It’s interesting just how many unlicensed and bootleg variants of Contra are out there. There are enough for it to be its own subgenre at this point. I can see why: even though it was released early in the system’s lifespan Contra remains one of the NES’s best action games. Hell it is one of […]Contra Spirits
It’s interesting just how many unlicensed and bootleg variants of Contra are out there. There are enough for it to be its own subgenre at this point. I can see why: even though it was released early in the system’s lifespan Contra remains one of the NES’s best action games. Hell it is one of […]
Looking back it is surprising that there weren’t more games released in the style of Contra for the NES. There is no question that Contra is one of the most popular games for the system and while there were plenty of character action games such as Mega Man and Shatterhand most run and gun action […]
In the early days of the video game industry when most games came from Japan it wasn’t uncommon for them to see massive changes before release. It’s only natural; what might fly over there certainly doesn’t always apply in the good old USA. Nintendo of America were notoriously bad with the edits and to an […]
I remember Rage software as a developer who was all style with little substance. Quick to jump on any new piece of technology chances are if a new console or video card debuted Rage would be there with a shallow game that would at least wow you with its visuals. The PC game Incoming is […]
For any Neo Geo fan during the mid-90s unless you absolutely loved fighting games there was little else to spend your money on. Dear God SNK must have had a third world country’s worth of artists and programmers to pump those games out at such a record pace. If you liked action games you had […]
For some strange reason I avoided the G.I. Joe NES game back in the day. There might be a few reasons why of course; licensed videogames were hit and miss in that period, hell they still are even now. While Capcom and Konami were virtually the gold standard in terms of treating a license with […]
Many genres in the 32-bit era went through a terrible birthing process, for lack of a better term. While the gameplay of platformers, shooters, and action games had been more or less perfected in 2d translating that into 3d was a different beast altogether. There were some truly awful action games released early on for […]
Sometimes I’m left speechless. As bad as Legacy of War turned out you’d think Konami would have gone in a completely different direction to get away from that abomination. But less than 2 years later we have another terrible Contra game that has many of the same flaws as the original. C: the Contra Adventure […]
Oh lord where do I even begin. I don’t go into a game expecting to absolutely detest its existence but sometimes its unavoidable. This is one of those cases. I just don’t understand how a developer can create such a flawed experience that shows its cracks right from the start, let alone a publisher of […]
This should have been the ultimate Contra experience. In many ways it still is. But god damn it, if it were not for one stupid change this would undoubtedly be the greatest Contra ever. Contra Hard Corps lives up to that name in more ways than one, some good, some bad. Contra: Hard Corps was […]
I hope all of you appreciate this. It’s not just any day that a game legitimately makes me mad just by being terrible. But this is Contra man! I love this series and have many fond memories of playing each installment for weeks long after I had finished them because the gameplay is so good. […]
A Hollywood blockbuster in video game form. That’s the simplest way to describe Contra III. Take everything from summer action movies, the explosions, the booming soundtrack, and distill it down to its essence and you have the Alien Wars. By this point the Contra series had achieved iconic status so the game was highly anticipated, […]
When I first played Super C I didn’t think much of it. Maybe it was due to my extremely limited amount of time with it or I just didn’t feel like playing a Contra game at the time. My first real sit down with it came in Christmas of 1991when my cousins received it as […]
For my second feature I’ll be examining the Contra series. Once the very definition of action games the series would eventually fade into obscurity for a number of years before seeing a resurgence with its PS2 installment. From the highs to the lows you’ll see a franchise born then die in a fire. How could […]
In the 80s there weren’t really any dedicated videogame stores like GameStop or Electronic Boutique. You went to your local Sears, K-Mart, or if you were really lucky, Toys R Us for the latest games. Since they didn’t know any better, they were very lax when it came to returns. You didn’t even need a […]
At what point does a clone cross the line? While the industry is more or less built on the back of clones, it’s a shame when a game very callously follows in the footsteps of another. But at the same time, clones are great in that they give you a taste of the same gameplay […]
