Contra 4

"Love and hate fuse together to create Contra 4."

Contra 4 is horribly outdated. It's full of concepts and mechanics that were being done better back in the Genesis and Super Nintendo days. It's got 2D graphics, the sound effects are simplistic, the enemies respawn indefinitely and walk straight into whatever gun you happen to be firing at the time. 1 hit and you're dead. The screen scrolls as you move and if you're caught outside of the scrolling, you're dead. And hey, if you're even a pixel off you'll probably die from other things too.

Graphics - 6/10
The graphics are pretty darn good for a 2d game. The backgrounds are bright and beautiful and the whole game is quite clear and vibrant. Some of the bosses and stages are truly awesome and the game does a good job getting you hyped up in certain parts. In fact, apart from the bland enemy design and the pallet-swapped enemy and character models, the graphics would probably deserve a much higher score. It's truly impressive how they used the dual screens of the DS to allow the player a huge view of the field and enemies.

Unfortunately, there's one incredibly poor design choice made that hinders gameplay and (for me at least) leads to a number of what I would consider unfair deaths. The big problem is that the split screen I mentioned earlier does not match up. It's basically like they put a piece of duct tape over the screen right in the center. Not a big deal, until you realize that enemies and their bullets are fully capable of passing through this "no see" zone and killing you. In a worst case scenario, enemies will actually spawn in this portion, so you may find yourself jumping into something that you didn't have any way of knowing existed. It's incredibly disruptive and frustrating, and it only adds frustration to an already difficult game.

The enemy bullets are also pretty difficult to see, leading to deaths from things that might as well have been invisible.

Sound and Music - 8/10
The sound in Contra 4 is... retro. It's basically about the same quality you'd expect on a first generation Genesis or Super Nintendo game mixed with the original Nintendo Contras. It's very simplistic and probably meant to bring feelings of nostalgia to fans of the earlier games. The death cries are probably the most satisfying sounds, as most enemies have their own unique cries of agony.

The music is actually very good. If you pick up the game I recommend you try out a pair of headphones at least once and see what you think. The music has that sort of old school sound while also being complex and pretty catchy. I have no complaints about it.

Gameplay- 7/10
If you haven't gotten the picture yet, Contra 4 is all about delivering action similar to what you might have played back in the early 90's. It's fast paced, slippery, and more or less pixel perfect (by which I mean: you touch it, you die). It has all the same nuances as the first couple of Contra games and it truly plays as an extension of those. The developers obviously wanted to keep the gameplay simple and action-packed and in that they've done a really good job.

The main problems I have with the gameplay are that it's just so frustrating and archaic. Your bullets never seem to go anywhere you want them to go. The powerups you get are taken away completely as soon as you die. You die in one hit to everything. The screen scrolls as you move through the level and there's never any going back. It's basically got all the things I hate about classic games.

All of that old, frustrating crap drags the game down a little bit for me. But you know, despite all of these complaints, the end game is actually really enjoyable. It just requires that you're willing to be frustrated sometimes. The shooting is usually fast and intense. It's just those other times when you're standing there jumping and trying to fire diagonally in the air at an enemy tossing heat seeking grenades at you... arg.

Replay Value- 10/10
I can't fault the game on this at all. It offers several juicy unlockables upon completing the game including a challenge mode which provides a bunch of different little mini-missions. Eventually, you can also unlock the first two Contra games. There are three difficulty levels which switch up some enemy placement and the power of your weapons. Overall, pretty dang good for this sort of game.

Overall - 7/10
Contra 4 is frustrating, but in the end I think it's worth the frustration because the game as a whole is pretty enjoyable. I do wish they hadn't goofed up the display, because that's really the main problem I have with the game.

Rent? Buy? Burn?
If you're prepared to be challenged and you're not one who gets frustrated easily (though I guarantee you WILL get frustrated), you should consider picking Contra 4 up. 20 US dollars or less is what I would consider a reasonable price, but that's just me.

To sum it all up:

The Good:
+Great replay value
+Fast, satisfying gameplay
+Great music
+Challenging

The Bad:
-Sometimes incredibly frustrating
-Bullets can be difficult to see
-The gameplay is outdated and full of old mistakes

The Ugly:
X( The inability to see a fourth of the screen right in the middle where enemies can spawn and bullets can pass through

To sum everything up in two words:
Love, hate.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/03/08

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