Contra 4 Review

By Mathew Kumar Published 10 January, 2008

Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough.

Version tested: DS

It's nostalgia that binds me to the Contra series. Since I first played "Gryzor" in a caravan park's amusement arcade in the late '80s I've been a fan of the series, enjoying a great Amstrad CPC port, the brilliant 16-bit Probotector titles and then gritted my teeth through 13 years of terrible Contra games.

Thankfully, Contra 4 has been produced by California-based Wayforward Technologies (developer of Sigma Star Saga and, er, Ping Pals) with an eye on faithfully recreating the feel of the original Contra titles. They've succeeded in doing so, but whether that's truly a good thing or not is debatable.

The Case For: Nostalgia

If you have any nostalgic feelings for the Contra series at all, you're going to feel right at home with Contra 4. For one, it's hard. Brutally hard. Just like the original Contra titles, there's very little leeway for mistakes (you die on collision with virtually everything) and success is simply a matter of rote-learning the levels and then using your memory (and dexterity) to make your way through the levels doing your best to never, ever lose a life. Much like as in Konami's Gradius series, the minute you lose your power-ups, you might as well give up completely.

'Contra 4' Screenshot 1

I guarantee you that the gun emplacement our hero is standing on will kill you before you even see it the first time you play. It's unfair, but Contra games teach you by killing you.

As long as you gel with this kind of unforgiving design, Contra 4 has well-designed levels with gorgeous 2D graphics arguably better than anything we ever saw during the 16-bit era. The new additions, such as action on both screens of the DS, a grappling hook and the ability to stack power-ups only add to the intensity of the action.

Multiplayer, too, is classic Contra. Although two copies of the game are required, the vicious battles for power-ups (and the ability to steal your partners extra lives) lead to a co-operative multiplayer that's as unfriendly as any deathmatch.

Yep, Contra 4 is a true successor to the Contra name in every way.

The Case Against: It's 2007

Contra 4 may well be a true successor to the Contra name, but frankly, fetishistically recreating the feel of the original arcade titles on Nintendo DS probably wasn't the most sensible use of resources. While the levels are well designed, unless you're very good at working out trajectories it's easy to be scuppered by a stray bullet thanks to the massive blind spot between the two screens on the Nintendo DS. This makes the levels where you move vertically often much more frustrating than challenging.

In addition, using only a continues-based system is terribly outdated. While it's true to the past, why on earth should I be forced to play through the game from beginning to end in one go to complete it? Although you can shut the system off and resume later, it actually costs you one (immeasurably precious) continue!

Honestly, though, it's likely that 90 per cent of gamers won't make it past the second level on normal difficulty. It features an absurdly difficult boss that's almost impossible to beat without a powered-up weapon, straight after a ludicrously hazardous trip up a waterfall positively full of bullets and boulders falling from the top screen.

'Contra 4' Screenshot 3

When you reach the top of this rocket it launches, and you have to jump between handholds on the side while shooting and avoiding numerous flying enemies. It would feel awesome if it wasn't impossible.

The game is worth playing through in easy mode, however. It's still quite a challenge, and although you won't get to see the final two levels of the game, you will unlock Challenge mode, which offers 40 missions asking the player to navigate levels pacifistically (no shooting) or especially quickly. Sadly there's a nearly vertical difficulty curve thanks to the requirement that you complete missions on only one life. Unlocking the first couple of rewards, the NES versions of Contra and Super C is at least possible, and the NES titles are a nice little bonus, with good emulation. Admittedly they were never that great to begin with, but it's a saving of 1000 Wii Points if you wanted them already!

Contra diction

Like many things, the truth lies somewhere between nostalgia's rose tint and the present's grey reality. While Contra 4 is, at its core, a great 2D shooter that's refreshingly difficult, there are too many places where it stays true to its past in the face of innovations that could only make it a better, more accessible game. For example, would it really have killed them to include a level-select?

We're told Contra 4 may still see a release in Europe (even though the titles have never had the hardcore following here they received in North America), but if you think you're hardcore enough to play it, you're definitely hardcore enough to import it. Contra 4 is a true successor to the Contra name in every way - for better or worse.

6 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Mathew.

