Joseph Luster
January 2, 2008 
As veteran gamers are well aware, the very first stage of Konami’s original Contra ends in a battle against a simple fortified wall. Its turrets lob out shot after shot, all of which resemble deadly descending pinballs, as a guard stands atop his perch, trying one bullet at a time to keep you from blasting that conspicuous red weak point at the bottom. Contra 4‘s first boss encounter mirrors this precisely, but it doesn’t end there. Once the weak point is destroyed, another base rises from the bottom, and the slippery grip of a helicopter’s leg is required just to reach the peak, as it looms high in the skies of the top screen.
Similarly, the stationary alien base at the summit of level three’s legendary waterfall now erupts in extra-terrestrial violence as a screen-crushing Xenomorph tears apart its own guard and begins raining hell upon your tiny, muscled soldier. Notice a pattern here? Contra 4 is all about being bigger, bolder and tougher than anything before it.
Don’t let the sheer newness of this game bring about fierce memories of other failed Contra revivals. Stateside developer WayForward’s (Sigma Star Saga, Duck Amuck) goal, first and foremost, was to remain true to the series’ roots in two-dimensional side-scrolling action. The visuals alone are like a marriage of the franchise’s most beloved entries: Contra, Super C, and Contra III: The Alien Wars. They carry the detailed and lively sprites of the latter while bringing back gameplay elements from all three, with an especially large focus on level constructions derived and warped directly from the 1987 original.
A decent challenge on Easy, Contra 4 is far from “normal” on Normal. To be truthful, it’s downright brutal. Strict level memorization is key to surviving against dual-screen after dual-screen of side-scrolling hell. Mapping out the forthcoming chaos in your mind before it bounces into view is the only way to survive later levels that take place deep inside alien lairs. Sure, you can play it on Easy, but-ever faithful to ye olde days of gaming-those more easily earned victories won’t carry the player through to the game’s true final levels.
Finishing the game on any difficulty, however, will net access to the Challenge stages, all of which are a real treat for fans of taxing goals and skill-testing achievements. The completion of these tasks, which range from finishing a stage without firing to testing out experimental weapons or destroying a certain number of targets within a time limit, eventually scores the player two real NES classics, Contra and Super C. The fact that these, along with a museum of Contra info, are just bonuses really drives home the need to purchase this game as fast as you can jam on the fire button.
Make sure you’ve got a buddy with a copy, as well. As always, Contra is a dish best shared between two like-minded run-and-gunners. Hasty screen-scrolling deaths may be as inevitable as ever, but there’s nothing like tackling the challenges of each stage with a friend; someone with whom you can join in the grueling shrieks of frustration and despair. Hopefully, with practice and guts, exaggerated fist pumps and victory dances will replace these ghoulish sounds forever.
Developer: WayForward Technologies
System: Nintendo DS
Rating: E 10+
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