Glad to know there is a real sequel to Contra 3.
Minus Legacy of War, Neo Contra and so many others failed attempts to revive contra, the series has never really had a fair sequel to its third installment (Alien Wars). For more than 15 years we have are long awaited true Contra 4 that is now available on your DS does this game take us back to the promise land of good old Contra or end up like the series past games and failed attempts to make the Contra 3 lighting bolt strike again.
Black Viper the second wave of aliens is not happy with humans living on this earth and not his race of savage mutants, now it's your turn to either destroy these horrible aliens or die in there invasion. Although there is not much story in this game but it's not what the series is about or focuses on. Contra 4 brings back the heroes of the past games for you once again it's only you and your pea shooter. In the beginning of the game you have multiple options which are Arcade Mode where you would go threw the main story on Easy, Medium or Hard. Character Selection is where you would pick 4 heroes of past Contra games to take on your gruesome adventure. Options are where you configure with your game, your data is kept there, or you could also change on or off your characters voices. Challenge Mode (must complete the game on any difficulty) is where you battle threw 40 task to unlock hidden content and past games. Finally Bonus Content is the option to play past Contra games as well read about there past games and it displays screen shots, dates and more information about the game itself.
Contra 4's is the same game play style as it's past games with the one shot kill mechanic you will go threw 7 difficult stages, 9 depending on what difficulty you use. Let me tell you Contra 4 is possibly the hardest game in the series even easy mode is like a kick in your teeth for new fans and more of a cruel inside joke to older veteran players Contra 4 is no doubt a game for the true Contra fans.
Game play in Contra 4 is pretty simple you start off with a set number of lives after you lose all your lives you will re-start the level after that if you lose all those continues and then it's back to the game, cruel yes but what do you expect form a Contra game.
In Arcade Mode you will start off in stage one with your pea shooter but multiple times there will be a chance for you to change that weapon into something better to get rid of those annoyances, new to the series is the upgradeable weapons if your in easy mode you will notice that your weapons are upgraded already but when your in the higher difficulties you will obtain a weaker weapon of the same variety. Don't worry though with your friend the Konami Code you are allowed to upgrade those weapons into some with more damage, like I said if you play in easy mode your weapons are already upgraded for you. Also new to the Contra 4 is the Grapple in which it's activated with the Y button it will help you in the game to cross stages and dodge enemy. There is multiplayer in Contra 4 but unfortunately it's multi-card and a shame because Contra is best with a friend.
Contra 4 goes back to its roots with 2D sprite animation with a little bit of 3D in the mix. Character and enemy models look better than ever and more detailed since 3. The design in Contra 4 is pretty different in each stage and adds a lighter color as contrary to Contra 3 dark apocalypse feel for the entire game. During some levels the game will go into a 3d like stage this is also something taken and made better form the older Contra games. The game plays out like the original did in the arcade instead of just a huge tall screen like in the arcades it takes advantage of the DS's second screen this works well for the game the only problem I might point out is that when enemies attack form the top screen and the bullets go onto the bottom it sometimes goes anywhere where not expected this might seem unfair and might frustrate players.
Audio in Contra 4 is top notch there is remixes form the older games and hole new tracks. Music in the game is set really good with the mood for example when you're trapped with a giant robot or faced with a 50 foot alien the music gets to a creepy tone. Characters have voices such as "Lock and loaded" and "Lets party" while there only clips it's a good feature, some of it might sound cliché but hey you can turn it off. The quality of music is by far the best in the Contra series and one of the best in DS history.
Replay ability is not a issue with Contra 4 with lots and lots of bonuses, 40 challenges, 9 stages of the main story and 2 old school Contra games this is going to keep you occupied for more than enough time and if that wasn't enough I'll guaranty you that the Arcade Mode is fun to go threw not matter how much times you beat it. .
Contra 4 is a game that should be on every Contra fans list it's a great game that brings back the glory days of Contra and them some. The game is fun to replay threw again and again, and the extras will keep you busy for a long time. The punishment may worry newer fans but I trust you this is fun from beginning to end.