By Peter W. Smorynski
[Review: Gaming!]
Title: CONTRA 4Platform: Nintendo DS
Publisher: Konami
Developer: WayForward Technologies
ESRB Rating: T
Year: 2007
A military helicopter zooms toward the archipelago of Galuga, off the coast of New Zealand. Aboard this craft are the four strongest soldiers on Earth, known collectively as “Contra.” Their mission: to eliminate Black Viper, an alien mastermind staging a global invasion, and anyone—or anything—that gets in their way!
Contra 4 marks the 20th anniversary of the storied Contra franchise. Instead of being handled in-house by Konami of Japan, the assignment of development was handed over to WayForward Technologies, a small American company. Given the unfavorable track record of 1996’s Legacy of War and 1998’s C: The Contra Adventure by American developer Appaloosa Interactive, this might seem like a scenario for disaster. However, it just so happens that WayForward is filled with and connected to Contra fans who have a real passion for the series and a deep understanding of its two-decade history.
Set between the events of Contra III: The Alien Wars and Contra: Shattered Soldier, the game is a blend of every Contra entry, with an emphasis on the design of Contra and Contra III: The Alien Wars. By and large, Contra 4 is about returning to the roots of the series with a bang. Therefore, unlike later entries built around frequent mini-boss encounters, this installment focuses on high-adrenaline run ‘n gun action-platforming.
From rushing a jungle fort to infiltrating a laboratory to storming a harbor to surviving a fierce city siege, this game has the wide variety of locales and scenarios Contra vets have come to expect. The levels are a mixture of 2D side-scrolling and vertical-scrolling, with a few inward-scrolling “tunnel-style” stages ala Contra on the NES (which are now rendered in 3D). You never quite know what’s going to come at you next in this game, but it never ceases to amaze. The series is synonymous with steep, white-knuckle challenges, and Contra 4 is no different. Taking on these challenges requires skill, memorization, and the ability to strategically react. There are three difficulty settings with various differences, but even on “Normal mode” the most seasoned gamers will quickly run out of continues on just the first few stages. Thankfully, it won’t be because of the controls.
The game’s controls are simple and tight. Using the face buttons allows the player to run, jump, duck, climb, and blast their way through hordes of alien baddies that come from every direction. And I do mean every direction.
Contra 4 takes advantage of the DS hardware to provide two screens of simultaneous action. While it can take a little adjustment to get used to following what’s going on in both screens, like everything else in this game, the effort is well worth it. The dual screens provide all sorts of wild new scenarios and daring strategies. The one quirk is that the plastic gap between the two screens means a stray bullet or two might catch you off guard for a while, but the more you play, the more you can anticipate these occasional blind potshots.
The 3D “tunnel-style” stages swap the bottom screen for a map and play more akin to a shooting gallery. The character moves side to side, clearing the enemies and obstructions in front of them. Unfortunately, the hit detection in these stages can take some trial and error, as the exact trajectory of the fire coming from the background to the foreground is not always apparent the first time through; likewise, it is not always clear if you are hitting the bosses in these stages.
To navigate the two screens during the side-scrolling stages, a new gameplay element has been included: the grappling hook. Don’t expect to turn into Bionic Commando or Spider-Man with this, though, as it fires in just one direction and is used like a zip line/super-jump, taking you straight up. This is good, because this element could have easily been embellished and broken the fervent Contra flavor this game contains. As it is, it’s unobtrusive and allows for added depth, letting you to avoid attacks, pull yourself from death pits, and grab the high ground during various points in each stage. The game is clearly designed around using this new element, because you can’t jump as high as you could in previous installments. The only hangup with this feature is that you cannot fire your gun until the grappling hook reels you in, resulting in some free shots for the enemies. But this is a small issue that is swiftly resolved once you realize that everything in Contra is about rhythm and timing, and the grappling hook is no exception. Rounding out the solid and versatile controls are features from later Contra games, such as holding one’s ground to swing and angle the gun in eight stationary directions (though holding a firing angle while running is absent), and the ability to keep in reserve and/or switch between two weapons.
