Contra
Reviewed by Kyle Mauhl
The Nintendo 64 and 8 bit NES have a lot of things in common. They're
both made by Nintendo, they both have many great games, and my
personal favorite, they're both great for multiplayer games! However,
the main types of multiplayer games on the 2 systems are completely
different. You see, the Nintendo 64 is all about 4-player, last man standing,
kill em' all deathmatching! The NES on the other hand, was all about
2 player, destroy the enemy together, cooperative gaming! Among
the best, arguably THE best game of this type on the NES, was
Contra. Contra is a classic side-scrolling shoot-em-up made by
the masters at Konami that is always fun for 1 player, but especially 2.
Graphics 6.5 out of 10
Not much to look at here. The sprites are small, pixilated, and not
very detailed. The backgrounds are detailed, but very pixilated.
There are also not very many frames of animation. However, for a
1st generation NES game, the graphics aren't horrible, just not very good.
Music and Sound 8 out of 10
There are a few catchy tunes, especially the 1st level's music!
The rest, unlike Konami's other big franchise on the NES, Castlevania,
is merely adequate and won't stick in your head for very long. The
sound effects are good. There are different sounds for each of the
weapons, as well as high-pitched noises when you shoot an enemy
that takes more than 1 hit to kill, letting you know that you are doing
damage. I think the noise when you die, which I don't know how to
describe, is very annoying, especially if you're a beginner and hearing
it a lot. Overall, the music and sound are above average for such an old game.
Game Challenge 10 out of 10
Starting out with only 3 lives, one hit kills, and cheap deaths make
this game a very challenging one. However, if you use the Konami code
to start with 30 lives, the difficulty rating goes down to a 1. It may
be a little challenging the 1st time through, but after that, most
gamers can sleep-walk through the game. If you want a real
challenge, try beating it without the code (I've done it only once.)
Basically, the challenge goes like this: Code= easy, No code= hard.
Game Play-Fun 10 out of 10
As a single player game, this game is a lot of fun. However, add
a friend and the fun goes through the roof. I still play this with
friends anytime they come over, which really shows it has stood
the test of time (12 years!) Basically, you go through a level, beat
the boss, go on to the next level, repeat. There are 8 levels in all.
Six of them are the classic side-scrolling ones that made the series
famous. Levels 2 and 4, however are completely different. You see,
here, you are placed in an over-the-shoulder point of view, unable
to move forward, shooting enemies in front of you, and trying to blow
up "locks" on the walls to move on to the next room. Your fight the
boss from the same point of view after several rooms. These levels
are frustrating, as the point of view makes it impossible to judge
where the enemy bullets are, which leads to many cheap deaths.
Once you memorize the rooms, however, these levels become pretty
easy. You can also get several weapon upgrades. You get them from
shooting flying capsules and shooting boxes that appear around the
levels and collecting the capsule that comes out of them. The weapons
are: Rapid fire- lets you fire slightly faster; Machine gun- lets you
fire extremely fast with out having to constantly tap the button; Flame
thrower- shoots spirals of flames, kind of worthless, though; Laser-
shoots a long, powerful beam, but very slow; Red Falcon- destroys
everything on the screen; Spread gun- mine, and everybody else's favorite!
Sprays bullets everywhere, almost guaranteed to hit something and
very powerful at close range. Overall, this is an extremely fun game!
Frustration
Same as challenge, no frustration with the code, lots of it without.
It kind of stinks that when you die, you start with your little pea
shooter weapon when you have a powerful weapon, and the
over-the-shoulder levels are frustrating, too.
Replayability 9 out of 10
With the 30 lives code, it's easy for you and a friend to play through
it over and over again and still be the most fun you can have. The
only problem is that the game doesn't change at all no matter how
many times you play through it, no secret areas and no multiple
paths hurt it's replay value, but it's still fun no matter how many
times you play.
Game Value 10 out of 10
This game isn't very rare, so it should be easy to find for a reasonable
price. It's so much fun as a multiplayer game that it's worth any price.
Go buy it!
Overall 10 out of 10
This game is just way too fun! I've been playing it since I was a little
kid, and I still love it today! I use this game as an educational tool on
little kids who think the NES stinked, and it changes their opinion on
that rather quickly. I just hope all the gamers of the world can forget
about the stinky Playstation remakes, and that Konami of Osaka would
get off their butts and make a REAL sequel, a GOOD sequel that does
the series justice. Overall, one of the best games for the NES, easy
to pick up and play, and great multiplayer makes this game a must
own for all gamers new and old.