Contra: Shattered Soldier
I never did play any of the original Contra shoot-em-up titles on the Nintendo or Super Nintendo back when they were first released. In fact, I still haven't played any of them to this day. But I did get a chance to play a whole bunch of the 'next gen' Contra title for the PlayStation 2, Contra: Shattered Soldier.
Released in 2002, Shattered Soldier did that one thing I love to see. It didn't try force a traditionally 2D game into 3 dimensions, it instead took a game that was enjoyably simple and enhanced the visuals and controls. Taking a classic title and making it acceptable modern. Like R-Type Final, Contra stuck with the idea that traditional 2D side-scrolling cameras and a two-dimensional action plane is not something we need to abandon just because we can.
Contra is typically a 2D shoot-em-up game. And although I typically think of shmups as titles that put you in control of an airplane or spaceship, I'm reminded that there is still a range of side-scrollers that would be considered within this genre instead of say, sidescrolling platfomers. That being said, Contra is also as ridiculously difficult as the other shmups out there. With little place on screen to hide, the world is a hail of bullets. Though Shattered Soldier isn't nearly as difficult as it's predecessors, it still goes far to test your patience.
Again like R-Type, Contra's designs are spectacular and disturbing at times. You fight both beast and machine over land and sea including huge hulking mechs and giant mutilated heads all looking for a part of you. Since your camera only shows a small amount of content, being forced to a 2D panel, higher quality everything can be onscreen. Higher poly count models, higher end FX, small details, textures and more can be pushed on screen since you're never going to get much in the viewport to begin with. It's a great opportunity to take advantage of the situation and push the system.
So needless to say, Shattered Soldier looks fantastic. That combined with some brilliant designs makes for some memorable gameplay.\
Shattered Soldier may be making it's way on in terms of age, it still holds up quite nicely. Surprisingly enough, I never did go out of my way to see if the series continued and since I never heard much about it anymore I assumed it died on the PS2 similar to R-Type. Looking into it now I see that the series is still going strong with it's most recent title, Hard Corps: Uprising not taking on the Contra name. I'd actually downloaded this game for my PS3 and knowing now that it's actually a Contra title, I should really check it out.
Like right now.
I never did play any of the original Contra shoot-em-up titles on the Nintendo or Super Nintendo back when they were first released. In fact, I still haven't played any of them to this day. But I did get a chance to play a whole bunch of the 'next gen' Contra title for the PlayStation 2, Contra: Shattered Soldier.Released in 2002, Shattered Soldier did that one thing I love to see. It didn't try force a traditionally 2D game into 3 dimensions, it instead took a game that was enjoyably simple and enhanced the visuals and controls. Taking a classic title and making it acceptable modern. Like R-Type Final, Contra stuck with the idea that traditional 2D side-scrolling cameras and a two-dimensional action plane is not something we need to abandon just because we can.
Contra is typically a 2D shoot-em-up game. And although I typically think of shmups as titles that put you in control of an airplane or spaceship, I'm reminded that there is still a range of side-scrollers that would be considered within this genre instead of say, sidescrolling platfomers. That being said, Contra is also as ridiculously difficult as the other shmups out there. With little place on screen to hide, the world is a hail of bullets. Though Shattered Soldier isn't nearly as difficult as it's predecessors, it still goes far to test your patience.
Again like R-Type, Contra's designs are spectacular and disturbing at times. You fight both beast and machine over land and sea including huge hulking mechs and giant mutilated heads all looking for a part of you. Since your camera only shows a small amount of content, being forced to a 2D panel, higher quality everything can be onscreen. Higher poly count models, higher end FX, small details, textures and more can be pushed on screen since you're never going to get much in the viewport to begin with. It's a great opportunity to take advantage of the situation and push the system.
So needless to say, Shattered Soldier looks fantastic. That combined with some brilliant designs makes for some memorable gameplay.\
Shattered Soldier may be making it's way on in terms of age, it still holds up quite nicely. Surprisingly enough, I never did go out of my way to see if the series continued and since I never heard much about it anymore I assumed it died on the PS2 similar to R-Type. Looking into it now I see that the series is still going strong with it's most recent title, Hard Corps: Uprising not taking on the Contra name. I'd actually downloaded this game for my PS3 and knowing now that it's actually a Contra title, I should really check it out.
Like right now.
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