Best in the series.

User Rating: 10 | Contra 4 DS
Like the previous Contras that follow the storyline, Contra 4, in my opinion, is the best. If you've played Contra III: The Alien Wars then you'll find Contra 4 much like that one. Actually, it's pretty much just a continuation of Contra III except this time you get a grapple.

Contra 4 features 9 levels in all. If you play the game on the "easy" difficulty, you will only be allowed to go up to and complete level 7. You must beat the game on the "normal" or "hard" difficulty to complete the end of the game. It kind of sucks (especially because the game is so hard, even on "easy") but the good thing is regardless what difficulty you beat the game on, you unlock "Challenge Mode", a series of 40 challenges to test your Contra skills. And completing these challenges will unlock even more content. Being a game that celebrates the series' 20th anniversary, the bonus content is awesome.

As stated before, if you've played Contra III you won't expect anything too much different except a grapple and weapon upgrades. The graphics are much improved and the music is classic. The game is colorful, exciting, and full of non-stop, fast-paced action. The only difference between the commandos is their name and the color of their clothes. But each commando had a role in past Contra games.

Contra 4 is old-school style. A side scrolling shooter. But that makes it classic. Choose a commando, lock and load, and shoot aliens. With that stated, the aliens and bosses are awesome. Challenging, but awesome.

There aren't many negative things in Contra 4. It's really about preference. If there was something you didn't like in the prequels then you probably won't see any improvement in Contra 4. Those who have played past games, I assume we can all agree that the one thing with the Contra series is that it's very, very, very, very, very, hard. And Contra 4 is no exception. One shot kills like all the rest. You get hit, you die. You lose all your lives, you can choose to continue and restart the level. You lose all your "continues", you restart the game. Contra 4 is just as hard and frustrating as the others, maybe even more so.

Overall Contra 4 is a classic sequel to an epic series. A series that's so hard but manages to suck you in for the classic 2D side scrolling, face-paced action. Run, jump, aim, shoot, destroy. That's all there is to it. Lock and load.