Showing posts with label contra. Show all posts
Showing posts with label contra. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
The Nintendo Power Retrospectives - Part 7
This week I'm getting into Nintendo Power proper, with the magazine's first issue.
Friday, September 23, 2011
What the Heck Happened to Contra: Evolution Revolution?
In November of 2010, Konami of China showed off a brand new remake of Contra (titled 魂斗罗：进化革命, which translates something like Contra: Evolution Revolution) in a department store in Guangzhou.
It's almost a year later and there's no official release, with only these pictures from the forums at Chinese site CSYX as evidence of existence. It appears to be a 2.5D remake with 16:9 with HD-quality graphics, set to be released in the arcades. There are four playable characters, including two brand new ones in addition to the usual Bill and Lance. It also features a few of the niceties introduced in Contra III, like the ability to change weapons or fire off screen-clearing explosives. Its levels also seem to be based off the NES version rather than the fairly short (and overall inferior) arcade release.
So what happened to it?
We don't have any actual answers, of course, other than to ponder its existence and postulate. this site proclaims to have a board for sale, I think, but the legitimacy of that is questionable. Konami of China's website only mention of it is in reference to the mobile version, whose darker graphics look similar to the purported arcade version, although obviously in 2D. It features weapon switching and the bombs, though there are only the standard two characters.
It's strange that Konami's Shanghai division would be involved in any of their big international IPs, considering as far as I can tell, their work mostly revolves around mobile stuff and various behind-the-scenes development work. I've no idea if arcades in China are still viable, but it still seems like a strange place to stick a remake, especially with neither hide nor hair of it mentioned in Japan or North America. It would be very appropriate for the XBLA or PSN, which is always possible - Konami flashed a teaser that something new was coming for Contra back at E3, although that also went much of nowhere. Unless there are severe quality issues, it'd certainly be better than the emulated version of the arcade game that we got back in the early days of the service. Then again, with a few exceptions (the Rebirth series, CV: Harmony of Despair and SH: Shattered Memories to debateable extents), modern day Konami has been mishandling their properties with near-embarassing levels, so who knows what's going on, really.
More pictures of both versions:
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Songs of the Moment - Castlevania and Contra Rebirth Bonus Tracks
The highlight of Konami's Rebirth line has been its arrangements of their classic 8 and 16-bit tunes in the style of their arcade games circa the early 90s. A few months ago they released an album that had the full soundtracks for Castlevania and Contra Rebirth, which seemed redundant considering music rips had been circulating around for months. (Buying both games together is also cheaper than buying the CD itself - Japanese CD prices are still absurd.) But they did feature two tracks, dubbed "Another Medley"s, with two bonus songs each.
So technically the Castlevania Rebirth game is based on the first Gameboy game, The Castlevania Adventure. That game was terrible, but at least it had an awesome soundtrack. Sadly, the Rebirth game features absolutely none of the music from it. (It did feature a track from its sequel, Belmont's Revenge, which was quite welcome.) This medley makes up for that venial sin by including Battle of the Holy, the first stage theme from Castlevania Adventure. The second song is Lost Painting, from Symphony of the Night. It is a bit strange to here a song essentially downgraded to FM synth, but it still sounds quite classy. They really should've ditched the fifth billionth remix of Vampire Killer for this Battle of the Holy theme, but I'm not sure where Lost Painting would fit in this arcade-style game - it doesn't even really work as an ending theme.
The theme on the Contra medley is the first level theme from Contra Force, which is strange considering it was never released in Japan. (It was tentatively developed under the title Arkhound.) The character select screen in Contra Rebirth is also taken from Contra Force. The second theme is the ending from the Gameboy game, Operation C. That game was comprised almost entirely of remixes from other Contra titles, except for this ending, and the stage 2 theme, which also ended up in Contra Rebirth, for the level with the robot ostriches. If they really wanted to go obscure they should've done a remix from C: The Contra Adventure, the not-so-great (but not terribly abysmal, contrary to popular opinion) European-developed PSOne game, which actually had some great music.
GET BONUS:
Before Konami released their own official version, amazing internet remixer Otobeya did his own version, also in the style of their arcade music. See which one you like better!