About Mathew Kumar

Read more articles from Mathew by visiting the Mathew Kumar archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (39) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Pulsar_t #1 4 years ago

    First haha!

    As for Contra4, it's proven too hard even for a hardened gamer like myself. Some of us are not good anymore :(

    Edit - 6/10 = Fair score.
    Edited by 1 at 10/01/08 @ 13:38

  • spazmo #2 4 years ago

    yeah, it damn hard. I used to eat these games for breakfast in my pomp. Can't really be arsed these days.

  • Sorcy #3 4 years ago

    "It's 2007"???

    And here I thought it's 2008...

  • MoGamer2006 #4 4 years ago

    Bought this in a nostalgia-fuelled moment and now wish I hadn't - sorry, it's too much like hard work!

  • GamesConnoisseur #5 4 years ago

    2007 reference here and again in other article is a proof that EG bunch are a lazy arses! They could have at least simply updated the reference to 2007 if this was written before the new year. Its only a minor point but...

  • Lim-Dul #6 4 years ago

    When you reach the top of this rocket it launches, and you have to jump between handholds on the side while shooting and avoiding numerous flying enemies. It would feel awesome if it wasn't impossible.

    No, no - when you reach the top of the rocket you will have to fight an immensely difficult boss whose attacks must be dodged in a very specific way (sliding down a pipe - if your moving upwards you're to slow) THEN you can go through the rocket-horror where mini-rockets and other stuff comes flying at you from angles you can't shoot at while you're jumping between handholds...

    It's true that the game would be SO MUCH more fun if they included a "I'm a normal player" mode that would let you save your progress or whatnot... They could have left the arcade mode for experienced Contra players. Another thing annoys me: the screen doesn't scroll back. I know that it's the classic Contra behaviour but I don't think anybody but the most hardcore gamers would argue that Contra wouldn't be better without it. Well - of course the no-scroll mechanic comes into play in the vertical levels where you die when you touch the bottom of the screen (even though it's where you came from) - ARGH.

  • tripitaka #7 4 years ago

    Presumably in order to be released now, the game was made during 2007.

  • Chtulie #8 4 years ago

    Importing, even with the shipping, is generally cheaper then buying games in the store here anyways.

  • Kon #9 4 years ago

    2008 is just an overrated version of 2007.

    Great review. It's nice to finally have a realistic view of what this game is in this day and age. I couldn't take another 9/10 review a la the yanks.

  • tapper #10 4 years ago

    If you like old school Contra games it's better than a 6 though. It's fan service through and through and I think it excels at what it tries to accomplish. This game clearly is not for everyone though.

  • wakeupjake #11 4 years ago

    the game would easily be a 9 if it wasnt so frustratingly hard to complete on medium. Finished easy after a lifetime of attempts and unlocked the challenges but medium just repeatedly hands my ass to me. The review mentioned unlocking the original and super c, any info on how?

  • tapper #12 4 years ago

    wakeupjake, just complete the challenges. Every forth (I think) challenge you complete unlocks something new.

  • Muddtallica #13 4 years ago

    This is interesting...yet another piece of evidence that console gamers in the 1980s and early 90s were just better than us. See, I had an Amiga back in the day, so I spent my formative years playing wussy non-psychopathic fare such as Monkey Island and Sensi, so I'm always bemused when I realise that games such as Contra, Ghosts and Goblins and even NES Metroid, that I, someone in his 20s, find impossible to complete now - literally impossible - apparently used to be rattled through by little kids. They must simply have been superior beings, like in X-Men.

    I would have liked to have given this a go - I remember having fun dabbling in co-op on the SNES back in the day - but in all honesty, it doesn't sound very fun unless you are one of those freak ubermensch types. I'll pass.

  • sfried #14 4 years ago

    Wow. People are complaining that Contra is too difficult? It's like asking a chili platter without the spiciness. And you guys call yourselves "hardened gamers"...

    Honestly, I think for what it does, it's doing nothing new that is its greater fault. It stays true to the original established formula without trying alter too much, considering what the past Playstation Contra games have done to almost ruin the franchise.

