That's sort of the mentality in how Konami approached the series for a celebratory 20th anniversary sequel on the Nintendo DS. The developers, Way Forward Technology, essentially put themselves in the mindset of simply forgetting everything that was done after Contra III for the Super NES, wiping the slate clean and creating a game that would have followed up the SNES game had the designers been given the Contra 4 project in 1993. It's a ballsy move, trusting that the Contra design has the right stuff to stand up to today's gaming standards.
Believe it or not, it's an idea that works. Contra 4 clings dearly to nostalgia and the old-school game design, sending the player on a flashback into the world of limited continue challenges and pixelated spritework. It could easily make you believe that this could've been a worthy continuation of the series on 1990s gaming hardware, even though the action's taking place on a two-screen system that fits in your pocket.
The action is classic Contra right from the start. Tons of side-scrolling platforming with even more shooting -- the thumb only ever leaves the fire button to press it faster. And it has to be said: Contra 4 is hard. It's one of the hardest games of this generation - the designers throw enemies at the player from all sides, making the player work for the goal at the end of every level. Enemies never stop coming, but at the same time the danger is always in the same place - if you get taken out by a turret or soldier or alien, you can use that knowledge to stay ahead of the game the next time you have to start right back at the beginning of level one.
That's right. Other than high scores and unlockables, the cartridge doesn't save progress. Lose your last life at an end boss? A continue will send you back to the start of that level and make you fight your way through it again. If you lose all your lives and continues on Level Four, guess what? You're all the way back to Level One. This, my friends, is the ultimate bulletpoint in Old-School game design, like it or lump it, and it's the element that's going to keep you from rushing through to the end in your first night with the cartridge.
Most of the game's design sticks with the original Contra as its foundation, so the same "side scrolling level/pseudo 3D hallway level/sidecrolling level" structure of the classic NES and arcade game is how the Nintendo DS title's built. But Contra 4 also leaps around the other titles, like the Genesis and Super NES Contra editions, for inspiration, so you'll find yourself trying to stay atop a giant nuclear missile in one level, or zipping on a futuristic craft in another. Boss battles are even multi-tiered and wicked cool in the sense that many of them have been designed the old-school "gigantic sprites" way.
Other than the idea of spanning the action and level design across two screens, the Nintendo DS design stays away from offering any sort of "next generation" ideas - there are exceptions, but ultimately Contra 4 simply references gameplay concepts that have already been attempted in previous Contra games. And that might be the game's only real problem - it may be a great Contra game, but you just can't help but feel that it's a step backwards. The designers play it safe, never coming up with any cool idea, gadget or gameplay idea that would make it stand on its own…instead safely appeasing the Contra crowd by pointing out elements that made the series cool. It's a double-edged sword: for a 20th Anniversary Game it's an appropriate and welcome direction, but as a sequel it misses lots of opportunities. Contra 4 is both…and the designers mostly chose the nostalgia "remember when?" route.
The insane difficulty level might also be a turn-off for some. Casual players fresh to the world of gaming need not apply here - this game caters to Contra fans and ONLY Contra fans. It might show weakness to wish the developers eased off the "F*&#ing hard!!!" button just a little bit when making Contra 4, but man…when you're spending your first hour or two with the game to get through Level One on Normal, perhaps someone testing the game should have raised their hands and said "Um, can you turn it down…just a notch? Please?"
Yes, there's an Easy mode, and even though it's the wimp's way out it at least gives players a better way -- through the use of maxed-out weaponry and fewer bad guys and hazards -- to run through much of the game and learn specific enemy placements and boss weaknesses…and yet, you can't finish the fight until you bump that difficulty level back up to "normal." Easy Mode's also a great way to unlock the game's additional content: Challenge Mode. Challenge Mode is a list of several dozen "simpler" tasks that require players to run through portions of specific levels…some without the ability to shoot at all. Challenge Mode extends an already lengthy experience because the payoff in completing them is pretty nice…
It's no secret that the original NES versions of Contra and Super C are in the game (for arcade Contra buy Konami Arcade Hits for DS), but you'll need to complete a set number of challenges in Challenge Mode to unlock them. The emulation of the two games is pretty spot-on, except for a biggie: no two player support. You can certainly select Two Players in these games, but the two characters are controlled by one player at the same time…their movement's shared via D-pad, but the player has very "Mario & Luigi" control over their actions via individual jump and shoot buttons. Single player, the two games are perfect, but wireless multiplayer for the NES games would have been killer. Instead it just feels a little broken.