His webpage is a must visit, as it includes dozens upon dozens of MP3s of classic video game music redone on other synths. There's tons of Gradius and Castlevania in there. I rather like the Ys 6 and Origin songs done on an MSX, or Metroid's Brinstar theme on a Master System, or Final Fantasy III (FC)'s battle theme as done on the SNES. The coup de grace is the My Neighbor Totoro theme done in the style of a Romancing SaGa battle theme.
So technically the Castlevania Rebirth game is based on the first Gameboy game, The Castlevania Adventure. That game was terrible, but at least it had an awesome soundtrack. Sadly, the Rebirth game features absolutely none of the music from it. (It did feature a track from its sequel, Belmont's Revenge, which was quite welcome.) This medley makes up for that venial sin by including Battle of the Holy, the first stage theme from Castlevania Adventure. The second song is Lost Painting, from Symphony of the Night. It is a bit strange to here a song essentially downgraded to FM synth, but it still sounds quite classy. They really should've ditched the fifth billionth remix of Vampire Killer for this Battle of the Holy theme, but I'm not sure where Lost Painting would fit in this arcade-style game - it doesn't even really work as an ending theme.
The theme on the Contra medley is the first level theme from Contra Force, which is strange considering it was never released in Japan. (It was tentatively developed under the title Arkhound.) The character select screen in Contra Rebirth is also taken from Contra Force. The second theme is the ending from the Gameboy game, Operation C. That game was comprised almost entirely of remixes from other Contra titles, except for this ending, and the stage 2 theme, which also ended up in Contra Rebirth, for the level with the robot ostriches. If they really wanted to go obscure they should've done a remix from C: The Contra Adventure, the not-so-great (but not terribly abysmal, contrary to popular opinion) European-developed PSOne game, which actually had some great music.
GET BONUS:
Before Konami released their own official version, amazing internet remixer Otobeya did his own version, also in the style of their arcade music. See which one you like better!
His webpage is a must visit, as it includes dozens upon dozens of MP3s of classic video game music redone on other synths. There's tons of Gradius and Castlevania in there. I rather like the Ys 6 and Origin songs done on an MSX, or Metroid's Brinstar theme on a Master System, or Final Fantasy III (FC)'s battle theme as done on the SNES. The coup de grace is the My Neighbor Totoro theme done in the style of a Romancing SaGa battle theme.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Contra 4 - Rocked 'n Loaded
Did you know some folks are working on a Contra 4 metal remix album? I sure didn't, until like two days ago, even though it's apparently been in the works for something like a year. But it's all good, because it's due out in January, making it a fairly short wait. Check out the info at Rocked n' Loaded, which includes a preorder link and some background info. Contra 4 had some really fantastic music that not only paid homage to the older games (specifically the NES era) but were also quite a bit more intricate than the average NES tune. And since the Japanese video game soundtrack has been so slow lately (how long has it freaking been since the last Konami Battle album?) this definitely sounds like something worth supporting. Check out this sample vid:
And more after the jump...
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Contra Rebirth
So while I was looking through the files of the Contra HQ, it was particularly distressing how BAD the reviews were, if there were any at all. The site had always been mistreated by me, mostly for time issues. I started the site, went to college, and let it rot for four years, more or less. Then I redesigned it and brought it a bit up to par between jobs, then it fell through the cracks again. It was really cool that Contra 4 actually mentioned the site in the credits - I think those pictures from the Contra Shattered Soldier (Shin Contra OST) are the ones I'd scanned myself - but pretty embarrassed that the site really never became what it should've been. At least it's functional as a graphic and media archive. It's maintained by Ed Oscuro now, and I believe he's moving it to a different server.
At any rate, this is a long roundabout way of saying I'm working on an HG101 article to Contra, mostly to accompany another Konami themed write-up I'm working on. I don't know when that'll actually go live, but in the meantime, here's a review of Contra Rebirth, which was released last month in Japan for WiiWare. I won't lie - I totally pirated this. I WOULD have paid for it, because it is excellent and way worth the 1000 points they're charging, but Nintendo's nimrod approach to digital distribution will continue to guarantee that they won't be seeing any real money from me until they get their act together.
Contra Rebirth
The purpose of this Wiiware game is initially a bit confusing. The Rebirth series began with Gradius, which brought the series back to its 16-bit roots using similarly styled graphics, music and gameplay. But wait – wasn’t that what Contra 4 was supposed to be?
