Always interesting to read about NES Contra from a newcomer's perspective! Especially a capable newcomer.
It isn't the meat grinder casuals would have you believe, but it's far from lacking substance either. A fine gateway game for hardcore 2D action.
Durandal wrote:Contra doesn't seem to have any kind of rank system or dynamic difficulty outside loops.
It supposedly
does, with weapon choice affecting it - but personally I never use anything but S+R (outside of deliberate challenge runs), so I've never noticed it much. S+R dominates the rest of the set to an obscene degree, which is objectively not good... but my attitude to these things is, I don't mind a dominant weapon as long as it's a satisfying one. And S+R is a fucking
legendarily satisfying take on the classic Toaplan vulcan principle. Inescapable screen-blanketing death that also pointblanks bosses like a brick through a pane of glass.
They tried toning it down in FC Super Contra by making it stealth-double enemy HP, but it still failed to hold back the torrent of death and destruction.
(F is at least genuinely useful now too, reincarnated as a brutally armour-piercing charge shot)
The RNG here in place isn't the 'fuck you over unpredictably with difficulty spikes' kind, but more of the 'keep you on your toes' kind. Zakos will swarm from the left or right side of the screen, demanding constant attention and improvisation given that they can make the other present obstacles in your path a thousand times more threatening when you're shooting some turret emplacement on your belly and some grunt decides to run in from the left. What's worse is that they're learning. On top of running and jumping, around ST5 they'll have figured out how to shoot their guns, and by ST6 they'll also have learned the usefulness of shooting while prone. Even if you're given a free pass for one area, the game lasts long enough that you're bound to be put in a tight spot by them eventually.
What's nice about the randomly spawning zakos is that they keep you on the move. They won't stop spawning any time soon, so there's no point in playing it safe by killing every single one of them before moving on when their presence will be an universal constant. And they come from pretty much everywhere on top of jumping about randomly, so there's very few safe spots to speak of. So press onwards, brave soldier. Now that's intensity.
Runner RNG vs stage topography is certainly the key to the game's enduring excellence. The crucial thing is, while it's an easily dominated game in expert hands, that dominance can't ever lapse into complacency - even in Loop 1, there's a mild but constant risk of runners striking at the worst moment, bringing your storming run down in flames. They actually start shooting from midway through stage 3 - the plateaus right before the boss are a classic example of the slight but mortally dangerous risk.
EDIT: on the FC version at least, which I hear starts a loop up from the NES... haven't strictly confirmed that, but I like the shaweet animated backgrounds and it's the version on my shelf so I stick with it.
While the BGs are mostly polish, st5's blizzards are a genuine asset - they add a nasty bit of visual noise to the pincer threat of zako shooters and heavy gunners, feels wickedly dangerous at higher loops.
I was a little disappointed to learn that runner firing is determined not by global RNG, but the current stage sector - you'll notice they only break out the guns at certain spots. However, these spots were clearly chosen for maximum effect - stage 7's boss approach at high loop is a terribly easy place to die, with heavy gunners blockading the right and shooting runners pouring in from the left.
At first I believed that the Flare did not deserve to exist, though it's trajectory did save my hide in a very few situations, so I'll let it slide despite being terminally useless for the most part.
F's a very silly weapon (try firing it at a charging runner point-blank, watch it scoot up n' over as you're left to die... whoops!), but perfect challenge run material - tricky to use but effective when you know how, and entertainingly offbeat with its jittery moth-like movement. RAD sound effect too, sounds like the ol GI Joe cartoon lasers, except this gun KILLS PEOPLE (aliens, whatever).
But it's a testament to the quality of the game that it manages to hold up even after all these years, and that it's so manly that it accelerated my beard growth (that's the kind of effect Contra has on passing time). Hats off to the CONTRA NES TEAM.
Umechan Team (headed up by Shigeharu Umezaki, with signature booming explosions by Hidenori Maezawa) also did FC Salamander, Super Contra and Gradius II - all eminently worth trying out! Contra is their masterpiece for sure, but these guys were a real crack team.