Contra gets a facelift...
Playing a 2D game with 3D graphics might seem silly but this is very well implemented in the game. The camera will spin around to introduce bosses, change in levels or at some scripted events. The camera is fixed to a regular 2D platformer view during all of gameplay though. The graphics are pretty but nothing earth-shattering. The story sequences (what!!? a story in a Contra game!? That's right this game makes an attempt at having a story but after seeing those sequences once you'll most likely want to skip them and get right to the action) manage not to fall in the trap of poor choreographed action sequences, convey all dialogue through text and are thankfully brief.
Controls are tight and responsive. Controls were kept simple, one button to shoot, one to jump and the shoulder buttons to change weapons and lock or free aim. There are only three weapons in CSS, and there is no need to pick them up, you can switch between them at will. Once you get used to using the triggers to free-aim or lock-aim, your performance will increase drastically. You'll need this as this game is HARD. This game has 2 difficulty settings, easy and normal. On easy you have ninety-nine continues and seven lives per continue. On normal, you have 3 lives and 3 continues (remember that you will die if you get hit once, but will respawn in the same spot as long as you have lives left...). The last three levels can only be accessed on the normal difficulty. The first four levels are available at the start and you can do them in any order you wish. A fifth level appears after they are completed and if you are playing on the normal difficulty setting, the next three levels will appear if you rank high enough (Yes, thats right....you get ranked. The game gives you a ranking at the end of each level based on the percentage of enemies killed and objects destroyed minus penalties for dying or using continues.). The levels in the game are the star of the show. One minute your running and gunning, the next snowboarding down a hill. Some levels have you riding a flying bike, while another has you literally hanging from a missile coming down from a plane. The boss battles are plenty and some of these are huge. Most bosses take the entirety of the screen to display.
Sound effects are pretty good since you'll be able to discern all different explosions and gun sounds even when about thirty things are happening on screen at once. Where the sound gets incredible is the soundtrack. The soundtrack contains just the right music to get you pumped to shoot robots and aliens with beats going from metal to techno to trance seamlessly. The music type is always very well synched with the action on screen. For example fighting a robot boss that runs alongside a train the techno beat is pounding at the same tempo as the robot is running making his railroad track running noises somewhat part of the song.
Any fan of platformers, Contra, shoot-em ups or simply looking for a very challenging game should check out Contra: Shattered Soldier.