Well, kind of. If Contra 4 focused mostly on the first three games, Contra Rebirth also adds in some influence from Hard Corps, as well as bits and pieces from the other, later games. It’s another 2D game, with a visual style much like Contra III, and it plays pretty much the same way, including the two-weapon system and the position lock without strafing abilities, although the bombs are gone like in Contra 4.
The heroes from the get-go are Bill Rizer and Yagyu Jubei, the latter marking his second appearance after his debut in Neo Contra. The sprites look pretty decent, but the backgrounds are boring and look totally shameful – it’s sad that a portable title manages to look substantially better than a console game. Still, in action, it’s hard to notice, because it uses some effects, like the huge explosions from Hard Corps, as well as some scaling effects when certain enemies enter the playing field. The music is taken from a range of the Contra games, from the original up to Hard Corps, including even a song from Operation C, all done in the style of the arcade Super Contra, which is FM sound with some strong, digitized percussion. Once again, it's provided by Manabu Namiki, who, with Gradius Rebirth and Fantasy Zone II DX to his credit, seems to be the go-to guy for retro style arrangements.
While Gradius Rebirth was a bit too familiar for its own good, Contra Rebirth is a bit more innovative. The second and fifth level, the city and alien base stage respectively, should ring some bells for series fans, the other levels are mostly new. The first stage takes place in a spaceship under attack (you’re delivered by the same helicopter as the rest of the games, even though you’re in outer space) As you run past a window, you see a huge snake-like monster fly by, shooting it scales at the ship, which in turn crack through the floors and ceilings and start hatching little aliens. At the end, it launches another one of its spores on the window. Once you blow it up, it sucks you out into space, as you jump from debris to debris falling through orbit, destroy the snake bit by bit. The third stage has you riding a series of cyberneric llamas through the wilderness, first destroying a ninja-robot, then facing off against a gigantic missile which attacks by shooting other, smaller missiles. The fourth stage is a descent into a lava cavern and ends up with a fight against an animated stone statue. The final battle is against a huge floating garbage ball which lips the orientation of the screens. Like Contra 4, there’s just enough “holy crap” moments to keep it exciting while still feeling familiar.
The biggest problem is its lengths – it’s only five levels, along with a final boss fight, and it’s over. Still, Contra III was only six level, and two of them were wasted on the simple overhead stages, whereas Rebirth only has side-scrolling levels. For a Contra game, it’s also relatively easy on the standard difficulty settings, although the higher ones prove a nice challenge. Beating the game on different levels unlocks two additional characters – a cute little robot named Tsugumin and a robotic lizard-thing named Plissken. It’s probably not related to Snake’s callsign from Metal Gear Solid 2, instead going back to the original source of Kurt Russell’s character in Escape from New York, but you never know. In this case, you’re fighting against the General Salamander, and one of the pictures in the backgrounds looks like Venom, the bad guy from the MSX Gradius games (and Gradius Rebirth.) Could this be Konami trying together all of its classic game series together into the same canon?
The voice clips are remarkably cool and many pay homage to prior Contra games. Bill yells “Locked and loaded!” and "It's payback time!" upon respawn, like Ray and Wolf from Hard Corps. Plissken yells “It’s time for revenge!” and “Let’s attack aggressively!”, the same quotes from the English version of Contra III. Yagyu seems to be around just to yell out awesome sounding Japanese, while the little robot has a cute little synthesized voice. (A flower even pops up from her corpse when she dies.) In the intro, where Bill Rizer once again wakes up cryogenic sleep a la Shattered Soldier, the camera closes up on his face as his eyes shift back and forth wonders out loud “What is this place?”, just like the arcade Super Contra intro. It’s all so beautiful. All of this taken together not only works as a series tribute but also stands alone as an excellent game, easily up to the level of the 16-it titles.
At any rate, this is a long roundabout way of saying I'm working on an HG101 article to Contra, mostly to accompany another Konami themed write-up I'm working on. I don't know when that'll actually go live, but in the meantime, here's a review of Contra Rebirth, which was released last month in Japan for WiiWare. I won't lie - I totally pirated this. I WOULD have paid for it, because it is excellent and way worth the 1000 points they're charging, but Nintendo's nimrod approach to digital distribution will continue to guarantee that they won't be seeing any real money from me until they get their act together.
