Contra: Operation Galuga

[Sumez]

Have you gotten any use out of the analog controls? I was hoping for a "left dpad move, right stick aim" control option. I recall Gunlord supporting that, plus having "shoot" on a shoulder button, so it was convenient to flip back and forth between free aiming and twin stick at any time.

The traditional run'n'gun player in my is happy that isn't an option. It controls like classic Contra in this regard, and I'm happy for it.

It's possible to use the left analog stick for controls to aim in 360 degrees, and there are definitely some places where it would be a massive advantage - for example while ascending the waterfall, you could easily take out enemies as soon as they scroll in above you without having to stand in a specific location. But I don't know, it just feels dirty to me, from what I've played the game doesn't seem to expect you to make use of this at any place, and the 360 degree aim can even be disabled in the settings. I'd honestly prefer if it didn't even exist, but it's probably an attempt at appealing to the "QOL crowd" who thinks any video game convention that was established more than 15 years ago is antiquated.

[NYN]

When early in "Story Mode" (oxymoron) a character named Lance confers with a another named Henricksen: Let's aggressively!
If, moments later, finally in action the conversation still is on, and the topic shifts as to MOMMY, WHERE DO WEAPON-PODS COME FROM?!: It's time to bug out and shame the NERD0S culpable! Never again!

Asthetics in character design are uncouth, world design extra generic. "Music" is as flat and dull and is missing any kind of action rythm. Stage design clearly "inspired" by forgone titles, for what own qualities that can entail. Choppy tech on Switch. Overall not enough BIG FUN. Consequently hard pass.

Makes C4 feel much better in retrospect. Mission accomplished!

[Sumez]

Don't touch the story mode, it's horrid. Arcade mode is selectable from the start.

[NYN]

Again, legendary men agree! At which point did you realize? Already in cutscene, or IN ACTI0N?

Say what one will, even Contra: ReBirth retrospectively turning gold with this in existence. THAT'S how you do "story": you don't! Just show silly screens 'tween stages with muscle men, cute robots, lizards, and Lance Bean cross-dressed! 0h, man!

Spoiler

Lonely, indeed.

[Rastan78]

it's probably an attempt at appealing to the "QOL crowd" who thinks any video game convention that was established more than 15 years ago is antiquated.

Limiting the player's moves set is artificial difficulty. Limited lives and continues? Artificial difficulty bro!

[Ghegs]

I like Contra ReBirth and I'm sad it has been mostly forgotten.

I played through the demo twice, I can only hope Wayforward accidentally uploaded an outdated build of it to the Switch eShop.

I didn't even realize the game had double jump and dash until way late, somewhere in the vertical section. I did wonder how there seemed to be so many platforms I couldn't reach, and some of the miniboss attacks were oddly difficult to avoid. Then I accidentally dashed and found out.

Why is the stage so long? You could cut out half of the the horizontal part and it'd be fine. I'm concerned the whole game will be like this and the total length for a 1CC will be something like 90 minutes. Stop being afraid of making "short" games.

Why is it run 'n guns nowadays have either aim lock or movement lock (and it's usually movement lock) but never both anymore? Shattered Soldier which is the pinnacle of Contra, as far as I'm concerned, had both over 20 years ago. We have more than enough buttons on the controller.

Didn't really care for the art style. Props for having Probotectors as playable characters though, I have nostalgia for those.

[Rastan78]

It does kind of look like an XBLA game from 2008. Which begs the question why does it run so terribly on Switch? Even if the final release is cleaned up a bit will it target 30fps or 60?

It's funny how the screen grabs on the Switch eshop look like they're supersampled running on some high end PC max setting ultra high res. Absolutely no aliasing and increased detail. Yeah sorry that's not what you'll actually get when you buy it lol

I thought it looks like it'll be decent fun and make a good handheld game. That performance though. Wow

[Mortificator]

I think you probably need to replay Contra 4

This game could use a Contra 4 mode



There we go

[AGermanArtist]

lol

[xxx1993]

I’m a bit peeved that some people don’t consider this game a reboot of the franchise when technically it is. All the signs are already there.

