Neo Contra

[Roufuss]

That was my point. Why look at a great game and then base a new game off a couple of levels that "weren't that bad"? Does that make sense to anyone?

Apparently to Konami.

[gameoverDude]

I think the reasoning is that the overhead levels in the old Contras ranged from outright suck at worst to not as good as the normal fucking levels at best.

To base an entire game on them is pretty fucking stupid.

I didn't mind the overheads in Super Contra. This may not exactly be a typical game of the series. Yet if it turns out to have Mercs style play with Contra characters, I can go for that- even if I would've preferred a mix of both engines ala SC. Time for a little benefit of the doubt.

We just might see another sidescroll Contra sooner or later.

[gameoverDude]

One thing Neo Contra surely needs are some harder difficulty settings. Normal- is that all? I've blown through it already with an A rank. The 4th weapon array is a bit overpowered. Damage done by the G. Bazooka and Heaven's Laser is a bit excessive. Nakazato apparently tried a bit too hard to make this "more accessible".

Stage 5's design has a nice icky alien look to it, but it's bland compared to stages 4 and 1. Here's where you run into a little nasty slowdown in a few spots.

[Mzo]

I didn't mind the overheads in Super Contra.

Another rousing endorsement for this game type.

I guess the demand sure was there, HUH KONAMI?? HUH??

[gameoverDude]

Another rousing endorsement for this game type.

I guess the demand sure was there, HUH KONAMI?? HUH??

The Super Contra route would have been better for sure- going with sidescroll as the main draw but with maybe a couple overhead stages in addition. Since they said it was Contra, I figured I'd still give it a chance. There's true Contra, there's crap, and there's Neo Contra. NC is no Legacy of War, but I think I'll be dusting off Shattered Soldier for a real Contra fix and probably casting this one aside.

And here's my 2 cents on Neo Contra overall.

[AaronChance]

Nice review of what sounds like a lousy game. Though I'm sure it turned out better than TMNT 2 that they also just recently released.

[skelly]

Lousy? It's fun.

Just not $40 fun.

[gameoverDude]

Lousy? It's fun.

Just not $40 fun.

Gradius V is one I'd say is $40 fun- thank goodness Konami put it at $30 however. NC should've been a $30 game.

I dug Shattered Soldier out again, and that one eclipses NC. Graphics are actually better in SS, I think- with maybe the possible exception of NC's final boss battle, where it does get up to the same level as SS.

That BGM for the boss of SS's Train stage sounds quite Battle Garegga influenced- a good thing IMO.

[Captain Vegetable]

I picked this up (now that no one else is going to want to talk about it ), and I think it's alright. It only set me back $30, and the game really is too easy, but if you don't ace the first few stages, you can't get to the final stages to get the good ending (the ending I got involved the Earth being blown up with a giant laser ), so there's good reason to replay over and over, getting higher rankings as you go.

That "good reason," by the way, will look like crap scripting, cheesey as Hell plot, and rediculously bad voice acting, but I assure you, burried under all that trash is more crap scripting, cheesey as Hell plot, and rediculously bad voice acting! You just can't lose!

Seriously, it's a decent game at $30, and I can definitely see myself having a lot more fun with this than Shattered Soldier.

[shmup-o]

Is it worth essentially $10?

http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/243896.asp