Right to the gameplay: Even on easy, Contra 4 is unforgivingly difficult. Extra lives and more continues don't mean a thing if you can't put up a fight. The beginning of level two seems almost impossible to pass without losing a couple of lives. The difficulty ramps up quick. Remember those golden-winged power-ups? That's the key to your survival. You can have two in your inventory at a time, which you can alternate by hitting the L or R shoulder buttons on the DS. What I advise is you keep your favorite power-up in a reserve slot (not the active one). When you lose a life, you will still have your reserve power-up weapon in your inventory. Whatever weapon you had equipped when you were taken out will be lost. So when the bullet or enemy presence is overwhelming, keep your regular rifle on. You don't want to be without a power-up weapon when taking on mid or end-level boss.

Keeping Contra true to it's over the top action, there's rocket riding, huge bosses, waves of bullet spewing enemies and the Black Viper. There are new bits of gameplay. The grapple function, Bionic Commando style, is used to ascend levels. Contra 4 benefits on the DS by having two screens. Bosses may span both of them, while there will be several times that you will be scaling a level vertically instead of running horizontally. Gameplay takes place across both screens pretty smoothly. The graphics are very colorful, detailed and pixel crisp on the DS screen.

The soundtrack has a retro-feel that fits Contra well. Plenty of synth and fast paced tracks to bring memories of late 80s action flicks. There's random voices when your character returns from death, which you have the option to turn off. Go solo, or better yet, take a friend along via wireless play. Your friend will need to have another Contra 4 cart in their DS to play with you.

There's plenty of bonus content. The Museum provides a nice glimpse into the past years of Contra. Not only will you get a look at some of the box art and screenshots of the earlier Contra releases in the US, but you'll also get to see box art from Contra games released in Japan and Europe. If you can successfully get through the game, you'll have a few nice bonus games besides Contra 4: NES versions of Contra and Super C. In addition, there's two unlockable digital comics, 5 unlockable characters and even an interview with Contra producer, Nobuya Nakazato.

Overall, you get a nice collection of Contra content. The action is fast and relentless. It may seem frustrating at times against some nearly impossible to survive odds. Old school gamers will appreciate the 2D style and gameplay they can pickup and get right into. The younger gamers will get a nice introduction to the new Contra while getting a taste of its history. Just like Konami's Castlevania series on the DS, Contra 4 does 2D right on the Nintendo handheld. If you're into action games and want a challenging and rewarding game, check out Contra 4. If you're looking for a number rating, on a scale of 1-10, it's an 8.5. It's definitely one of the better action games I've played on the DS. Konami has 2D gameplay down on the DS. Can't wait for more Contra and Castlevania! (A new Castlevania for the DS should be officially announced soon!)

Contra 4 is currently available for the Nintendo DS for $29.99 MSRP. Watch a quick 30 second preview video and see several screenshots below. See more on Contra 4 here at the official website.

Write Comment
Name:	Guest
Title:
BBCode:
Comment:

Powered by AkoComment 2.0!