Contra 4

"My DS just grew some balls"

Aliens have invaded Earth and only four manly men with their big, sexy guns stand a chance in hell against them. Forget about an original plot-line; Contra 4 is all about shooting up anything and everything. You wanna kick ass? Hah! If anything, your ass will be getting kicked here. . . but you'll love every moment of it!

The Contra series is renowned for its relentless and unforgiving gameplay. Contra 4 is an all-new, DS exclusive sequel featuring more of the same "run & gun" action that no hardcore Shmup fan can resist. As one of several Contra men (or women), you'll have to shoot your way through waves upon waves of relentlessly spawning alien soldiers. Not only that, but you'll also have to contend with a variety of environmental hazards such as boulders that fall from the top to the bottom screen, bridges that crumble as kamikaze soldiers nuke its support, and the usual bottomless pits of which there are many.

A single hit - any hit - will do you in. Lose a life and you'll also lose whatever weapon you were holding at the time. This places you at a severe disadvantage since you'll be left with a pea-shooter of a gun as swarms of alien soldiers pile on in -- as many as can fit on both DS screens, which is a lot. When this inevitably occurs, though, it can take forever to beat down the gigantic end-level bosses which may be cool and hardcore for some, but needlessly repetitive for others.

You always need to be in a state of mental alertness and if anything flickering appears to be heading your way, you'd better get your ass moving, pronto. Lose all of your lives and you'll have to restart either at the beginning of your current stage or, if you're lucky/skilful to have gotten far enough, at the mid-level checkpoint. But you only have so many shots at continuing and if you botch up your evades one too many times, it's game over and back to square one, i.e. stage one.

Without a doubt, Contra 4 is one of the toughest games of this generation. Gamers who have been weaned on near-infinite health bars and highly forgiving save systems will be shocked to meet the game over screen before they can say "whaaa...". But for more seasoned gamers, ones who laugh at the mere sight of a dozen or so bullets screaming towards them, Contra 4 is one of the best Shmup experiences out there.

Guns have always played a big part in the Contra series and it's no different in Contra 4. You start off with a puny machine gun (AKA the pea-shooter) which has both a poor firing rate and lacking damage potential, but there are plenty of special weapons available including lasers, spread shots, rapid-fire machine guns, homing missiles, crush missiles, and flamethrowers. You can only carry two weapons at a time, though, which means that a little micromanagement is called for, but it works well with the game's lightning-fast pace and gun switching is as fluid as it is stylish.

You can also stack special weapons on top of each other to produce a souped-up version that can blow apart anything within milliseconds; spread-shots spread further, machine gun bullets double up in firepower, and flamethrowers stop spitting out pitiful spiralling embers and begin to spew massive fireballs that Ken and Ryu would be proud of. Upgrades are absolutely vital to kill stuff as fast as possible; the longer you dilly-dally, the higher the chances that a stray bullet will bite you up the ass. As an aid to those manly gamers that dare take up the challenge of Normal or Hard mode, the famous Konami Code can be used to instantly upgrade held weapons to their powered-up states, but as a cruel twist, it will kill you if you use it more than once per credit (I'm serious). Better strategise your "cheating" wisely then!

In Easy Mode, your weapons are automatically stacked and levels have both fewer enemies and environmental hazards (some which are completely absent which can make things kind of boring at times). Overall, this "baby mode" poses less of a threat to your ego than Normal and Hard, but it is a perfect start for beginners or as a training ground before you ascend to higher difficulty levels. You'll want to finish the game under manly conditions too, for unless you grow a pair of balls, you won't get to see the final spectacular stage that's one superlative showdown that really delivers.

But even so, Contra 4 is a really short game; it only takes about a half hour or so to see it through to the end. Sure, it will probably take most people a wee while longer due to frequent deaths and restarts, as well as those boss fights that can last for an eternity if you're not well equipped, but it's still a short game nonetheless. Granted, the previous Contra games (or any Shmup for that matter) weren't that much longer, but one can't help but wonder why some of the levels weren't fleshed out just a bit more.

At one point you hang off a fired rocket. A huge alien latches onto it and you proceed blast the vile scum away. As the rocket curves downwards towards the earth, you'll have to deal with several homing missiles launched your way and some twisting, turning, sometimes disappearing handlebars that you need to grip onto lest you'd like to fall some several thousand miles. You then have prance atop the rocket's butt as you dodge its fiery exhaust before bringing the hulk-sized weapon of mass destruction back down to human soil. Contra 4 is full of insane, jaw-dropping moments such as this, but alas - they are all over much too soon. In the case of the rocket ride, everything I have just detailed takes place within three minutes or so. Quality over quantity, I know, but at times it feels like the ride's over as soon as it climaxes.

