Overall 8.9 Graphics 8.2 Sound 8.4 Addictive 9.2 Story 6.6 Depth 8.6 Difficulty 9.4
10
Contra Hard Corps - MY FAVORITE GAME EVER! pollution_skunk
OK, guys and gals of Vizzed. Here it is. My very own review of what I consider the best run-'n-gun ever and the best game on the Genesis (which is my favorite console of all time, just so you know): Contra Hard Corps, one of the several "black sheeps" of the famous Contra franchise and arguably the best game in the series. Let's review it already!
SOUND: 10/10First of all, I have to tell you all how unbelievably freakin' awesome this game's soundtrack is. Back in the old days, Konami was known to create amazing tunes that pushed each console's sound hardware to the limits while sounding ideal for the situations at hand. The first two NES Contras had some rockin' PSG/ADPCM tunes fitting for the macho run-'n-gun action they provided, while The Alien Wars went for a more "epic action movie" approach that matches the game's darker and more cinematic tone.What does Hard Corps do, however? An eclectic, stupendous mixture of high-BPM EDM and speedy metal, all conveyed through some of the most gloriously harsh FM synth/PSG/PCM the Genesis soundchip (the godly Yamaha 2612) can produce. It's one of those games where the soundtrack is really worth listening outside of the game at the maximum volume and with some groovy high-quality headphones (I recommend BOSE! :P).This game's soundtrack is also significant to me, in a more personal level. It was Hard Corps that made me love the Genesis, run-'n-guns/shmups and EDM (especially hardcore and speedcore, which this game takes the most influence from) so much, so I have to thank Konami for making me who I am today. :')GRAPHICS: 10/10OK, OK, I'm completely breaking my standard review structure here, but this game's graphics and sound really deserve to be praised to no end.While the Genesis didn't have the same graphical power as the SNES, it more than made up for it with a whopping SEVEN MEGAHERTZ OF BLAST PROCCESSING!!!, which enabled skilled developers to do some fascinating programming tricks. Hard Corps' graphics pushes the Motorola 68000 to its limits, with massive, multi-jointed bosses and some of the best special effects on the system, such as scaling, rotation, warping and honest to god polygons in some places! Only Alien Soldier (which is another run-'n-gun I love and plan to review someday!~) tops this masterpiece's 16-bit graphics.DIFFICULTY; ADDICTIVENESS: 9/10; 10/10The Contra series has been brutal since the very beginning, with some though platforming action and lots of stuff happening on-screen, but The Alien Wars changed things a little bit by focusing more on gimmicky stages that challenged players to change their strategies every few minutes, often because of a mini-boss battle. Hard Corps takes this a step further by structuring itself almost entirely around challenging boss battles, making it feel very much like a Treasure-developed game (coincidentally, this is the first Contra not developed by the Konami team that would form Treasure in 1992. Odd!). However, unlike in Treasure's games, where your character often has a HUGE health bar and a variety of neat moves/tricks up his/her/its sleeve to deal with obstacles, CHC offers your commando only a (very useful, mind you) slide move in addition to the classic Contra staples and absolutely no room for error (especially in the western versions, which removed the three-point health bar present in the original Japanese ROM), making trial-and-error mandatory to beat the game. While this may sound tiring (and it can be in some games), Hard Corps knows very well how to reward players for their attempts at pattern memorization with some of the most wonderfully tense boss battles of all time. A notable example is the GTR - Great Triple Robot - battle. You start the level riding a boat and fighting a small flying mech. After it's defeated it tears your vehicle apart, leaving only a small jet ski/motorcycle hybrid (an element taken directly from Contra III) for you to ride on while fighting two similar marine robots. After defeating them all, you reach land, finally feeling safe and sound for a few seconds. However, your mechanical assailants aren't done with it yet, and as the blood-pumping music - appropriately titled "GTR Attack!" - builds up tension, they fuse into a single, massive contraption, which you have to defeat three more times (with it acquiring a new form each time it's beaten) before an attempt at a fourth fusion goes wrong, making it explode and marking the end of the level. On another route (yes, this game has multiple selectable routes and several different endings!), you fight a boss - also named GTR (Great Train Robot) - which has the exact same song accompanying it, but is instead a giant