle is iconic and awesome, Base is headbanging, Waterfall is slapping, Snow Field is just plain cool, Energy Zone is energetic and exciting, Alien's Lair is foreboding and atmospheric, yet gritty, and the Credits theme is truly rewarding after a game like that.
Onto the difficulty. It's no surprise to anyone that Contra is a hard game. When people say "Nintendo Hard", this is what they mean. And yet, unlike many NES games, Contra is at a very good difficulty level. Despite so many deaths, so much trial-and-error, it doesn't feel unfair. There are exceptions, as always. But it really does have a well designed difficulty level, which thankfully carried over to Super C.
And finally, the big one. GAMEPLAY. This is what you play Contra for. For the normal levels, the controls are tight. Jumps are sometimes stretched fairly far, but it's no Castlevania: The Adventure. But what good are good controls if the stages aren't designed around those good controls?(cough cough scv4 i meant uh anyways) But fear not, this is no problem. The controls are designed around the stages and vice versa. On the topic of stages, they are very well designed. Let's take the first stage as an example. In the first stage, better guns like Spread Shot(our lord and saviour) and Machine Gun are on top paths, after the bridges. If you play better, you will get the better guns. If you fall off the bridges, you will get guns like Fireball(coming from Super C as I played that first, it's such a "look how they massacred my boy" despite the fact that this iteration came first) and Laser. It's not just the first stage that has this type of game design, it's recurring, most of the game is designed in this way. Now, for the hallway stages, these are much different. There are only two in the game, and these are stage 2 and 4. Honestly, I question the decision to put them both close to the start, but I digress. These stages...are weird. They take a lot of getting used to, mostly because of the odd angle. But I assume these types of stages worked much better in the arcades; I can see how it would be difficult to move something over to a much weaker console. These are the games' "gimmick stages", the counterpart to Super C's top down stages. And...if I'm being brutally honest, which of course I am: these stages are kind of lame. The top down stages are streets ahead of the hallway stages. It's certainly one thing I think they could have improved if it was kept in the sequel, but I'm glad it was swapped in favor of the top down stages.
Phew. That was a long one. All I'm trying to say is this:
Contra is a great game. Unfortunately, because of my history with playing its sequel first, I can only see it as an inferior game to Super C. But it's still an awesome game with great stages, slappin' music, and amazing gameplay.
Retro Yearly List #14 [1988: Contra]
Instant classic. This was one of the most popular games featured in those "famiclones", which were very well known in South America, with "100 games in 1"cartridges.
I played this a lot but never get past Waterfall level tho, time to correct this.
Contra 1 is pretty solid and offers a complete experience, the controls are one of the most responsive of games from that time, and even modern games, running, ducking and shooting are satisfying things to do here.
The graphics are good enough for NES, even though they are "nerfed" in US version, I've played the Japanese one instead, which has some additional stuff like animated palm trees and snowstorms. There are also cutscenes at the start and between stages, which were also cut off on US release, sadly.
Difficulty is... well, hard. Not a nightmare, but requires some training to master the game, fortunately, I was able to beat this without the Konami code and not using continues after some tries within 3 days (not straight).
The music is nice and catchy, although they forgot to make the level 7 music so they put the level 1's instead, but nothing that breaks the immersion. Enemies are also a little bit repetitive, with tons of them coming by at random moments and sometimes in places that does not make sense.
The bosses are ok, but difficulty scalability is broken, the Door one is the easiest on the game and it appears among the last levels, the Base2 boss in other hand, is a true pain, on just level 3, even harder than the final boss, which has medium difficulty.
The weapons are also unbalanced, with most of them being useless, and just one alone capable of change the pace of the entire game, Spread Gun is basically the "select difficulty" of the game, once you keep it, you will play the game on easy mode, but with a level of challenge to keep it with you without taking damage, if you do, back to hell mode.
The series started with a massive potential to improvement in the future, but still has extremely solid experience.