    Contra is not for everyone. The game is very difficult but fair, and it will take you a couple (if not a lot) of rounds before you can begin to try 1cc'ing. To ask it to lower the difficulty would be a great crime for those this game is targeted at.
    Edited by 1 at 10/01/08 @ 16:19

  • KillerMonkey #15 4 years ago

    We have been dumbed down.

    We all suck now :(

  • tapper #16 4 years ago

    Gamers weren't better in the 80s/early 90s - they just had more patience. This game isn't impossible, but it requires a lot of patience. You have to play it over and over until you learn the attack patterns and enemy locations.

    It's a different design philosophy than most games have nowadays. I'm just glad we get these kind of games once in a while to counter the recent trend in games where it's impossible to die (Bioshock and Prey - I'm looking at you).
    Edited by 1 at 10/01/08 @ 17:32

  • Lim-Dul #17 4 years ago

    C'mon guys. It's not that WE suck at video games, it's the video games that have come a long way from what they once were.
    Back in the olden days replayability meant high difficulty - if you couldn't beat a game you played it over and over again until you managed to do it. Also, it was a way to suck out money from gamers at arcade machines... Fewer people had PCs at home and they weren't as streamlined for gaming as arcade machines.
    Difficulty was synonymous to fun and people were competing for scores because most games lacked multiplayer features that would make the players fight each other directly.
    Now we have other ways for games to entertain us and I know that several game developers stated that games needn't and maybe even shouldn't be difficult.
    If you think that games have become easier try some Japanese shmups - especially of the bullet hell variety. Ha, ha - you'll see, oh, you'll surely see... It's just that difficult games don't form the mainstream anymore and that's a good thing, IMHO, because that's why they have become so popular.

  • 8bitMofo #18 4 years ago

    Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, Y, B ftw

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #19 4 years ago

    Quick note - we've updated Mathew's last paragraph after Konami said the game might be released here after all. Watch out for more on that soon. Probably.

  • lemonfist #20 4 years ago

    Sorry, but I think this review is nonsense. The game is not that hard, certainly not on easy mode, which is just that, a real fucking walkover. And after that, you'll be ready for normal mode. Unless you're the kind of player who quits every time you see a continue screen.

    I've not played a better balls-out action game in the last couple of years. Just like Contra 3, it's a relentlessly entertaining ride with one fantastic set piece after another. I think Contra 4 might be a quite a bit easier, though, and possibly a better game overall. Certainly up there with the best run 'n' gunners ever made.

    There's only one thing I would change: let the damn screen scroll down/back.

  • PinkSpider #21 4 years ago

    Had a quick blast on this.

    Im not too good at arcade-em-ups but I got to the end of the first level after half an hour. Probably could have done the second level after a couple of days but anno is taking my time up.

    I'd give it 7/10 if your a gamer. 3/10 if not :/

  • fluff_the_tiger #22 4 years ago

    6/10 is wayyy too low. I thought alot of the people here were hardcore gamers. Just like God Hand, underated because of its difficulty

  • Lim-Dul #23 4 years ago

    Ehm - we should make a note here that Eurogamer isn't a site for hardcore gamers only. Hence the score is fair.
    Also, you don't have to make some stupid choices that the designers of Contra 4 made to be a difficult game...

    P.S. @lemonfist - the moment you mentioned Contra 3 you lost your credibility since clearly you are a fan of the series and shouldn't speak for all gamers. =)

  • SlackMaster #24 4 years ago

    This is no Conta III: Alien Wars, arguably the best 2D shooter ever made, but it is good. The problem is that the screen is a little too small for these kinda games on the DS. Sometimes bullets are very difficult to see and the gap between the tob and bottom screen doesn't help.

    I've played it two player over wi-fi and it's great but still can't come anywhere near the perfection that was III.

  • Trikk #25 4 years ago

    So basically it's a great Contra game but people suck at gaming (stick to watching movies if you believe that everyone should be able to beat every game in a few hours) and thus the game is dropped from 8/10 or 9/10 to 6/10.