humanoid robot that goes all Mario on you while you're over a speeding train. If these aren't some hardcore boss battles, I'm not Vizzed's #1 shmup/run-'n-gun fan! :DDEPTH: 10/10"A-ha! Who couldn't say that a Contra game can't be deep?" - that's probably what Hard Corps' designers thought when designing the game, as they somehow managed to cram as much content as possible on a 16-bit run-'n-gun without it feeling convoluted. There are four playable characters with four unique weapons each, a buttload of bosses, branching storyline paths and several different endings that range from good to bad to hilariously wacky. It's definitely a game with tons of replayability - something rare for the genre, especially in the 90's!STORY: 8/10Well, lookit that! Contra Hard Corps actually has a storyline that factors into the gameplay... well, not much."While the Alien War from Contra III was going on, a group of violent revolutionaries tried to coup the government of a distant nation not involved on the final conflict against Red Falcon, but their attempts at ruling the small country by force was stopped by the young and energetic Colonel Bahamut and his Hard Corps, a group of commandos not affiliated with any government, fighting only for the safety of the planet. However, some time later, Bahamut took back his own principles and tried to coup the United Earth Government himself, disappearing soon after he was put in jail. Now, five years later, he returns, with exactly what he needs to make Earth a chaotic, government-free world, as he always wished to: a Red Falcon stem cell. With a brilliant scientist who shares his wicked ideals and the infamous cyborg mercenary Deadeye Joe by his side, only the newly-reformed Hard Corps - composed of the world's best human, robotic and cybernetic soldiers, including Ray Rizer, the son of legendary war hero Bill Rizer himself - can defeat him and his robotic forces and save the world before it's too late!"Yeah, I know it's kind of a clichéd plot, but definitely not what you'd expect from a Contra game. Even more unexpected is the fact that the game offers multiple storyline paths, giving players not one, not two, but SIX different ways to conclude the game, and even though most of them end with Colonel Bahamut and Red Falcon defeated once and for all, there are some rather shocking ones spread through this mess.OVERALL: 10/10Contra Hard Corps is possibly the best run-'n-gun ever, and definitely the best, most action-packed game on the Genesis library. Fans of the console and the genre alike may want to check this one out, even if it's just for the awesome graphics and sound! ;)
Graphics 10 Sound 10 Addictive 10 Story 8 Depth 10 Difficulty 9
Review Rating: 4.8/5
Submitted: 11-11-14
Updated: 11-11-14
Review Replies: 2
9
CONTRA: HARD CORPS golgo 14
GAME REVIEW: CONTRA: HARD CORPS BY: GOLGO 14 MORE LIKE CONTRA : HARDCORE!! WHEN MOST OLD SCHOOL GAMERS REFER TO THE CONTRA GAMES, THEY USUALLY REFER TO THE MORE POPULAR CONTRA GAMES SUCH AS THE OLD NES CLASSIC OR THE GREAT CONTRA 3 THE ALIEN WARS ON SNES AND TALK ABOUT HOW FUN AND CHALLENGING THEY WERE AND HOW REWARDING IT WAS TO FINALLY BEAT THAT ONE BOSS OR TO EVEN COMPLETE THE GAME AT ALL WITHOUT THE FAMOUS "KONAMI CODE".......IF THEY ONLY KNEW(QUE DIABOLICAL LAUGH).CONTRA: HARD CORPS IS THE REAL DEAL !!GRAPHICS: 9 CONTRA: HARD CORPS IS TRULY A VISUAL SENSORY OVERLOAD.IT CRAMS SO MANY SPITES ON THE SCREEN WITHOUT A HINT OF SLOWDOWN, WITH TONS OF PARALLAX SCROLLING . THE ART DIRECTION IN THIS TITLE IS VERY DARK AND BEAUTIFUL, WITH WONDERFULLY DINGY ,POST APOCALYPTIC TYPE METALLIC STRUCTURES THAT DRIFT OFF INTO A BLEAK HORIZON.THE BOSSES ARE MASSIVE, HULKING MONSTROSITIES, ANIMATED EXTREMELY SMOOTHLY AND ARE ALWAYS A GRAND EXPERIENCE. OF ALL THE OLD SCHOOL 16 BIT CONTRAS , THIS ONE REMAINS THE MOST VISUALLY ACCOMPLISHED OF THEM ALL.SOUND: 8 THE MUSIC AND SOUND DESIGN ARE ALL QUITE EXCELLENT. THE OPENING STAGE STARTS WITH A VERY INTENSE 180 BPM TRACK LACED WITH SOME CATCHY BASS AND SYNTH AND SETS THE TONE PERFECTLY AND CONSISTENTLY KEEPS IT UP FOR EACH OF THE HARROWING STAGES. THE SOUND DESIGN ITSELF IS ALSO EXCELLENT WITH NICE, BASSY EXPLOTIONS AND SOME INTERESTING(THOUGH SLIGHTLY TINNY) DIGITIZED SPEECH.OVERALL NICE JOB KONAMI!!ADDICTIVENESS: 9 WITHOUT A DOUBT YOU WILL BECOME A SLAVE TO THIS TITLE. THE REPLAY FACTOR IS WHAT MAKES THIS CONTRA QUITE SPECIAL.FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A CONTRA GAME THERE ARE MULTIPLE PATHS THROUGH EACH STAGE AND MULTIPLE CHRACTERS TO USE THAT ACTUALLY AFFECT THE ENDING YOU RECEIVE.THE STAGES THEMSELVES ARE ALWAYS MIXING IT UP, SENDING YOU LEFT, RIGHT,INTO THE SKY AND UNDERGROUND EVEN SWITCHING TO 3-D PERSPECTIVES KEEPING YOU WONDERING WHAT THE NEXT STAGE WILL BRING TO THE TABLE.THE MOMENT TO MOMENT GAMEPLAY HAS NEVER