The weapons in this series are legendary, and Contra 4 delivers. Just about every weapon you would expect—Machine Gun, Spread Gun, Homing Gun, Flame Gun, Laser Gun, Crush Gun—is present, and for the first time, each can be upgraded to a new, more powerful incarnation by grabbing and stacking the same weapon twice on one slot. Acquiring and maintaining these upgrades through the obstacle-rich levels is often the key to mastering the bosses. Further, in a new strategic twist, if you know you’re going to your doom—and if you react quickly enough—you can throw off your weapon and then grab it after your character has respawned (assuming you have lives to spare, that is).
One significant change to recent Contra installments is that you don’t start off with a rapid-firing machine gun. In what is essentially a return to Contra and Super C, you have a button-mashing “peashooter” rifle to start with, and most of the weapons also require button-mashing now to fire in fast succession. It does create an atmosphere of extra frenetic intensity, but it can be hard on the fingers at times to get the most out of your weapons.
The graphics are primarily hand-drawn 2D sprites, and everything from the character animations to the too-crazy-to-believe dual-screen boss fights to the lush backgrounds are executed with vibrant detail and special effects. When 3D is employed, it blends pretty seamlessly with the 2D sprites. Due to the twin screens, the sprites are significantly larger than previous entries, which makes the action even more in-your-face. The color palette and tone are much brighter than recent Contra games, opting for a more cartoonish/comic book look in the vein of Contra and Super C. Incredibly, despite all the action and all the eye-popping battle scenarios you will face, Contra 4 has zero slowdown.
As strong as the graphics are, the music is what really brings this game to life. Contra has a famous soundtrack, and Contra 4 maintains this tradition with a number of new and remixed tunes that make the action explode on screen. This memorable music drives you forward to surpass each consecutive stage’s mounting challenges even after countless failures. The new Jungle, Waterfall, and Harbor tracks are right there with the best songs in Contra’s twenty-year legacy. Definitely play this game through headphones to get the full aural experience, as the tracks are even more layered than the DS’ speakers initially let on. The sound effects are also classically Contra, and the limited inclusion of voices this time around lends the game a more complete audio package.
Contra 4 has four selectable characters at the start, but they all play the same. The multicard-required multiplayer mode was originally going to be four players, but was unfortunately pared back to two. Regardless, Contra 4 is still a blast and a half to play with a friend.
One final strength of the game is its abundant offering of unlockable extras, including a Challenge Mode where the player is given daunting tasks like beating sections of levels with limited ammunition or no gun at all. From this Challenge Mode you will unlock the best extras: Contra and Super C. Yes, the first two NES games in the series are included (albeit without multiplayer support) alongside other unlockables such as additional playable characters, comic books, an art gallery, a series log, a sound test, and an interview with Konami’s Nobuya Nakazato on Contra’s history.
Now, if this portable action game has one Achilles heel, it’s that—at times—it almost feels too familiar to fans of the series. As noted earlier, the game is a blend of Contra’s entire history, and if you take away the dual screens of action, much of it feels like a remix of past Contra levels. Back in 2002, Contra: Shattered Soldier suffered from this same issue to some degree as well. While having all these old level motifs present ensures the classic Contra experience, it doesn’t add nearly as much to the franchise as past entries, such as Contra III: The Alien Wars. Also worth mentioning: One thing that sticks out upon repeated playthroughs is that the Ocean stage is far too short and straightforward, and that one of the “tunnel-style” stages—which aren’t exactly the best stages from past Contras—could have been swapped for a newly-themed side-scrolling or overhead stage. Still, the fact that this DS title remains a great experience means that Contra 4 is above the norm in the realm of gaming, and has just enough new for it hold a respectable position in the larger legacy of Contra. Here’s hoping this premier action series will be continued and expanded upon. Contra 4 shows that the name “Contra” is still the king when it comes to run ‘n’ gun.
FINAL SCORE: [!] [!] [!] [!] [!] –
Pete’s Subscript: Contra 4 changes the established Contra timeline in several ways. The characters Scorpion and Mad Dog, which were code names for Bill and Lance in the early North American releases, are now distinct soldiers. This is also true for Black Viper, who was originally a character conceived in the booklet of the North American localization of Operation C for the Gameboy. Contra 4 establishes Black Viper as a legitimate, though enigmatic, alien villain in the timeline. This latter point is more problematic than the former, as it at the very least distorts the Red Falcon/Federation Government conspiracy story laid out in Contra: Shattered Soldier for the PS2. On an unrelated but often overlooked note, the boss of level 7 seems to be eerily similar to Ghouls ‘N Ghosts’ level 4 boss.
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