  • Meho #26 4 years ago

    Not exactly, it's a game so faithful to the two decades old design philosophy that it feels pretty cheap in the way it treats you most of the time even though it's in reality pretty reasonable. But, simply, as one of the captions in the review says, this game teaches you almost exclusively through killing and practically, the only way to complete it is to learn the enemy placement and attack patterns. No matter how fast you are, without knowing what lies ahead beforehand, you are dead. Which, of course, IS how Contra games always have been but there are so many modern games that actually allow you to learn without killing you that it feels a little like a missed opportunity to see that the game sticks very stubbornly to what you basically had in the first game, not even aknowledging the Contra III: Alien Wars innovations... So, yes, I have fun playing it but can't shake off the feeling that it could have innovated in several ways and that it could have been better and fresher game for it. As it is, this is NOT as good as Contra III in the end of the day and I think that says it all.

  • Lim-Dul #27 4 years ago

    @Meho - two thumbs up for the comment. You state exactly what I think but maybe more explicitly.

  • VMerken #28 4 years ago

    Well, if it makes it here, I'm looking forward to relive the old days finish this on double Cs without losing a life. Wouldn't want Contra any other way, although I understand that some would want an Easy mode... I believe that's included, isn't it?

    Sure, it's 2008 but every now and then, I really crave a nice, old school, coin-op styled challenge with cool, new graphics. A game focused on challenge. That's probably why I love Ikaruga and Metal Slug so much.

  • Lim-Dul #29 4 years ago

    Well - guess what - Metal Slug 3 got a 9/10 just recently... Maybe it's because it's BETTER than Contra 4 and not because the reviewer sucks at video games?

    Contra 4 is filled with frustrating design decisions that just don't belong in the year 2007/2008. Challenge is one thing but Contra 4 has e.g. some bosses that cost you automatically a few lives when you see them for the first time because you just don't know where and how they will strike. There's literally NO WAY to predict that. Sure - AFTERWARDS you can understand their attack pattern and their "tells" but then you have to start from the beginning.

    Every time I fired up Contra 4 I got farther and you know what - it's not because I'm getting any better at the game. I'm just learning what to expect by dying when I see a new unpredictable attack pattern. This eel disappears off-screen - oh yeah it attacks you from the left later - how should I know that? As far as Contra 4 is concerned it could have just as well dropped on my head.

    Take MegaMan - this is quite a challenging game series where you have to study your enemies and later use your reflexes and skill to dodge their attack patterns.

    There are games that are about skill and there are games that are about memorization. I don't think that memorization goes well with action games nowadays unless you really are a fanatic.

    The thing is: after having played Contra 4 I won't be any better at any other title because I learned just all the attack patterns etc. in ONE game instead of training my reflexes and so forth. I don't really think that Contra 4 is that hard - it's frustrating, but not hard. The first time you see an obstacle, you die, the second or third time you know what to expect and the wannabe challenge becomes laughingly easy... So what, when I have to waste more and more time to reach the place I was before and do all the now easy sections again and again and again...

    That just plainly sucks, IMHO.
    Edited by 3 at 12/01/08 @ 00:40

  • tapper #30 4 years ago

    Lim-Dul, fair enough - I don't agree that it sucks though.

    I would like to compare the Contra 4 experience to learning to play a new song on the guitar. Sure, it's all about memorization, but you get satisfaction from getting better and better at playing it. And after a while you master it, and it's fun to play because you've been able to memorize it.

    With that said, I am glad most games aren't built like this - but it's nice to get them once in a while.

  • Lim-Dul #31 4 years ago

    Well - OK, it may not suck and that's why EG gave it 6/10. According to the scoring guidelines this rating fits the game experience PERFECTLY. Just because some sites are used to the 7-9 rating scheme doesn't mean that EG has to jump on the bandwagon. =)

  • tapper #32 4 years ago

    Oh, I totally agree with you. I've never complained about the 6 that this game got.

  • Lim-Dul #33 4 years ago

    Some other people did. :-D

    If I thought that Contra 4 sucked altogether I wouldn't be playing right now. ^^

  • sfried #34 4 years ago

    I disgress about Contra 4 being unfair. There are ways to predict where enemy attacks will be coming form. They just come very quickly so any "bad design choices" might have been a result of the player's inability to have the needed reflexes to deal with the situation (See 2nd boss for example). Knowing the pattern is half of the problem. The other half is having the perfect timing of execution (i.e. skill). Remembering those grinders in the first Contra reminds me alot of the ideas presented here: half is observing. Only the other half depends on getting it right (whether you depend on memorization or not is up to the player, but I found myself performing better by letting my reflexes take over as oppose to plain anticipation).
    Edited by 1 at 12/01/08 @ 19:43

  • Lim-Dul #35 4 years ago

    I disagree. There are attacks you can anticipate and there are ones you can't.

