Contra: Shattered Soldier

[Punky Skunk]

Originally posted by Sidez
and make the game consist of something other than set pieces from Contra on Mega Drive, then i'm not interested and won't buy this.

Uh, what are you talking about?

[skelly]

Not sure if anyone pointed this out: Contra for GBA is not just Contra III. It has content from Contra Hard Corps and a PR guy stated that half the game was new. He wasn't very informed on other things, though, so don't take the "half new" tidbit as gospel yet.

Contra: Shattered Soldiers has a nice new feature. Holding down... L1, I think, lets you walk in one direction while firing in another. So, you can basically do a moonwalk of death now. The weapons feel very weak when charged up, unfortunately. The grenade launcher's default attack is also kinda useless feeling.

The character art is by artist Ashley Wood, who is supposedly well-known (not up on comics). I really, really liked his rendering of the male hero, which was a standup in Konami's booth. Cool stuff, very dark. Should make for nice box art.

In all the game was kind of rough graphically, but it seemed gameplay elements were shaping up fairly well.

[Johnny Undaunted]

Originally posted by BenT
Not sure if anyone pointed this out: Contra for GBA is not just Contra III. It has content from Contra Hard Corps and a PR guy stated that half the game was new. He wasn't very informed on other things, though, so don't take the "half new" tidbit as gospel yet.

So it will be just like Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts R, which is a port of an existing SNES game but with levels borrowed from other games in the series? Either way, I'll pass. They should have made an entirely new game from scratch.

[Hero]

Originally posted by Johnny Undaunted


So it will be just like Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts R, which is a port of an existing SNES game but with levels borrowed from other games in the series? Either way, I'll pass. They should have made an entirely new game from scratch.

Sometimes I wonder at what end will gamers be happy. They're not straight-porting it, they have PS2 Contra, ZOE 2, and on and on... How much do people demand out of a company in one year, and when is enough enough?

[MechDeus]

Originally posted by Hero
Sometimes I wonder at what end will gamers be happy. They're not straight-porting it, they have PS2 Contra, ZOE 2, and on and on... How much do people demand out of a company in one year, and when is enough enough?

*raises hand* I'm, uh... I'm happy.

[rezo]

I think they may be happy with some of the other games, but not
the remix of Contra levels.

though many people are happy with playing those old games once again
on a new system. who knows.

[Hero]

Originally posted by MechDeus
*raises hand* I'm, uh... I'm happy.

SWEET!

*gives you cookie*

[Punky Skunk]

Originally posted by BenT
Not sure if anyone pointed this out: Contra for GBA is not just Contra III. It has content from Contra Hard Corps and a PR guy stated that half the game was new.

This is just... frightening. Hopefully the Genesis classic bastardizing will be kept to a minimum.

[Taito]

I don't understand the dispute over the 3D polygonal structure of the game. Contra games do not look cartoony or 'anime' in nature. They always were meant to be based in reality, albeit a science fiction-based 'reality' (although Contra Hard Corps strayed from that style, granted). Castlevania and its overall theme would have benefitted from a anime-styled hand-rendered artwork, but not Contra's necessarily. I think hand-rendered 2D would have been a detriment to this Contra title's gameplay, since the handdrawn 2D animation would be of less quality than whatever animation they have implemented (unless they went the Earthworm Jim or Street Fighter 3 route in animation quality), and there'd be no chance to play anything new besides the same Contra we've been playing for years.

I'm very excited that action games are making a triumphant comeback, but after waiting so long for its return, I'm not interested in being patronized by playing the exact same game for the sole purpose of nostalgia. At least with polygonal 3D, there's the possibility for extra gameplay enhancements, and at the very least, different camera angles aside from the staple side view. The fact that the developers of SotN and Contra are making this game as 2.5D is adequate affirmation that the game will offer classic Contra gameplay, as well as opening the doors for something new without screwing up the Contra formula.

The power-up system bothers me though. It seems like they're going with the Target Earth/Cybernator style of gameplay, where weapon upgrades are offered as you rack up points/kills. At least Contra PS2 is two-player. It could turn out to be a great game. I'll keep my eye on this title.

[Cheebs]

Originally posted by Taito
I don't understand the dispute over the 3D polygonal structure of the game. Contra games do not look cartoony or 'anime' in nature. They always were meant to be based in reality, albeit a science fiction-based 'reality'

You are allowed to draw in a non-anime fashion, you know. Heck, you can even draw realistic if you want. The drawing police won't come get you.

I think hand-rendered 2D would have been a detriment to this Contra title's gameplay, since the handdrawn 2D animation would be of less quality than whatever animation they have implemented (unless they went the Earthworm Jim or Street Fighter 3 route in animation quality), and there'd be no chance to play anything new besides the same Contra we've been playing for years.

The lack of animation certainly didn't hurt the older title's gameplay, and there are plenty of instances where over animation does hurt gameplay. Besides, with the RAM these systems have these days you can almost animate as smoothly as you want to. Why would having hand drawn graphics force it to be the same old game? The controller has two analoge sticks that weren't on the SNES and the system it's on is capable of so much more than the SNES. You could have the graphics hand drawn and still be able to impliment any kooky "no powerups/weapon switching" game designs you felt like.