Once you finish the game (on any difficulty) you'll unlock Challenge Mode which extends the game's longevity somewhat. You'll run through several bite-sized scenarios based on portions of the main game, but with specific conditions that must be met in order to succeed. There are forty of them in all, but just like the main game, they are oh-so difficult and quite a bit of time will be spent here

You may be asked to shoot up all of the dogs in a level, survive a constant barrage of the alien menace, finish up with a specified accuracy rating, or just go empty-handed as a pacifist. You are even called to perform mini speed runs at times, too! This mode is extremely addictive and it's actually a pretty good practice mode of sorts. You'll also unlock various 20th Anniversary goodies here including emulated versions of the NES Contra and its sequel, Super C, as well as different characters to play as (lazy palette swaps, though) among other things.

There are only two real gripes I have with Contra 4. The first one is the weapon pick-up system. As soon as you touch an power-up emblem, you automatically switch to that gun and permanently lose the one you had. When things get especially chaotic (which is most of the time), it is hard to keep track of your own bearings and you may accidentally touch a falling emblem and switch to a gun you don't want. This can be quite annoying, especially if you were hoping to stack a gun to stand a fighting chance of beating those insane bosses, especially so on hard.

My second problem is the dead space that lies between the upper and lower screens. Since the action takes place across both of them, there are times when enemy bullets are completely hidden from sight leading to some rather unexpected deaths. This usually occurs in the ascending sections, but seeing as these bits aren't all that frequent and that given time, one will be able to memorise their layouts, it's no real biggie.

Apart from that, the dual screen display works very well. The action switches between top and bottom very smoothly, and you really have to be on toes as dozens of hailing bullets or charging aliens approach you from either end. Danger lurks in more places than ever before and this is what makes Contra 4 one of the hardest Contras yet.

It is extremely handy to have a manly mate by your side. Through DS wireless connections you can go kick butt together. Co-op play represents the true Contra experience and in the case of Hard Mode, perhaps the only way to beat the game without having to resort to cheats . . . but I'm sure I'll be proven wrong soon enough.

If you are a big Contra fan, I can guarantee that you won't be disappointed with Contra 4. Most of the nine stages here pay tribute in some way to previous Contras. The first stage is a throwback to the first Contra; you jump out of a helicopter and land smack-bang in the middle of a jungle ready to shoot 'em all up. There are typical Contra base levels where you'll have to shoot through several corridors in a head-on perspective and in one of them, a boss awaits you who should look very familiar to those who have played Contra III: The Alien Wars. There are also nods to other games in the series. It sure brings back some good memories, but at times it feels like they blended everything that made the classics such standout titles just for the hell of it. But this lack of originality isn't actually a bad thing.

Contra 4 is all very much fan-service (similar to what was done for Castlevania's 20th Anniversary with Portrait of Ruin). Despite carryovers, the level designs are mostly new and the dual-screen coverage allows for some new wicked-cool scenarios and crazy boss battles. And the raw DS power used to generate the flashy fireworks on top of the myriad of crisp, well-animated sprites shows that Nintendo's portable wonder can cater for manly men, too.

I have to give a round of applause to the sound team as well, in particular, Virt - the guy who composed Contra 4's rip-roaring soundtrack. Not only does his buzzing original compositions fuel a shooting frenzy, but he has tucked in some fantastic remixes, too. The relentless action is constantly backed by some equally mad electric guitar riffs pulsing with hard-pressed energy. It barely lets up and you'll never want it to; this is definitely a DS game that you should be proud to turn up the volume for.

This is also a DS game that you should be very proud to own. For a 20th Anniversary game, you get an all-new revival of the series not seen since Contra: Hard Corps (which is still the hardest Contra game in my opinion), some excellent memorabilia in the form of emulated Contra and Super C (solo-play only, unfortunately), an extremely addictive Challenge Mode, and a brief portfolio of the entire Contra legacy. The main game itself is reason enough to buy it and the rest of the extras just bulk it up to make Contra 4 look even more hunky. This is a challenging game (still not as hard as old-school, though) which brings us back to the days when games were fun because you really needed to try to win. It may be a throwback to the old, but it is a breath of fresh air in the current market inundated with games that have become too scared to kill you. If you want to play a manly man's game on the not-as manly DS, meet Contra 4.

VERDICT - 8.5 The best Contra since the 16-bit pair.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/19/07

Game Release: Contra 4 (US, 11/13/07)