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Reviews Contra 4: Gryzor and more, August 3, 2008 Rating: 9.0/10 By cward20 from Austin, TX Let me first start off by saying that this game is probably the best shooter for the DS. Playing this game gave me the same feeling I had when I was seven years and old playing Contra for the first time: at first it’s hard as nails (even for an old platforming veteran like me), but also fun with cool power-ups and bosses which will keep you playing even after many deaths. The game is a side-scroller in the tradition of the first three Contra games and has identical controls. Like Contra 3: The Alien Wars, you can hold two weapons at a time, but also if you collect two of the same type of weapon it gets upgraded, which is especially helpful with the Spreader and the Flame. While we are on the subject of weapons let’s talk about the gameplay.
Gameplay-10/10
As I mentioned above the game is fun and easy to adjust to due to fluid controls. Also because of the weapons; there are six different weapons (not including the pea-shooter you start with) that can be upgraded one level: the machine-gun, the spread shot, the laser, homing missiles, the flame, and crash missiles. Another new addition is a grappling device that shoots out of your arm, á la Bionic Commando mostly used to change screens and avoid enemy fire. Aside from the main game there is a challenge mode unlocked by beating the game on any difficulty level. In the challenge mode you unlock things (as in the Smash Brothers series) by clearing challenges. Unlockables include: new characters to play as, the “museum” with screenshots and cover art from all previous games, comics, an interview with Contra creator Nakazato, and the first two NES games. This last one is my favorite, the games are ported perfectly, the “Konami code” still works in Contra as well as Super C ‘s 10-extra-lives code, and you can play them in their original aspect ratio or sized to fit the screen.
Now for the only weak aspect of the game, the overly-elaborate and convoluted story line.
Story-5/10
Why is it that developers today think that every game needs an epic story? They don’t. Take the original Contra trilogy for example, they were among the best shooters of their time and had little to no story, and besides gamers don’t play games like this for the story. Games like this should only have a story that is one small paragraph long with five or six lines max. Getting back to the story itself, it is long—about five to ten minutes of cheesy cut-scenes—and it really makes no sense. It goes something like this: in the year 2638 Bill Rizer and Lance Bean along with Mad Dog and Scorpion, the American names of Bill and Lance in the original series—who are some sort of super-special special Ops—are the only ones who can stop an alien being called the Black Viper who has been nuking major world cities. Now the four heroes have at go back to the same jungles they traversed in the original Contra to face the new evil that is the gist of it. The story is more of a waste of time than anything else, but this is only a minor issue and does not hurt the game whole.
Graphics-10/10
The graphics are vibrant and look like an improved version of the graphics from
Contra 3. The characters even move realistically, or at least as realistically as possible, with lots of frames of animation. It’s nice that they keep the characters small, utilizing both DS screens to create a large area to maneuver in and multiple paths to take, also it makes the bosses seem that much more menacing due to their size.
Audio-10/10
It was awesome to hear the songs from the first Contra re-orchestrated and rendered in digital quality. Also, the sound effects fit the game perfectly, even if some were recycled, as well as each character’s cheesy catch-phrase like “let’s lock ‘n load,” and “robo-tect and suhve (serve),” The music during the end credits is some of the best music I have ever heard on a video game, and really sounds like it was composed for a game made in the late ‘80’s to early ‘90’s.
Challenge-9/10
If you thought the original Contra is hard you should try this. This will constantly kick your ass the first time you play it, but you can switch it to “easy” while your getting a feel for the gameplay. The early challenges in challenge mode will also keep the game from being too frustrating. I had to put the game on easy the first time through, and I can beat Contra and Super C in around 30-45 minutes each without using the respective codes. I’m not mentioning this to brag, but to point out that if you don’t do well your first few times playing it, it doesn’t mean that you “suck at” platformers/shooters. One thing that makes the game so challenging is that enemies constantly attack you from the top screen (or bottom if you are on top) and if you don’t pay attention to it, you’ll die before you know what hit you. My only gripes with the challenge are that sometimes it can be too cheap, where if you die and lose your weapons it’s extremely difficult to get any further, and the “dead-zone.” There is also a small strip between the two screens which I like to think of as a dead-zone where object disappear in when they pass through, that can lead to cheap deaths if you hang around it too long, but these are only minor complaints.
Replay Value-10/10
I ranked it so highly because not only are there multiple characters to beat it with (granted that for the most part they only control slightly differently), there are also new stages added as you progress through each difficulty level. There is also the many unlockables earned by clearing a specific number of challenges, and of course playing the first two titles in the series as mention above.
Overall Conclusion-9/10
With all the exemplary aspects of the game the only two that keep me from giving it a perfect score are the, “dead-zone” and the over-blown story. It is nice to finally have a fitting sequel to the greatness that was Contra 3 (unlike the two god-awful PS1 games) every aspect of this game is a perfect compliment to the original series the only thing I would change is the story. If you are too young to remember the classic Contra trilogy, I recommend renting it first to see if you’re up to the challenge and if you like this type of game. With that said, if you own a DS buy it. It usually retails for around $20-25, and even cheaper at your local game-shop; it is definitely worth it, three classic games for the price of one.
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