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[Kumiko Nikaido]

Developer: Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo
Producer: Nobuya Nakazato
Publisher: Konami of America
Genre: Action
Format: PlayStation 2
Price: $39.99

Wow, KCET's latest Contra effort was really short. Compared to the last installment of Shattered Soldier, Neo Contra has more run-and-gun stages and obligatory boss battles, but geez......the whole experience was just merely ok. And yes, it took me only 45 minutes to complete the entire game on it's default settings (Normal Mode, 5 lives, 5 continues) on my second go around.....talk about weaksauce. (Easy Mode grants you an automatic 30 lives and 7 continues! Talk about piece a of cake!)

Neo Contra did put up a challenge of course, but those challenges are the boss battles themselves. The actual run-and-gun gameplay of the game's stages are short-lived, and just like Shattered Soldier's experience, has you longing and itching for more. You pick from the outset a set of weapons to outfit Bill Rizer/Jaguar with, and you're stuck with switching between them through the rest of the game (really....you only need the Machine Gun and Lock-On Missles to get through the game....all the other weapons are just weak fluff).

Like Shattered Soldier, Neo Contra has you picking from 4 stages to begin with, so feel free to tackle them in any order you wish. The 5th and final stage is only accessible on Normal and higher modes, so if you think on passing the game on Easy Mode, it won't let you.....the game ends when you finish the 4 initial stages.

I don't know why KCET and producer Nobuya Nakazato chose to make Neo Contra certain elements of the game "goofy", but that's what this game contains. Where Shattered Soldier had a hard, realistic, and gritty edge, to it......in Neo Contra it has laughable parts which are quite bold and apparant. Take, for example, Stage 4's aerial battle: You're fighting an airship while running on a helicopter's rotor blades.....yes, running atop it's blades. Crazy. Then towards the end of the stage, you're riding on a torpedo while fighting the boss on the ocean. More craziness. Sure, in Shattered Soldier you hung onto missles and whatnot.....but seeing more of this stuff in Neo Contra just makes you shake your head in it's aburdity. Even the cinema scenes have overdramatic dialogue and voicevers.....some are really stupid.

The story of Neo Contra, or what is there of it, has Bill Rizer and newcomer Jaguar facing off against Master Contra and his Four Elite. His Four Elite encompass: Guerilla Contra, Plant Contra, Pheremone Contra, and Animal Contra. That's right....these bosses have silly-ass names. Guerilla Contra is a psuedo-Hitler type guy, Plant Contra is a Gollum wanna-be from The Lord of the Rings, Phermone Contra is a

Spoiler

Lucia from Shattered Soldier

, and Animal Contra is a freakin' dog that talks and pilots mecha....yes, that's right, a dog. A dog....as a boss.....gee, KCET sure has an imagination.

Breakdown of stages:

Stage 1 (Boss = Guerilla Contra): Top-down, run-and-gun in an installation where you fight to get to the base. Fall down a shaft and face-off against Guerrilla Contra.

Stage 2 (Boss = Plant Contra): This is the demo played in the latest OPM and Konami Preview Demo Disc. Ride on a lizard, face off against machinery, before climbing a wall and facing a mid-boss. Enter the intallation and fight Plant Contra.

Stage 3 (Boss = Pheremone Contra): Top-down, run-and-gun in a jungle before going into an outpost and fighting

Spoiler

Lucia

.

Stage 4 (Boss = Animal Contra): Fight in the skies atop a helicopter, take down an airship, crash-down on a base, before riding off on a torpedo while taking on that damn dog. Bow, wow.

Stage 5 (Boss = Master Contra): Fight alien hordes while riding elevators before taking on the guy that holds Earth at his fingertips.

Beating the game opens up simliar features found in Shattered Soldier, like weapons, alternate variations of characters, and galleries giving its replayability. Finishing the game with high rankings shows better endings, so don't do poor in the game if you don't want to watch a dismal endiing.

As I stated before, Neo Contra is quite short. It took me less than an hour to finish the entire game on my second playthrough. This game is a perfect example of being a $19.99 or less purchase, not a full $39.99 which Konami is asking for. As a Contra game, Neo Contra has it's action bits and thrills, but if you think it's the second coming of Contra games, you'll be disappointed. KCET needs to get on the ball and really just go back to Contra's roots of 2-D, side-scrolling, blast-a-thons to put this series back in old-school, nostalgic order. Better yet, Konami needs to hand-off this franchise to Treasure so they can do the Contra name complete justice.