Instant classic. This was one of the most popular games featured in those "famiclones", which were very well known in South America, with "100 games in 1"cartridges.
I played this a lot but never get past Waterfall level tho, time to correct this.
Contra 1 is pretty solid and offers a complete experience, the controls are one of the most responsive of games from that time, and even modern games, running, ducking and shooting are satisfying things to do here.
The graphics are good enough for NES, even though they are "nerfed" in US version, I've played the Japanese one instead, which has some additional stuff like animated palm trees and snowstorms. There are also cutscenes at the start and between stages, which were also cut off on US release, sadly.
Difficulty is... well, hard. Not a nightmare, but requires some training to master the game, fortunately, I was able to beat this without the Konami code and not using continues after some tries within 3 days (not straight).
The music is nice and catchy, although they forgot to make the level 7 music so they put the level 1's instead, but nothing that breaks the immersion. Enemies are also a little bit repetitive, with tons of them coming by at random moments and sometimes in places that does not make sense.
The bosses are ok, but difficulty scalability is broken, the Door one is the easiest on the game and it appears among the last levels, the Base2 boss in other hand, is a true pain, on just level 3, even harder than the final boss, which has medium difficulty.
The weapons are also unbalanced, with most of them being useless, and just one alone capable of change the pace of the entire game, Spread Gun is basically the "select difficulty" of the game, once you keep it, you will play the game on easy mode, but with a level of challenge to keep it with you without taking damage, if you do, back to hell mode.
The series started with a massive potential to improvement in the future, but still has extremely solid experience.
Ah, Contra. A classic NES game that I've heard countless times, either via people mentioning its legacy, or the great soundtrack, or just how fun it is...
As for me? I barely have any experience with the Contra series. I'm more of a Castlevania dude, if you catch my drift. But I had been interested in Contra here and there, and with the Anniversary Collection, I decided to try out the NES original.
The gameplay is, honestly, very sound. You can aim in multiple directions, you can duck and shoot, your jumps feel nice, the stages have a nice variety of environments, the bosses are challenging, but fair, and so on.
I do think that aiming in multiple directions is a bit awkward though, since you're going to end up walking forward or backward when doing it. This was a similar problem that I suffered in Metroid Samus Returns, but considering Contra is a much faster-paced game, where you constantly have to pay attention... yeah, things got funky.
Additionally, I had problems with the depth perception in the two 3D stages of the game, Stages 2 and 4. It was difficult to know when exactly the hitboxes of bullets and other obstacles were going to come to the part where my character was, and it got annoying.
Besides that, while the game was pretty hard, I found the challenge fun! What also helps is that this game is not too long, and is paced nicely.
Also, the soundtrack is a banger! Definitely a classic!
All in all, while it has its issues, I can see why people like this game so much.
It's very neat!
As for me? I barely have any experience with the Contra series. I'm more of a Castlevania dude, if you catch my drift. But I had been interested in Contra here and there, and with the Anniversary Collection, I decided to try out the NES original.
The gameplay is, honestly, very sound. You can aim in multiple directions, you can duck and shoot, your jumps feel nice, the stages have a nice variety of environments, the bosses are challenging, but fair, and so on.
I do think that aiming in multiple directions is a bit awkward though, since you're going to end up walking forward or backward when doing it. This was a similar problem that I suffered in Metroid Samus Returns, but considering Contra is a much faster-paced game, where you constantly have to pay attention... yeah, things got funky.
Additionally, I had problems with the depth perception in the two 3D stages of the game, Stages 2 and 4. It was difficult to know when exactly the hitboxes of bullets and other obstacles were going to come to the part where my character was, and it got annoying.
Besides that, while the game was pretty hard, I found the challenge fun! What also helps is that this game is not too long, and is paced nicely.
Also, the soundtrack is a banger! Definitely a classic!
All in all, while it has its issues, I can see why people like this game so much.
It's very neat!