Contra: Operation Galuga

[Sumez]

The Neo Geo is really cool with how it builds everything with sprites. I've heard that it can't do 3D at all (the helicopter in Mark of the Wolves is prerendered, but it looks like flat shaded polys!), but the Mega Drive can do true 3D without assistance. It runs at really low framerates, but it's cool to see those few 3D games like LHX Attack Chopper on the MD.

Any 3D you see in a MegaDrive game would be rendered in software (like any 3D PC game before 3D acceleration became the expected norm) on the CPU, and then background or sprite graphics are generated on the fly and transfered to the video memory.
I don't have any insight into Neo Geo tech, but I'd imagine it should be capable of the same, unless it's designed so that the graphics hardware can only read directly from graphics ROMs instead of internal memory (which makes sense, given the amazing full-screen animations it's able to pull off given big a enough ROM size). In that case it'd only be able to do it by using RAM chips on the cartridge like some NES games have

Another interesting one to check out is the Retro Engine that Sonic Mania runs on. I have heard it uses the CPU to render most stuff and the GPU isn't really used that much. Is it actually a 2D engine or does it use textured polygons? I have been wondering about it for a while, but I've never looked into it.

One thing you could do for sure is faking "virtual" 2D hardware which is then used to "blitter" individual pixels on to a texture in memory, and render that as a single polygon. That's how emulators usually work, so there's no reason a video game engine couldn't be designed in that way. But it would be a terribly ineffecient way to do things, and the only reason I'd imagine someone doing it is because they think it's a cool/fun way to program their game (and I'd be inclined to share that enthusiasm to be honest). It *would* probably make porting the games to multiple platforms a bit easier too, but 2D games shouldn't run into that many problems anyway.

[NYN]

I deleted the free demo and shall furthermore refer to this entry only as Galuga, not as Contra. What will follow after release is not by my hand, and will only brought to me through you. Grim soldiers, all.

[xxx1993]

This game is a reboot, you know… I hope that’s not the reason why you’re not interested.

[Shelcoof]

I deleted the free demo and shall furthermore refer to this entry only as Galuga, not as Contra. What will follow after release is not by my hand, and will only brought to me through you. Grim soldiers, all.

I saw the trailer and I was very underwhelmed
I saw the demo and I'm completely not interested either

Sad times for Contra
The last decent Contra game was on the Wii Virtual Console and the DS

[xxx1993]

This is supposed to win back the crowd... Why are you people continuing to think negative these days?

[BulletMagnet]

Because this take on the formula, like anything else, will appeal to some people but not others. People discussing why they feel one way or the other (without deriding others for having a different perspective) is, you know, what forums like this are for; if other people don't like the game but you do, they're free to talk respectfully and you're free to do the same, as well as play and enjoy the game to your heart's content. No need to overthink it.

[xxx1993]

This is supposed to go back to the first three. At least in terms of gameplay.

[XoPachi]

Decided to pick Contra 4 back up after a few years to refresh myself.
Damn. This game still owns. This is still handily the greatest DS game I've ever played.
Wild how much better the presentation is too. The SFX especially stand out.

[xxx1993]

I've just been playing the shit out of Neo Contra lately. Though I occasionally come back to the first three titles.

[Steven]

This is supposed to win back the crowd... Why are you people continuing to think negative these days?

Because the game runs like shit for no good reason on all systems. This isn't subjective, like disliking the game design or graphics or whatever, but a legitimate, undeniable flaw with the game that negatively impacts the game's playability, especially on Switch with the ~10 frames of input lag.

[Sima Tuna]

Especially sad considering, as I mentioned before, the Contra collection on Switch is flawless. NES Contra and Super C, SNES Contra 3, Genny Hard Corps, all with M2 emulation, extra features and a slick overlay. Don't know exactly what the input delay is on the M2 collection, but it's never felt anything but snappy. My best guess for all M2 switch emulation is 4 frames, because 2-3 is usually the native lag and you have to tack on a frame for switch lag. Not always true, but usually. Short of a Live Wire release, you usually don't see Switch games with less than 4 frames input delay.

But apparently the Galuga demo is 11 frames on switch? That's getting into launch Cotton 2 zebra engine from City Connection territory.

[Steven]

I think both Hishou Same! Same! Same! and Daioujou are 3 frames on Switch. Wouldn't be surprised if Kyuukyoku Tiger-Heli was the same.

[uroko-sakanabito]

Did find the Demo in the store and had no idea about the game.
Love it! All the "Boomer" options are there:

- disable story
- disable character voice lines
- 1 hit mode

Looking forward to the full game and i hope it contains some banger tracks, demo is lacking good music imo.

[xxx1993]

This is supposed to win back the crowd... Why are you people continuing to think negative these days?

Because the game runs like shit for no good reason on all systems. This isn't subjective, like disliking the game design or graphics or whatever, but a legitimate, undeniable flaw with the game that negatively impacts the game's playability, especially on Switch with the ~10 frames of input lag.

It shouldn't be that bad... The PS5 is supposed to be powerful.

[ExitPlanetDust]

While the PS5 version does suffer from hitching, as long as the later levels aren’t worse than what’s in the demo, it’s tolerable IMO. I’ve made several runs on hard and I never experienced a death that I could blame on performance. It shouldn’t happen, but I still think the PC and PS5 versions are a safe purchase if someone is on the fence.

The PS4 version however was unplayable for me. It was almost as bad as what I’ve seen in the Switch footage.

[Steven]

This is supposed to win back the crowd... Why are you people continuing to think negative these days?