[Sumez]

Again, legendary men agree! At which point did you realize? Already in cutscene, or IN ACTI0N?

On the title screen menu

I’m a bit peeved that some people don’t consider this game a reboot of the franchise when technically it is. All the signs are already there.

Yes, what a disgrace!

[velo]

I'd honestly prefer if it didn't even exist, but it's probably an attempt at appealing to the "QOL crowd" who thinks any video game convention that was established more than 15 years ago is antiquated.

It seems both too good to ignore and too annoying to bother with. I wish they'd either made it work a little better or left it out, but that's only my gut talking after dropping the demo halfway through. At least you can opt out and have a playable 8-way game.

Mechstermination Force had mandatory stick controls and full 360 aiming but I don't remember being as peeved with it. Maybe it didn't have crouching (memory rusty)? That would probably make a big difference.

It does kind of look like an XBLA game from 2008. Which begs the question why does it run so terribly on Switch? Even if the final release is cleaned up a bit will it target 30fps or 60?

I've noticed more and more of this kind of thing to the point that I don't trust any new indie games to run properly on Switch, even if it looks straight out of 20 years ago. Maybe the latest version of Unity is straining it, maybe developers just aren't trying as hard. I think even Wayforward's own River City Girls 2 on Switch only hits 30fps. As an aside the demo simply lost my joycons at one point (in handheld mode!), and I had to detach and reconnect them. Surely the release version won't be THAT buggy, but I wouldn't bet on 60fps even once all the patches are in.

I like Contra ReBirth and I'm sad it has been mostly forgotten.

Instead of bringing back one of the Contra games from 10-20 years ago, they decided to make a new one that looks like it's 10-20 years old. I hope all the Rebirth games get another chance at life someday.

[xxx1993]

I’m a bit peeved that some people don’t consider this game a reboot of the franchise when technically it is. All the signs are already there.

Yes, what a disgrace!

I mean, setting it in “26XX” as opposed to “2631” or “2633”? All new characters? Bosses from future games that didn’t show up in the original?

[apatheticTurd]

Why is the stage so long? You could cut out half of the the horizontal part and it'd be fine. I'm concerned the whole game will be like this and the total length for a 1CC will be something like 90 minutes. Stop being afraid of making "short" games.

The demo's description states it contains "parts of "Stage 1" and "Stage 3"". I assume both were smushed together for the purpose of the demo.

[copy-paster]

This is my PB so far. Once I get the no-death clear then I won't ever handicap myself with no perk run again, it's like he forces you to use dash and perks, and sometimes you must dodge his arm and tail crushing with flame on the ground and green projectiles flying all at the same time.

[Ghegs]

Why is the stage so long? You could cut out half of the the horizontal part and it'd be fine. I'm concerned the whole game will be like this and the total length for a 1CC will be something like 90 minutes. Stop being afraid of making "short" games.

The demo's description states it contains "parts of "Stage 1" and "Stage 3"". I assume both were smushed together for the purpose of the demo.

Ah, I missed that, thanks. Well, that's good at least.

[Rastan78]

I was going to run and jump off a ledge and the game froze for a split second, eating my jump input and causing me to fall off the edge. Thats how bad the framerate can be on Switch. There were no enemies on screen.

[Steven]

Well shit, everyone here saying the Switch demo runs like shit makes me want to play it!

[xxx1993]

Don't touch the story mode, it's horrid. Arcade mode is selectable from the start.

No thanks. I’m not like everyone here. Why can’t anybody play for both the game and story for once?

[copy-paster]

Glad this was recorded with in-game BGM and voice muted, I'll post the replay with Shattered Soldier music playing instead.

[BIL]

I'll post the replay with Shattered Soldier music playing instead.

