![]() Speaking of the Konami code, the only real disappointment here – for now, at least – is the lack of ability to play the Japanese versions of anything other than the NES Contra. Just remember to turn it off when you’re trying to put in the Konami code in Contra, otherwise it’ll count the B button more than once and you’ll wonder (like we did) why it isn’t working. ![]() This is entirely optional and we’re sure some purists will turn their noses up at the mere thought of turning it on, but it does make some boss fights far less painful on the old thumbs. The Game Boy game, meanwhile, gives you the option to play in black-and-white, the classic yellow dot matrix style (easily our favourite) or through a Game Boy Color filter.Īn extremely welcome addition is the option to toggle autofire for most of the games (except for the SNES and Mega Drive titles, which already technically include it as standard). As before you have six different display options: standard 4:3, a pixel-perfect option (which makes the image look a little more square), a horrible-looking stretchy widescreen option, and then all three again with added scanlines. Much like the Castlevania offering, emulation in the Contra Anniversary Collection has been handled by the retro porting masters at M2 (of Sega Ages fame), so it should come as no surprise that everything runs flawlessly here. Stick with it and it eventually becomes fun, but this is easily the least approachable of the games in this collection. Contra games are difficult at the best of times, but the extremely high-speed gameplay on offer here means you’re likely to see the Game Over screen within seconds the first few times you play it. Conveniently, you’re given the option to play this version in its original 50Hz mode or a ‘turbo’ 60Hz mode (which just brings it up to the same speed as the American release).įinally, there’s Genesis game Contra: Hard Corps and its European Mega Drive counterpart Probotector (which again ditches the soldiers in favour of cyborgs). Also included is the PAL version, Super Probotector, which replaced the heroes with robots. Arguably the best of the games on offer, Contra III has some of the most memorable and screen-filling boss battles in gaming history, though it’ll take a lot of practice before you can reach them. Jumping up to 16-bit, this package wouldn’t be complete without the legendary SNES game Contra III: The Alien Wars. It also has one of the best renditions of the Contra theme you'll hear anywhere. Many Game Boy adaptations of console titles left a lot to be desired, but Operation C is just as entertaining as the NES games that inspired it, and its inclusion here is far more welcome than the inclusion of Game Boy slog Castlevania: The Adventure was in the last compilation. This isn’t really a port of Contra or Super Contra: instead, it’s a completely original adventure that borrows elements of each. It also doesn’t help that, unlike most other arcade games, Contra and Super Contra only let you continue a few times before both decide “nope, sorry, that’s Game Over now”: you can’t just brute force your way to the end with continues.Īs a nice touch, Konami has also included the lesser-known Game Boy title Operation C. It too has a slight delay when you turn and shoot, so if you struggle with the original arcade Contra it’s going to be the same here. ![]() That said, those used to the home versions will take a little time getting used to the arcade game because its aiming mechanism is very different: it can take time for your character to change the direction they’re shooting in, which can lead to some frustrating deaths until you adapt.įollowing Contra is Super Contra, the arcade sequel that features similar gameplay in its side-scrolling sections, but ditches its predecessor’s third-person maze stages in favour of top-down shooting levels instead. Right from the start, kicking things off with the original arcade version of Contra, it’s clear that you’re dealing with quality here. It’s also worth bearing in mind, though, that the Contra collection doesn’t have a single bad game in it, which we couldn’t say for the Castlevania collection (bow your heads in shame, Simon’s Quest and the first Game Boy adventure).
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