My rating: 6/10

 

[cvxfreak]

Yikes. =/

This sounds like an arcade game. Hope the $40 doesn't set you back much.

 

[Mrbob]

No excuse for a game this short.

Unless Konami wanted to market it at a budget itle (15-20 bucks).

 

[radios shipping overview]

45 minutes is par for the series, as mentioned in the other Neo Contra thread. You'd probably be glad that it's not any longer if/when you go for a single-credit clear (which is the only way to go as far as I'm concerned). These games aren't meant to be multi-sitting affairs with saves in between levels - replay value comes from improving your skills and mastering the game.

 

[skip]

it's not so much the length as it is the ease.

 

[Wario64]

Well that about wraps it up for Contra

 

[Kumiko Nikaido]

Yikes. =/

This sounds like an arcade game. Hope the $40 doesn't set you back much.

I didn't pay for it. The thing is.....I finished the game in the store. That's right, in the store!

45 minutes is par for the series, as mentioned in the other Neo Contra thread. You'd probably be glad that it's not any longer if/when you go for a single-credit clear (which is the only way to go as far as I'm concerned). These games aren't meant to be multi-sitting affairs with saves in between levels - replay value comes from improving your skills and mastering the game.

My beef with the game was that is was combination of it's length and it's challenge. Neo Contra doesn't improve your skill (where Shattered Soldier did on a masochistic level) since the action is on a blase level (by a design choice stated by KCET and Nakazato-san in order for this game to have more mainstream and wide appeal). The level designs were meh, and the only challenges came from bosses (not unlike the pushovers seen in Shattered Soldier). And c'mon, if it takes a person like 2 or 3 attempts to get to the end of a Contra game.....then it isn't a Contra game in spirit (heck, it took me numerous times just to perfect my assault plan for Shattered Soldier).

 

[cvxfreak]

I didn't pay for it. The thing is.....I finished the game in the store. That's right, in the store!

OMG you're lying!

:O

 

[Kumiko Nikaido]

OMG you're lying!

:O

Nope, not lying. I was at EB going to buy the game today, and they put the game in demo station. So I figured, I'd have some play-time with it to get my bearings down on it......and lo and behold, 45 minutes later I finished it. Saved me $40 dollars right there.

 

[radios shipping overview]

My beef with the game was that is was combination of it's length and it's challenge. Neo Contra doesn't improve your skill (where Shattered Soldier did on a masochistic level) since the action is on a blase level (by a design choice stated by KCET and Nakazato-san in order for this game to have more mainstream and wide appeal). The level designs were meh, and the only challenges came from bosses (not unlike the pushovers seen in Shattered Soldier).

Ah, I understand now. I'll have to try it for myself. It'd be a shame if it's really that neutered.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

it's not so much the length as it is the ease.

Exactly. Finishing Neo Contra in 45 minutes isn't really unexpected, doing it so easily is. Something like Gradius V can't take more than 90 minutes to finish, right? But how many HOURS does it take of playing it over and over again to actually be able to run through the whole game. Beating a Contra game without dying 100000 times is not acceptable at all.

Thank your lucky stars you beat it in the store. I would have snapped if something like that happen at home. Short games just shouldn't be easy...that's not arcade at all.

 

[Bebpo]

Contra: SS might've been only an hour long but there's no fucking way you would beat all 7 levels on normal on your second try...or even your 10th try unless you eat babies for breakfast.

Any Contra game you can beat within 5 tries doesn't deserve to hold the Contra name IMO.

Gonna pass on this

 

[MightyHedgehog]

Konami should remake Contra: Hard CORPS (Gen), the best one ever, IMO.

 

[Vibri]

>>I don't know why KCET and producer Nobuya Nakazato chose to make Neo Contra certain elements of the game "goofy", but that's what this game contains......in Neo Contra it has laughable parts which are quite bold and apparant. Take, for example, Stage 4's aerial battle: You're fighting an airship while running on a helicopter's rotor blades.....yes, running atop it's blades. Crazy.



Ever play a real Contra game? Try here:

http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/snes/a/contra3-14.gif


Same director. Same silly setup. The Contra games are all about cheese. If you want a serious action game sans a sense of humor, you need to look elsewhere.

http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/snes/a/contra3-13.gif

YEA!