First thing ITT to not make my wiener soft and floppy like cheese tbh 3;

EDIT: other than this

Lance and Bill could be painters and decorators charged with rescuing a packet of biscuits for all I care. I just want to kill a lot of things, stylishly with tight, snappy controls.

Unironically make this you cunts. Operation: BISCUITS REVENGEONER

Their apocalyptic warnings scoffed at, their Earth now wreathed in flame, legendary CONTRAS Bill Rizer and Lance Bean spearhead a desperate raid on the alien hivemind - the CONTRA regiment's unyielding valour dealing a mortal blow to the demonic invader, rallying humanity back from the brink of annihilation.

Then, Probotectors™ took their jobs, and only steadfast Helicopter Guy - long regarded by fans as "The Third Legendary CONTRA" - could hook them up with a paying gig... painting and plastering mega-tenements in the feared wilds of NEO NEW BRUNSWICK.

AD 2637

"Some cunt's stole the fookin biscuits m8." "Let's attack aggressively!" Now Willy and Larry are ROLLING STRAPPED once more! Kicking down doors! SHOWING these motherfuckers that they are BOUDEH-BOUDEH

Again, legendary men agree!

[AGermanArtist]

Bring back Gryzor.

[xxx1993]

Isn't Gryzor already Contra?

[Steven]

Oh god this has like 10 frames of input lag on Switch. What a travesty.

I'll check out the PS5 and PC demos eventually, both on my normal computer and on Steam Deck, but I was not impressed with the level design and enemy placement on Switch. I was playing on normal, though. I'll probably turn the difficulty up next time.

[Sima Tuna]

I haven't played it but the visual style is complete ass.

[Steven]

I am not sure I would bother, honestly, unless you want to see how bad it is on Switch, which is really really really really bad.

[Sima Tuna]

Kinda funny, considering Switch already has every pre-ps2 Contra game with M2 emulation.

[Steven]

I tried the PS5 and PC demos. Unsurprisingly, the PC version seems to be the best one, or the least terrible if you prefer that description instead. They all seem to have frame pacing issues and/or stuttering, and on Steam Deck the game struggles to run above 60 FPS, usually hovering in the 57~62 range, although it did hit 70 just after the helicopter crash.

On Steam Deck the frame pacing is especially bad; I turned on the frame time graph and it was all over the place! Don't play on Steam Deck or Switch if you really want to play this game, although I'm not really sure why anyone would want to. The PC version won't let you change the movement keys and has no graphics settings AT ALL. It looks exactly the same as the PS5 version, which means it still looks like a cheap and early low budget low effort Xbox 360 download-only game.

I would love to see how badly this runs in 4-player mode on Switch! If anyone tries it, please tell me how it is because I really want to know!

[Arino]

They all seem to have frame pacing issues and/or stuttering

I noticed this as well (played it on PC). It's pathetic the other versions are even worse. The Switch is so powerful, it can even run Doom 1 & 2 at 60 FPS! So this game should be no problem once they optimize it.

It seems both too good to ignore and too annoying to bother with.

100%. I am not a fan of WayForward at all, so I did not expect much. But this demo is just too much fun to never play the full game. It was probably not intentional, but the art style (background and the boss) almost looks like things are supposed to look like plastic action figures, including their fake environment like in those commercials back then. That's the best thing I can say about it. But they probably didn't even mean it and this is just my interpretation

At best, this might be the new best of the worst Contra games. Better than the last one, 4, the ones on PSX, and I might even like it more than Hard Corps: Uprising.

[Wooph]

If you're playing on PC, you can try using a feature called Scanline Sync (Rivatuner Statistics Server) or Latent Sync (SpecialK). It's a way to limit the game's frame rate to your monitor's refresh rate without the latency penalty from V-sync. Other than a ground clipping bug while climbing the waterfall and some animations seemingly only updating every other frame, the game runs solidly at 240fps on my setup.