Contra Advance: The Alien Wars EX

"Contra III At it's best"

Hello Everybody and welcome to my first review. Today I am reviewing the first contra Game for the Game Boy Advanced: Contra Advanced: Alien Wars EX.

Contra III: Alien wars was originally released for the Super Nintendo in 1994.This game is one of my personal favorite SNES games to date. Contra Advanced: Alien Wars EX is a remake of the original 1994 SNES game. The newer version took out some features of the SNES game(ability to have multiple weapons,Aura Bombs) and 2 levels, and Added 2 levels(Which are from the Sega Genesis Game Hard Corps).

For people who have never played Contra here is a short explanation of it. You are a soldier, and you kill everything on the screen and fight Mini Bosses and Bosses. All the enemies have been killed, you advance to the next level. Pretty simple huh?Not!There is more to it than that. Some of the levels and bosses can be more trouble than they are worth. Here goes the review:

Graphics 7/10:
These are basically the same graphics from the SNES version. Though some of the levels look more colorful than the SNES game, some bosses are missing color. I wish Konami would of took the time to bring out the GBA's Full potential.

Story 0/10:
You have a gun, You kill things. Wow! This has the makings of an RPG type story. NOT!! There is absolutely no story here.

Audio 6/10:
Though some of the effects could of been improved,(explosions,guns sounds,enemies) this game has a really good sound to it.The music really puts you back into the SNES days(a good thing for some, a bad thing for some).

Control 8/10:
The controls are very simple. A is to jump and B is to Shoot. You move your character around with the Directional pad and Start is to pause.Plus, you can use the L and R buttons to make things go smoother. The L button locks the position of your gun and lets you run with your gun locked in that certain position and the R button locks character movement and lets you control your weapons direction of fire.Even a person New to the GBA or Contra games could catch on real quick.

Gameplay 9/10:
This is were Contra Glows with all it's glory. The gameplay is fast and easy. The only thing that might make people not want to buy this game is the difficulty. You have 2 choices: Novice or Normal. They are pretty much the same except in novice you get 7 lives and can only make it to level 4, and in normal you get 3 lives and more levels. the game is insanely difficult.

Saving 1/10:
THE PASSWORD FEATURE STINKS!!!Most of the passwords don't even work. If you write them down in your Notes Section of the instruction book, and think every thing will work alright, THINK AGAIN. 7 times outta 10 the passwords don't work and you have to start all over.

Overall 8/10:
Even though it is missing some features, Alien Wars EX still lives up to the Contra game. If you want Fast Pace Action with lotsa of difficulty, check this game out

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/05/03, Updated 01/05/03