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: 10/10

First 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! ).

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: 10/10

OK, 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; 10/10

The 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!

DEPTH: 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: 8/10

Well, 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: 10/10

Contra 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!

I like the game review!

This is much more detailed and  and specific than what I usually see from other game reviews. This is the type of game review that I would like to see more often. I like how you made the section titles at a bigger font to bring attention and help readers read your game review easier.

I've played Contra a few times and I ended up dying a lot in this game. It can be a bit difficult in general and I kept dying as well. It will probably take a long time for me to beat this game. This is one of the coolest yet hardest gun and run games that I have ever played. It can be fast paced.

Have you ever wrote other game reviews before?

Looking forward to your future game reviews! This was a good easy read for a long game review.  

ghostfishy : Heh, thanks for the compliments!

Y'know, I really like making long, detailed reviews. Not only do I get tons of Viz for posting them (this one gave me around 8900 Viz!), it also helps spread the love of the games I like (which most of the time are really obscure).

Yeah, this game can be pretty hard even for hardcore Contra players - the US and EU versions, at least. The Japanese version is the way it was meant to be played, with your character being able to sustain three hits before losing a life - it makes all the trial-and-error the bosses require way easier! If you want to try it out for yourself while understanding the game's plot and the choices you have to make, be sure to check out the Hit Points Restoration hack, which also includes a pretty neat hidden bonus

Oh, and here's two tips that I forgot to include in the review itself: you're invincible while sliding, and locking your position while shooting (by switiching weapons mid-fire or by using any of the extra buttons on a 6-button controller) is essential to defeat bosses. Try it out, I'm sure it'll help a lot!

And this isn't my first review by a long shot! You can see all of my works on my Game Profile.

Thanks for commenting!~ <3