CONTRA NES BILL SERIES
The soundtrack is also one of Contra 4’s more notable elements, featuring remixes of several past Contra tunes and new instrumental pieces that suit the series really well. Bonus content includes playable characters, comics and, most notably, emulated versions of NES Contra and Super Contra. This feature is exclusive to the Normal and Hard difficulty settings, as Easy mode has only upgraded gun powerups.Ĭontra 4 is appreciably long, with replay value from the 9 level campaign (arcade mode), 40 challenges to play and a wide variety of bonus content to unlock. Another new feature is the ability to discard the currently held weapon powerup, which can be picked up again. Indeed, the play field is vertically oriented, akin to the arcade Contra games. This tool allows players to switch between screens to a different part of the battlefield to avoid dangers, for example. New to the series, to take advantage of the dual screens, is a grappling hook. As with Contra III, many stages feature 1 or more checkpoints at which the player resumes when continuing from a Game Over.
The original Contra’s base stages make a return. Similar to the arcade version of Super Contra, each powerup weapon can be upgraded to a second level by acquiring the powerup a second time. For the first time since the NES titles, the default gun is not a machine gun (there is a machine gun powerup) and most of the powerup weapons aren’t truly automatic, either. The core gameplay and visuals use Contra III as a base, but also incorporate many elements from entries preceding it. Mad Dog and Scorpion are considered separate characters from Bill and Lance, for example ( see Trivia). Featuring emphasis on run-n-gun style gameplay similar to the first few Contra games, it also mixes visual anecdotes from the earlier titles. Those who play it will know that it is almost entirely a tribute to Contra. Contra 4 attempts to bring back the classic Contra gameplay seen before the PS1 titles. Developed by Wayforward, there was naturally some initial reservations about a Contra title being developed by an external studio after the mess of the Playstation titles. Despite being released several games after Contra III, the plot events take place shortly afterward it. Contra 4 was developed and released to commemorate the series’ 20 year anniversary.