836th played so far

Genre: Shoot ‘Em Up
Platform: Nintendo DS
Year of Release: 2007
Developer: WayForward Technologies
Publisher: Konami Digital Entertainments

Contra III was a pretty standard run and gun game, with some level based enhancements that made it stand out, but ultimately existing in a genre that doesn’t appeal to me. Contra 4 was released 15 years after it, which likely means this is a retro throwback – not the best sign for me.

Our Thoughts

Contra 4 does feel like a throwback to the old run and gun genre, playing and feeling like the originals. The only change I really spotted was the life system, which is a lot more generous than the original and allows you to get further in the game. You need it with the old school difficulty, which still makes it frustrating but at least I’ve got more attempts to try and finish it.

There’s a decent variety of weapons, which is always fun, but it didn’t have any standouts either – it’s the standard I’d expect for the genre, done well but nothing that jumps out.

Final Thoughts

I feel like Contra 4 wasn’t very memorable. It did what it did, and was quite tough to get through – I don’t think I got past the first level, with a very tricky and long boss fight at the end. It’s not a game I’m going to go back to, it just didn’t work out well.