I was also confused. Either way, my reaction was "Yep, that's Contra."
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Contras, Probotectors, and the legacy of war
- Thread starter Peklo
- Start date
muteKi
Geno Cidecity
They're finally letting you guys make a sparkster game?
There's no chance this will surpass original NES Contra for me, but I'm also not against going back to that particular well, mostly because the last Contra tried some, uh... outside the box thinking, I'll call it, and was frankly the worst thing to happen to the series since Legacy of War. Is it perhaps too safe to go back to Contra/Super C-style gameplay? Sure. But a really well-crafted shooty/jumpy run 'n' gun platformer is a fine thing to behold, even if it's not breaking new ground. Especially since while there's a glut of Metroidvanias and more than enough Mega Man-alikes in the indie space, Contra is an inspiration that feels weirdly lacking? At least in comparison. So yeah, I'm 100% here for it, and glad it's a WayForward joint.
There's Super Cyborg for excellent riffs on the NES Contra standard, Blazing Chrome for the Hard Corps-heads, and Tomm's own Spidersaurs--which I didn't love for various reasons--was at least trying to express something new within the framework of this series. I expect there'll be mechanical experimentation and elaboration with Operation Galuga, but I place a high importance on a premise being able to entice me to get as far as to actually discover it... and when the hook and introduction here is throwing out vintage sound effects, quotes from classic tracks, the same setting and same characters, familiar bosses and level concepts, that's what sticks out and not the theoretical good, new stuff to come. I understand for many it's likely the opposite, and these elements are welcome signifiers of authenticity, or a fond rekindling of past memories. For all the "nostalgia" Contras that have been made, since they now number several, ReBirth worked the best for me, because M2 leveraged a more holistic, and in some cases a very deliberately obscure referentiality to their work, leaning on the MSX Konami minutiae and similar less obvious oddities instead of the crowd-pleasers.
Yeah, I actually have Super Cyborg and still haven't played it (same with Balacera Brothers, actually), but I loved Blazing Chrome, especially for the inclusion of the two melee characters which completely changed how the game was played. I still haven't played Spidersaurs because most of the hype came with its original release to Apple Arcade, something I cannot access in any way.
My hope is that if something like this does well, we could get another Shattered Soldier or Hard Corps Uprising, but the former seems to have a pretty mixed reputation among the fanbase (I love it), despite it now being 22 years old, older than the original Contra was when it bowed on the PS2. The latter I felt was almost ashamed to be a Contra game. But I think with this being the first "traditional" (by which I really mean, side-scrolling) Contra on non-mobile platforms in over a decade, it makes sense to play it safe for now. We'll see. I'm a sucker for the series, so I'm a day-one buy in any case (and probably also a Limited Run buy, if they do that, which I hope they do).
My hope is that if something like this does well, we could get another Shattered Soldier or Hard Corps Uprising, but the former seems to have a pretty mixed reputation among the fanbase (I love it), despite it now being 22 years old, older than the original Contra was when it bowed on the PS2. The latter I felt was almost ashamed to be a Contra game. But I think with this being the first "traditional" (by which I really mean, side-scrolling) Contra on non-mobile platforms in over a decade, it makes sense to play it safe for now. We'll see. I'm a sucker for the series, so I'm a day-one buy in any case (and probably also a Limited Run buy, if they do that, which I hope they do).
Tomm Guycot
(he/him)
There's so much I can't say guys I wish I could time travel to after the game is out.
The most I can say is to check out the website and scroll down to the "Features" section. At least one of those is a big clue of how things are new.
The most I can say is to check out the website and scroll down to the "Features" section. At least one of those is a big clue of how things are new.
"Hardcore Corps" makes me hopeful there's a cyborg wolfman to play as...
There's also 8-Bit Commando.
I was going to mention those games Peklo listed but I do agree with ShakeWell's point - there are far more indie games that are like MM and MV.
I think I saw the Babalu Destroid Mechanism in the official screenshots
The feature from the website that stood out to me is "stackable upgrades" for weapons.
I assume this means rouge like elements where you can upgrade shot speed and power like Hard Corps Uprising.
It would be amazing (and maybe not Contra like) to have Gunstar Hero upgrades where different weapons pickups resulted in new weapons.
I'm pretty excited for this. I played Hard Corps Uprising on PS3 and Rebirth on WiiWare...Its been a long time since I played a Contra game.
Yeah no… yeah
Madhair is right.
The Babalu Destructoid Mechanism is on his throne and all is right with the world
Madhair is right.
The Babalu Destructoid Mechanism is on his throne and all is right with the world
Preach
Tomm Guycot
(he/him)
(Now the enthusiasm is making my presence here WEIRD but... y'all remember Simon Lai and I were the genesis of HC:U before it got passed to different Producers, right? "I hate C4 and love HC:U so I'm really not excited" is a take)
muteKi
Geno Cidecity
rocket possum
I have no idea what the audience for a Contra game is (sales expectations). But I have always found it weird that Hard Corps: Uprising did not have the name Contra in the title. Surely that must have cost the title sales. TT gamer knowledge is not general public gamer knowledge.
Well whose fault is that?!?
Tomm Guycot
(he/him)
Oh it used to have the name.
I did not! Unfortunately I missed out on Contra 4. I'm just here for all the air dashing.
I mean, regardless of that, they're pretty different games in the end. I like both (though MCBanjoMike had to convince me to pick up Uprising again after a bad first impression that was, to be fair, my own fault for going right into arcade mode and bouncing off of it), but aside from broadly being side-scrolling bang-bang games, they're not all that similar.
Nakazato produced Hard Corps and Rogue Corps. I really like one of those and really don't like the other one.
Tomm Guycot
(he/him)
And Shattered Soldier! And Neo Contra! and Directed Contra 3!
All 5 of those are drastically different.
Keep hope alive folks!
Did he work on Rebirth? Because that’s The Contra We All* Love The Most
*of everyone I polled, meaning just myself
*of everyone I polled, meaning just myself
Sarge
hardcore retro gamin'
Looking forward to seeing how this one turns out - I can always use another good Contra game in my life.
I'll recommend Super Cyborg as well, @ShakeWell, it's very much styled after the NES Contra games and could pretty easily pass as an official entry in the series.
I'll recommend Super Cyborg as well, @ShakeWell, it's very much styled after the NES Contra games and could pretty easily pass as an official entry in the series.
Big fan of Super Cyborg over here as well
I remembered y'all were involved, yeah, though I kinda forgot over time to what degree.
Tomm Guycot
(he/him)
If you guys had pending questions I don't know how much I can answer but this guy might be able to.
Ludendorkk
(he/him)
Is there an archive of this?
I am also curious, I tried to join the Discord and kept getting a message saying the invite expired...