 |
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Neo Contra
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Playstation 2 - Konami - Action - M - 2 Players
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Every once in a while a game comes out that reminds you of why you started playing videogames in the first place. A game that makes you pump your fist in joy and wiggle the forbidden wiggle at that fact that games like the palm sweat-inducing, quarter crunching, carpal tunnel syndrome games of the past still get made. A game that shows you not only how things were but how things should be, that not only takes from the past but contributes to the future. Neo Contra is not that game. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Contra’s much talked about and highly disputed transition to the third dimension never happened. Attempts at serious overhaul and modernization are half hearted at best. Anything requiring the remote use of a z-axis is handled via lock on. No matter, there is more than enough room within two dimensions for sufficient innovation. Admittedly, such innovation would be harder to come by than simple transposition of Contra’s gameplay into the third dimension. Taking this into consideration (as there are only so many ways you can run to the right while destroying giant alien hearts) Neo Contra has stumbled upon a happy medium: the overhead shooter. In the tradition of the Robotrons and Smash TVs of years past, the side scrolling platforming action that is Contra’s pedigree has quite literally been turned on its head. Stages now progress similarly in a manner to which the overhead stages unfolded in Super C, albeit with a post Alien Wars penchant for boss encounters. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
| While not forgoing entirely the boss laden approach set in place since the series Genesis debut, Neo Contra takes a large step towards the NES titles in terms of level design and pacing. Shattered Soldier --though I love it so-- was a glorified gauntlet of sorts in stark contrast to the original’s mix of platforming and stage progression. Neo Contra again finds a middle ground, taking care to please fans of Konami’s earlier PS2 Contra while hoping to answer cries of long time Contra gamers to lighten the load. Free form run and gun sections are balanced with the more pattern oriented boss encounters admirably and as a result, Neo Contra comes across as the most twitch based entry in the series has seen in quite some time. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Within the genre of the overhead shooter, Neo Contra comes off at first as being clunky. The sight lock buttons from Shattered Soldier make a return which makes the first few go-a-rounds through Konami’s latest outing an exercise in frustration more than anything else as you struggle to merely lock sights on stationary targets while navigating the game world. Being forced to use an analog stick in a 2d shooter is in itself cause for irritation. If they were going that route they might have implemented a dual stick setup or at the very least a Cannon Spike/NES Smash TV-esque automatic strafe. Surely Konami with its near bottomless pockets for R&D and years of experience had thought of that, yet decided against it. It has to do with feel. The fact of the matter is that when dealing with a series as longstanding and with roots as firmly imbedded into the retro era of gaming as Contra, a good sequel does not necessarily constitute the best possible game. There is also the issue of whether or not the game is recognizable as the next entry in the series. With a total switch in shooter subgenera, the strafe/sight locks remain as a link between this and Shattered Soldier, and in a sense all that came before. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The awkward control is something stylistic that can be gotten used to with time, hardly a game breaking and in the long run, even seriously detrimental flaw. The lack of tension is. Though always engaging, if only somewhat, Neo Contra never comes out and grabs you the way a shooter should. The fact that the game is interspersed with moments of genius makes the overall mellow pace all the more apparent. One minute you’re racing a dragon up the side of a wall or deflecting massive boulders out of your path with your heavy machine gun. The next minute, quite simply, you’re not. Though the difficulty is variable based on your weapon selection, parts of the game are dull by design. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In hindsight, Neo Contra is not the complete retooling of the series Konami told us it would be. It’s a prelude to that. As it stands, Neo Contra is an engaging diversion, but not much more. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
All content © 2005 and may not be reproduced in any manner without expressed written consent.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
