Contra: Shattered Soldier.....The full review. (1 Viewer)

[Jean-Michel]

You got better.

Well, like I said, I play Hard Corps on a fairly frequent basis and it still kicks my ass. I honestly think SS is even more pattern-oriented than it was. Certainly it's the most similar in the series, what with the focus on boss battles and less emphasis on run-and-gun mass slaughter. To be perfectly honest that's what I really wanted. Not that SS is a bad game, just not quite what I was hoping for.

 

[elMalloc]

You don't "need" the code. From what I understand it's like 8 lives and 99 continues on easy.
-ELmO

 

[Romier S]

From what I understand it's like 8 lives and 99 continues on easy

But you wont get the real ending on easy.

 

[JasonK]

A buddy and I finally got around to playing this last night. I expected it to be difficult, but wow.

We played for over an hour and made it to level 2 once. Since we refused to play it on easy, we were getting trounced over and over again. But you know what, it felt good. I haven't had a game that was so frustrating and so fun in a long time (well, Mario Sunshine comes close).

I don't know if I will eventually give in and play it on easy or not, I'd rather go all the way through it on Normal. And I'll tip my hat to anyone who beats this on Hard.

 

[felix_suwarno]

maybe everybody here ( except me ) has fetish on hard games. it scares me.

 

[JoshF]

So I finally got the game yesterday and had a chance to play it, both in single player and in coop mode with the girlfriend.

WOW. So much fun, and so hard. Just like the original Contra. Didn't even get through level 1 yet on normal, mainly because we only played for about 30-40 minutes before passing out.

It definitely has that old-school feeling, from the controls to the way the bosses flash in white when you hit them. I love it. Feels like I'm playing NES or Genesis again.

 

[Luis S]

And dont forget that classic theme music after you beat a level! That was a nice touch

 

[Alex Spindler]

maybe everybody here ( except me ) has fetish on hard games. it scares me.

It's just great to say to someone, "I beat Contra:SS on hard" and inspire the same kind of awe that someone who has climbed Everest, or walked on the moon, or can remove the Usual Suspects from the old DVD case without scratching it.

 

[JoshF]

It's just great to say to someone, "I beat Contra:SS on hard" and inspire the same kind of awe that someone who has climbed Everest, or walked on the moon, or can remove the Usual Suspects from the old DVD case without scratching it.

Videogames have become way too easy lately. They've become interactive DVDs. I'm glad Konami still has the balls to put some challenge in their games.

It's funny - I just had lunch with my girlfriend and mentioned that we could play the game in easy mode to get more continues.

She proceeded to call me a pussy. Seriously.

 

[JasonK]

It's funny - I just had lunch with my girlfriend and mentioned that we could play the game in easy mode to get more continues.
She proceeded to call me a pussy. Seriously.

Josh, that's funny. I played this solo for a while, and still refused to play it on easy. I'd agree that games seem to have gotten easier than they were in the 8-Bit days. The biggest difference is the 'save anywhere' option in most games. Megaman (the original) was friggin' hard, but a Save Anywhere option would have made things much easier. Same as a game like Rygar.
Now I just have to get the confidence to play Contra: SS some more on my own.

 

[JamesH]

I have a harder time playing it with my fiance....I wish they'd have made the characters more colorful so they stuck out a bit more(old school red and blue?)

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Can somebody, ANYBODY, please give me some tips on getting past that first boss!? :frowning:
I can blow the turtles head apart rather easily, but when it turns around to reveal that big grotesque pizza-assed face, i'm a goner everytime and it's driving me mad!
Thanks.

 

[JasonK]

John,

What I did is used the flame thrower and ducked right in front of his mouth, aiming at his nose.

If you use the 'hold weapon' button and use the flame thrower at a 45-degree angle, it takes care of the bugs coming out of his nose and hurts him as well. Just be careful, because all the puke can hurt you, as well as that purple stuff.

 

[John Chow]

Whoa, looks like the code lives (sorta)

From IGN:

Up, Up, Down, Down.....

Use Controller 2 and enter UP, UP, DOWN, DOWN, L1, R1, L2, R2, L3, R3 at the main menu (the title screen) and get 30 Lives instead of three.

Haven't verified it myself, so there is always the possibility of it being a fake.

 

[teapot2001]

I saw the commercial for this game last night. It looks incredible! I wish I had a PS2.

~T

 

[Alex Spindler]

It's funny - I just had lunch with my girlfriend and mentioned that we could play the game in easy mode to get more continues.
She proceeded to call me a pussy. Seriously.

Josh, she's a keeper.

 

[Alex Spindler]

Holy crap! It is clear that the games I've been playing since my Super NES days are little fuzzy kittens compared to this. I had forgotten how strenuous a game that combined pattern recognition with deft fingers and quick eyes. Just going through a couple of levels will wear you out.
Excellent game, and I've just begun to get the different weapons nailed down.
Thanks to all who suggested it.

 

[Romier S]

It is clear that the games I've been playing since my Super NES days are little fuzzy kittens compared to this.

That was a great statement! Alex once you get things down you have got to try this on Hard. Its insane man. I'm still trying to work my way through. The farthest I've gotten on hard has been the 4th level. I'm running out of lives by the middle of the level.

 

[John Chow]

So how's everyone doing on this? I finally got to put in some quality time with Contra, so was able to beat it on Normal using the 30 men code. Lost about 1 or 2 lives for the first 4 levels, but got kinda careless on the last level, and didn't have enough practice, so lost a ton of lives on the 5th level. I got an A on the first 4 levels, but the last level dropped my average to a B. Looks like I'll have to practice some more to get to the extra levels.

What's everyone's opinions on the weapons? I tend to use the machine gun most of the time, followed by the flame thrower, and only use the grenade launcher in very specific circumstances. It's pretty rare for me to use the charged weapons, I find I tend to use the charged version of the machine gun or grenade launcher when needing to shoot down the missiles in stage 4.

 

[Alex Spindler]

I'm on a strict training regimen. I play on the training levels continuously trying to get my used number of lives lower than 9. Right now I usually hit between 12 and 15, so I should be able to beat Normal pretty soon.

I stick with the machine gun for most situations and use the flame thrower for stationary targets. The alt-fire for the grenade launcher on all the hard to reach targets works well also. Haven't really needed the alternate fire for the MG or the flame thrower.

I will say this: I tried playing some other games that I was considering "hard" before, and I'm doing very well at them. Contra : SS has been very good at reviving my poor reflexes. I may have to dig up Battletoads again to see if I have my full teenage reflexes back.

Quick question : Has anyone beaten Einhander on the PS1? I got to the very end and nearly won before finally dying. The last guy kept making hit and run attacks that I just couldn't avoid or see. I haven't had the heart to return to it.