    That's true for almost every boss. Let's take the boss before the base level. He shifts slightly to one side and suddenly a tail comes from the opposite direction. If you don't know that this boss has such an attack it's impossible to dodge it unless you got lucky and were standing on the opposite side - jumping doesn't help, because the tail is too long and you'd fall on it and running is too slow for making an escape. Then the boss on the rocket - he slides towards you and you can only guess what he'll do - will he shoot, will he attack you with his tail - you don't know that. You don't even know that his attack with the claws will be so fast that you can't dodge it while moving upwards, only when sliding down and you have to actually PASS him when he's getting into attack position. If you fail to do this beforehand he'll get you and the attack will be undodgeable. Then the green robot attacking you with his fists. He attacks you vertically but if you get too far away from his arm he'll attack you diagonally in an undodgeable pattern, especially since his preparation of the attack happens off-screen.

    Of course you can dodge the attacks later but you will AUTOMATICALLY lose a few lives if you see most bosses for the first time even if you're the incarnation of the arcade god. You see that the boss is preparing SOME kind of attack but unless you've seen it before you CAN'T know what it'll be. Many of these attacks can't be avoided if you haven't occupied the right spot during the boss's "tell". Others can be dodged with good reflexes but I'm not talking about these.

    This is not Contra's worst problem, though. The difficulty doesn't increase steadily. Some enemies/bosses/sections are a pure walkover while a couple of minutes later you'll stumble upon something really hard. Then there's the "weapon problem" - there are some weapons better suited for certain bosses. Somebody might say that that's a good thing and is part of the "tactical gameplay" but that's not true. You CAN'T know beforehand which weapon will work particularly well. If you happen to bring the right weapon the boss might not even be able to finish his first attack sequence (!) while not having the right weapon means a very hard fight.

    Again - this has nothing to do with skill unless you're some kind of prophet and always know what's coming up. In Contra you only learn by failing and that's annoying and frustrating. Of course your skills improve too but they are not the most important gameplay element. If you took the world's most hard-core arcade gamer that has never seen any Contra title and some poor guy who sucks terribly at computer games but has finished Contra a few times, I GUARANTEE you that the "sucker" would win.
    Edited by 2 at 13/01/08 @ 01:27

  • NewYork #36 4 years ago

    "It's unfair, but Contra teaches you by killing you"

    :D

  • sfried #37 4 years ago

    Well, at least that puts most doubters of the lives system to rest...

  • Lim-Dul #38 4 years ago

    By the way. Wanna see a REALLY hard game?

    [link url=http://kayin.pyoko.org/ iwbtg/
    ]http://kayin.pyoko.org/ iwbtg/
    [/link]

    Note that it has a save point system although in terms of difficulty Contra 4 could lick its feet. =)

  • Unknown_Warrior_X #39 4 years ago

    Oh please, seriously, everyone is used to Halo, and other games that are "hard", but they baby you. As I read in another review, it said this game keeps the spirit of the 80's, where you only needed a machinegun and an attitude to win, not a bunch of cover spots and shields. I've played plenty of challenging games(my babysitter's dad would challenge us in Tetris when we came over) but it's nice to see everything EQUAL. Yes equal, no more spamming headshots or area-affect attacks: one hit kills you, just like real life would be.

    How many people here will complain about Tetris? Seriously, Contra isn't much harder than Tetris is. Why? When you panic, you die: you have to remain calm and look at things strategically. If you can't do that then there's always Spreads, and if that's not enough, stick to Easy and don't complain because it isn't dumbed down for you. If it's THAT bad, take it back and go buy one of Wayfoward's SpongeBob or Barbie games, maybe those are up your alley.

    6/10 is an insult, just like all of you complaining about this great game.