Haven't seen any topics regarding the recently released Contra 4 on DS, so here goes. I wasn't expecting much at first, but after playing it a day or so, i began to fully realize the awesomeness that is Contra 4. Even beats Phantom Hourglass for me. It has: -Great level design and cool bosses (although most ideas come from contra1-3. Fun nonetheless) -Tight controls -Great 2d graphics -Superb music -Unbelievably hard difficulty. To put it another way, this game is made of pure win. Especially the last point is what makes this game so interesting. It's incredibly hard (took me an hour or so to beat level 1 on normal), still it never gets unfair. Through training and practice, you will eventually be able to master the game and beat it on one continue. This is something i'm simply not used to anymore in most of today's games. In a way, it's a really refreshing experience and i find it surprisingly addictive just because of that. Although it wasn't developed in-house, it has that classic contra-feel to it and you will immediatly notice that this is game made by contra-fans for contra-fans. Due to the extreme difficulty, this is probably one of these love-it-or-hate-it-games, but be sure to at least give it a try!
Konami seems nonspecific about a Japanese release :-( But that seems par for the course for Western developed sequels; The Japanese parent treats them like abortions. (Even if the game is good.) I guess it's on the ol' Christmas list for me.
It's alot harder than Contra Spirits. Though I think most of that for me is because it's on the DS. You have the 2 screens to watch and they are so tiny it's easy to lose track of what's going on, unlike playing on your SFC. I like Contra 4 so far, but I wish there was a way to play it on much bigger screens. Damn you Nintendo, when will you make the Super DSboy for Wii?
Unlimited continues? Fuck no. You don't even get 30 lives. This game is balls to the walls hard. It took me several attempts, and using all 5 of my continues to beat this game on EASY (at which point I was told I'd never see the ending by playing on easy, and that I should play it on a real difficulty level) Playing on NORMAL gives you 3 lives and 5 continues. Playing on HARD cuts you down to 3 continues I believe. (Not to mention increasing the enemy count and speed, and HP on bosses) After playing through 7 levels of pure manly fuck-all awesomeness I can officially say this game dickslaps Contra Spirits.
