Once upon a time,Contrawas synonymous with a popular series of shooters. In the late ’80s and early ’90s it offered several games that were well worth a player’s time, withContra III: The Alien Warsbeing arguably the best in the series. As gaming trends shifted into 3D,Contraas a franchise seemed to lose its way, where games that followed the trends were critically panned, and positive reviews seemed to be reserved only for the games that stuck to the franchise’s roots. Trying to find the middle ground that is true to the classic formula but feels at home in a modern market can be a difficult balance to strike, but that is the goal ofContra: Operation Galuga?
There’s A Story?
Contra: Operation Galugaisn’t exactly a remake of the originalContra,even though that impression was given afterplaying the demoa few weeks ago. It is a full-on re-imagining ofContra, creating a brand-new experience that blends new ideas with many stages and enemies that will seem familiar to veterans ofContra’sgolden age of 2D games, playing more like a greatest hits collection than a remake of any specific game. It’s an attempt to create a new original game with enough callbacks to the older games to give longtime fans their nostalgia fix. For the most part, it works.
Taking place on the Galuga Archipelago, an alien-controlled terrorist organization known as Red Falcon has set up their base of operations which will undoubtedly wipe out all of humanity. Being as the human race is a selfish species that would rather not be blown into oblivion, the Earth Marine Corps sends in the Contras, Bill Rizer and Lance Bean to put an end to the Red Falcon threat. Honestly, the story is inconsequential and just serves as a background to blow up a bunch of aliens and robots. It’s so generic it could have been written to be an intentional parody of ’80s action movies, taking directions that were so dumb I could actually see my eyes roll. But it’s a safe bet no one really plays any Contragame for the story, and thankfully the story development is such a small part of the game it did little to distract from what is important, which is shooting everything in sight.
Run-n-Gun Action
There are three game modes available: Story, Arcade and Challenge. Story mode begins with only Bill and Lance being available, but as the story progresses new characters are introduced and become available. There are a few NPCs that provide mission briefings and explain what’s going on. Some of these briefings are irritating since the dialogue box and portrait can cover up enemies, projectiles and other hazards. Arcade mode has the same eight stages, but all NPC interactions, dialogue and cutscenes are omitted, making it play more like the classic games. Characters unlocked in Story mode can be played in any level in arcade, along with the blue and red Probotectors from the Japanese version of Contra. Each character has a unique quality, such as the ability to hover or access to a grappling hook, so it’s recommended to try the different characters to see which one is the most fun to play. Co-op has always been the preferred way to playContra,Story mode supports two players and Arcade supports up to four players. Both of these modes offer continues and check points. Challenge mode offers several different challenges for the player to complete for rewards, such as defeating a boss with limited ammo and taking no damage or speed running a section of a level.
Contra: Operation Galugaplays how the fondly-remembered 2DContragames play, with new additions that make things feel more contemporary. The players run and jump through perilous areas filled with pitfalls, hostile alien monsters and other assorted hazards. The player can equip two different weapons at a time and switch them at will. Many familiarContraweapons return, such as laser, spread shot and crush missile. Collecting a duplicate of an already equipped weapon will power it up, and the player can also overload a weapon. Overloading sacrifices the weapon but can lead to a variety of beneficial effects. Spread shot can fill the screen with bouncing projectiles and the machine gun can create a barrier, to name a couple of these effects.
War Is Hell, But It’s Got Its Perks
Contragames were never known for being easy, hence the Konami Code.Contra: Operation Galugais a challenging game, but the player has some freedom in tweaking the degree of challenge. Traditionally, the characters inContragames die in one hit, but there’s an option to play with a health bar a more forgiving difficulty is desired. There are three different difficulty levels and the option to boost reserve lives so the player can ensure they get the most satisfactory difficulty. On easy mode with a health bar, most newcomers will be able to put an end to Red Falcon without too much difficulty, but even hardenedContraveterans will fight an uphill battle for victory on hard difficulty with one-hit kills enabled.
To further customize the difficulty, there are a number of perks that can be purchased with credits that can be earned by progressing through any of the game modes. Some of these just improve the player’s odds of survival, such as adding extra hits to the health bar or allowing the player to keep a weapon after death. Some of these are character specific, such as increasing the length of a slide or increasing the invulnerability period after dashing. Some perks are very expensive, but they unlock additional playable characters or soundtracks from other Konami game franchises, such as Gradiusor Castlevania.
Contra Games Range From Great To Terrible. Which One Is This?
Contra: Operation Galugais no masterpiece. The graphics would have looked cutting edge a couple of console generations ago, and the story is largely generic with some moments that are so bad they had to be intentional. Although given the influence theAlienfilms have had onContra,it was a nice nod to see a character named Henriksen. In spite of this, this is a Contragame that plays how the typical Contra fan feels that it should. This is the most fun game in the series since 2007’sContra 4for Nintendo DS. Flaws aside, it checks all the boxes for what a goodContragame entails, which is high octane action. The different levels offer a bit of variety between the traditional running and jumping with a few hover bike levels thrown in for variety. The general approach to each area is essentially the same; shoot everything that isn’t background dressing while dodging everything else, but there’s enough level variety where things never get boring. Depending on skill and difficulty settings, completing a playthrough should take between one and two hours. On one hand some may feel this is too short for the price of admission, but on the other it encourages multiple playthroughs with different characters and difficulty settings.
WhereContra: Operation Galugashines the brightest is how it successfully blended the mix of creating a new original game while checking all the nostalgia boxes. Fans of the 8-bit and 16-bitContragames will see a great deal of familiar content, from iconic boss fights to reworking classic stage designs. It succeeds in itsContraamalgamation by using these elements to create new level designs that incorporate the elements of the past games, sometimes in new ways. It re-imagines some of the highlights from the classic games into creating something new. Given the nature of it, no one is going to call it the most original game they’ve ever played, but for those who want something new that possesses all the qualities of the greatContragames, this satisfies that criterion.
Pocket Power: Contra 4
Closing Comments:
Contra: Operation Galugais a refreshing return to Contra’sroots. The story might be lacking, but the high-octane run and gun action that made the classic games great is back.Contra: Operation Galugarelies heavily on nostalgia to appeal toContrafans by incorporating several classic level designs and boss fights. It can get away with this by adding enough variety to the gameplay and some fights where the end result feels like a proper re-imagining and not simply a hodgepodge of random past Contrahighlights. It does have its shortcomings with dated-looking graphics and an inconsequential story, but when it comes to delivering the classic run and gun Contra action,Operation Galugais the title fans have been waiting for.
Contra: Operation Galuga
Version Reviewed: PlayStation 5