Because the game runs like shit for no good reason on all systems. This isn't subjective, like disliking the game design or graphics or whatever, but a legitimate, undeniable flaw with the game that negatively impacts the game's playability, especially on Switch with the ~10 frames of input lag.

It shouldn't be that bad... The PS5 is supposed to be powerful.

If power is what you want, play on PC and forget consoles entirely.

[velo]

Yes, as far as I know, even the physical copies are stuck with that version. A major patch last year bumped the frame rate up to 60 on everything but Switch and greatly improved the Switch version’s performance.

If they somehow can't get a sprite based game to hit 60 fps on Switch there's not much hope for Galuga.

[xxx1993]

If power is what you want, play on PC and forget consoles entirely.

Yes, as far as I know, even the physical copies are stuck with that version. A major patch last year bumped the frame rate up to 60 on everything but Switch and greatly improved the Switch version’s performance.

If they somehow can't get a sprite based game to hit 60 fps on Switch there's not much hope for Galuga.

Just as long as it looks and plays like Contra, and the game is a complete reboot of the franchise (which does both). Therefore, there is hope. Again, you guys are just WAY too negative these days...

[Steven]

The last time I checked, Contra didn't play terribly due to massive input lag and stuttering.

It's possible that you might be able to run it without stutter if you had a 3000 or 4000 series GPU, but lol at playing it on a console.

[Sumez]

Did you guys realise this game is a reboot?

[Steven]

The last thing that I care about that got a reboot was Star Trek. I'd rather not think about that, but at least it indirectly resulted in Strange New Worlds, so in that case it's not a total loss.

I think there is a decent or perhaps even great game in here once you get past a lot of technical problems that shouldn't exist. Unfortunately, they exist.

[NYN]

Therefore, there is hope. Again, you guys are just WAY too negative these days...

*SN000RT*

HOPE?! for a video game reboot with a already spotted performance? You truly are a poor fellow.
For your edification only: hope was one of the curses for mankind unleashed in the ancient world. Mythology, pal, it still hits hard.

And in turn, you make it FAR too easy to disregard your chirpy opinions. Am I glad one can mute others on this board now.
Consider yourself muted.

[Steven]

I think I may have found the problem. I got a normal mode 1 hit no anything 1 miss. Then for some reason I felt like playing it again and as I was running forward shooting the spread and not stopping because that's all you really have to do until the waterfall, I noticed that it played mostly pretty well with very little stutter. This makes me wonder if the problem is that it's stuttering so much on the first run because it's loading the data as it appears. Once you do it the first time everything is already loaded, so the second time is more smooth. I didn't test this on PS5 or Switch because I am lazy. Someone else can do it.

This reminds me of the unit preloader for StarCraft II and how running it prior to playing the game can improve performance because it loads all of the models and animations.

[xxx1993]

Did you guys realise this game is a reboot?

Some people don't. But this game plays well for me, so I don't get what everyone is bitching about. They were like this with Sol Cresta also.

*SN000RT*

HOPE?! for a video game reboot with a already spotted performance? You truly are a poor fellow.
For your edification only: hope was one of the curses for mankind unleashed in the ancient world. Mythology, pal, it still hits hard.

And in turn, you make it FAR too easy to disregard your chirpy opinions. Am I glad one can mute others on this board now.
Consider yourself muted.

My biggest problem with people like you and almost everyone on this forum is that you guys are too negative and always quick to jump to conclusions. Again, the users on this site are no better than those on the GameFAQs message boards. Therefore, consider YOURSELF muted.

[Austin]

My biggest problem with people like you and almost everyone on this forum is that you guys are too negative and always quick to jump to conclusions. Again, the users on this site are no better than those on the GameFAQs message boards. Therefore, consider YOURSELF muted.

Honestly, this thread has been more positive than I would typically expect from this forum. Despite performance issues, people tried the demo and generally seem to be enjoying it.

[xxx1993]

My biggest problem with people like you and almost everyone on this forum is that you guys are too negative and always quick to jump to conclusions. Again, the users on this site are no better than those on the GameFAQs message boards. Therefore, consider YOURSELF muted.

Honestly, this thread has been more positive than I would typically expect from this forum. Despite performance issues, people tried the demo and generally seem to be enjoying it.

Is that so? I’m seeing more hate on this forum. But at least it’s good to know I’m not the only one enjoying the demo.

[Austin]

My biggest problem with people like you and almost everyone on this forum is that you guys are too negative and always quick to jump to conclusions. Again, the users on this site are no better than those on the GameFAQs message boards. Therefore, consider YOURSELF muted.

Honestly, this thread has been more positive than I would typically expect from this forum. Despite performance issues, people tried the demo and generally seem to be enjoying it.

Is that so? I’m seeing more hate on this forum. But at least it’s good to know I’m not the only one enjoying the demo.

Try not to conflate skepticism for “hate”. Contra has had a rocky history and it’s reasonable for fans to be wary when a new release like this occurs.

[xxx1993]

Of course it had. I mean, I remember the fiasco with Legacy of War and Contra Adventure. Then when the series made a proper comeback with Shattered Soldier and Neo, they fucked up the lore by revealing the aliens were actually guardians of a stolen relic, Lance Bean became a bad guy and was killed, and the Triumvirate was behind everything, and then in Neo, they made Lucia evil and killed her off too, and made Bill Rizer himself the villain also. And don’t get me started on Rogue Corps. After that game, Contra no longer deserves to be Nobuya Nakazato’s franchise. It was time for a much needed reboot.

[Austin]

You are probably the only person on this forum that gives a shit about the lore of a series like Contra.

[xxx1993]

And is there something wrong with liking a series’ lore?