Contra Rebirth
The purpose of this Wiiware game is initially a bit confusing. The Rebirth series began with Gradius, which brought the series back to its 16-bit roots using similarly styled graphics, music and gameplay. But wait – wasn’t that what Contra 4 was supposed to be?
Well, kind of. If Contra 4 focused mostly on the first three games, Contra Rebirth also adds in some influence from Hard Corps, as well as bits and pieces from the other, later games. It’s another 2D game, with a visual style much like Contra III, and it plays pretty much the same way, including the two-weapon system and the position lock without strafing abilities, although the bombs are gone like in Contra 4.
The heroes from the get-go are Bill Rizer and Yagyu Jubei, the latter marking his second appearance after his debut in Neo Contra. The sprites look pretty decent, but the backgrounds are boring and look totally shameful – it’s sad that a portable title manages to look substantially better than a console game. Still, in action, it’s hard to notice, because it uses some effects, like the huge explosions from Hard Corps, as well as some scaling effects when certain enemies enter the playing field. The music is taken from a range of the Contra games, from the original up to Hard Corps, including even a song from Operation C, all done in the style of the arcade Super Contra, which is FM sound with some strong, digitized percussion. Once again, it's provided by Manabu Namiki, who, with Gradius Rebirth and Fantasy Zone II DX to his credit, seems to be the go-to guy for retro style arrangements.
While Gradius Rebirth was a bit too familiar for its own good, Contra Rebirth is a bit more innovative. The second and fifth level, the city and alien base stage respectively, should ring some bells for series fans, the other levels are mostly new. The first stage takes place in a spaceship under attack (you’re delivered by the same helicopter as the rest of the games, even though you’re in outer space) As you run past a window, you see a huge snake-like monster fly by, shooting it scales at the ship, which in turn crack through the floors and ceilings and start hatching little aliens. At the end, it launches another one of its spores on the window. Once you blow it up, it sucks you out into space, as you jump from debris to debris falling through orbit, destroy the snake bit by bit. The third stage has you riding a series of cyberneric llamas through the wilderness, first destroying a ninja-robot, then facing off against a gigantic missile which attacks by shooting other, smaller missiles. The fourth stage is a descent into a lava cavern and ends up with a fight against an animated stone statue. The final battle is against a huge floating garbage ball which lips the orientation of the screens. Like Contra 4, there’s just enough “holy crap” moments to keep it exciting while still feeling familiar.
The biggest problem is its lengths – it’s only five levels, along with a final boss fight, and it’s over. Still, Contra III was only six level, and two of them were wasted on the simple overhead stages, whereas Rebirth only has side-scrolling levels. For a Contra game, it’s also relatively easy on the standard difficulty settings, although the higher ones prove a nice challenge. Beating the game on different levels unlocks two additional characters – a cute little robot named Tsugumin and a robotic lizard-thing named Plissken. It’s probably not related to Snake’s callsign from Metal Gear Solid 2, instead going back to the original source of Kurt Russell’s character in Escape from New York, but you never know. In this case, you’re fighting against the General Salamander, and one of the pictures in the backgrounds looks like Venom, the bad guy from the MSX Gradius games (and Gradius Rebirth.) Could this be Konami trying together all of its classic game series together into the same canon?
The voice clips are remarkably cool and many pay homage to prior Contra games. Bill yells “Locked and loaded!” and "It's payback time!" upon respawn, like Ray and Wolf from Hard Corps. Plissken yells “It’s time for revenge!” and “Let’s attack aggressively!”, the same quotes from the English version of Contra III. Yagyu seems to be around just to yell out awesome sounding Japanese, while the little robot has a cute little synthesized voice. (A flower even pops up from her corpse when she dies.) In the intro, where Bill Rizer once again wakes up cryogenic sleep a la Shattered Soldier, the camera closes up on his face as his eyes shift back and forth wonders out loud “What is this place?”, just like the arcade Super Contra intro. It’s all so beautiful. All of this taken together not only works as a series tribute but also stands alone as an excellent game, easily up to the level of the 16-it titles.
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