BEEN BETTER AS KEEPS YOU COMING BACK ...THAT'S IF..AND ONLY IF.. YOURE UP FOR THE..................................C H A L L E N G E: 10 FACT : YOU WILL DIE...ALOT. THIS IS PROBABLY WHAT DEFINES THIS GAME THE MOST AND WHAT SEPARATES THIS CONTRA FROM EVERY OTHER OLD SCHOOL CONRTA GAME. THIS FOLKS, IS THE MOUNT EVEREST BEAST OF A CONTRA THAT WILL LEAVE ALL THAT FACES ITS CLIMB TO THE TOP, FROST BITTEN AND STRANDED NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAIN. YOU WILL BE TESTED FROM THE VERY BEGINNING, FORCED TO MEMORIZE THAT EXACT MOMENT TO JUMP OR TO SHOOT OR NEED TO REMEMBER THAT INSANE BOSS PATTERN MORE THAT YOU EVER HAVE BEFORE . AND NO THE KONAMI CODE WILL NOT SAVE YOU THIS TIME(CUE DIABOLICAL LAUGH)STORY: 4 UMM DO YOU REMEMBER THAT LAST GREAT CONTRA STORY WHERE AERITH DIED AND YOU FINALLY DEFEATED SEPARO...ERRR. WAIT WRONG GAME..WHAT I MEAN TO SAY IS STORY IN A CONTRA GAME IS ABOUT AS POINLESS AS SWEEPING DIRT ROAD..SO THERECONCLUSION : CONTRA: HARD CORPS IS THE DEFINING CONTRA OF THE 16 BIT GENERATION THAT WAS SADLY OVERLOOKED BY MOST, PROBABLY DUE TO THE LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY PRESENTED HERE. BE BRAVE AND PATIENT FELLOW GAMERS AND PERSISTENT BECAUSE ONCE YOU FINALLY DO REACH THE TOP OF THIS MOUNTAIN... THE VIEW IS EXTRAORDINARY !!!
Graphics 9 Sound 8 Addictive 9 Story 4 Depth 9 Difficulty 10
Review Rating: 4.2/5
Submitted: 01-20-14
Review Replies: 2
10
Contra: Hard Corps Review mgharper94
Here I am guys doing another review and this time on one of my most favorite childhood games I've ever played. I'll start from the top, the graphics are overall colored and polished, it could never seem to be as colorful and bright as Sonic the Hedgehog, but it's still a good feel to the Contra series. The sound is good in my opinion, I really like the music most of all it really suits the game. The addictiveness now, they tried to make it to where you'd come back to the game wanting more action since that's the main reason that there are multiple routes to take in the game. The story is changed a bit, instead of the alien wars you're now fighting these robots and contraptions that come right at you wanting to kill you and take over the city or the world BUT this is still part of the main series and is not a spin-off. There are some hints about the Alien Wars in the game as you can briefly tell by the storyline. The depth of the game is okay, they did give you 4 characters instead of 2 so, you can play with each character and pick your favorite. (mine personally would be Brownie the robot.) Last but not least the difficulty of the game is really hard unless you know what you're doing at times and what weapon to use. Otherwise you're just going to die all over the place and we all hate that. In conclusion, I rated this game a 10 because the game is everything I remember and loved about it, it's also the main reason I got into the Contra series because of all the action and fast paced shooting. Hope you all enjoyed this review and I'll see you guys around! :)
-mgharper94
Graphics 8 Sound 9 Addictive 8 Story 8 Depth 9 Difficulty 10
Review Rating: 3.7/5
Submitted: 07-15-13
Updated: 07-16-13
Review Replies: 1
8.9
Here I go, aaand I'm already dead. floobadoo
This game is one of the most unique Contra games, but it takes time to get used to. A lot of people complain that the graphics are too dark and gloomy, but this game takes place in a wrecked war zone area, so I think it should look that way. The dark graphics set the dark mood well. The animations are good. The game is very stimulating with a lot of explosions and "screen quakes" when objects smash the ground, and there are several stages were you are rushing in/on top of a vehicle with enemies chasing behind. The music is a hard rock genesis style soundtrack, and it also helps to pump up the player. Each song seems to match the pace of the situation/level quite well. The shooting is hard to master, but the speed of the shots and unique power ups make it extremely fun as well as very hard. This game has a non-linear storyline, making it interesting for the player to find new possibilities. The game has nice length, and it's nice to have different playable characters to make the game more unique. Enemies are almost always around you so you must keep rotating as you shoot and advance, while dodging other projectiles and hazards, that will kill you in one hit. The bosses require memorization, quick instincts, and some luck. This game is one of the hardest Sega Mega Drive/Genesis games I've ever played, but it's hard in a fun way. Give it a go, if you have a lot of practice time on your hands.
Graphics 8 Sound 8 Addictive 10 Story 8 Depth 7 Difficulty 10
Review Rating: 3/5
Submitted: 07-19-14
Review Replies: 3
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