This game is action from beginning to end, do not think that you will have a moment of peace, even because Aliens are at war with planet earth, and resting will be your least concern.
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Contra III: The Alien Wars is classic run-and-gun mayhem at its best! Frantic action, crazy boss fights, and those iconic top-down stages will test your reflexes and trigger some serious nostalgia. The difficulty is brutal (in a good way!), but the tight controls and awesome weapon upgrades keep you hooked. If you love old-school shooters and have a high tolerance for challenge, this is a must-play!
I'm beginning to think that the first Contra is the only great one. I remembered this being a lot better: the switchable weapons, the goofy special attack, the climbing, the numerous minibosses. It seems to point towards something expansive, where movement and creativity are what's being asked of the player.
In practice, it's usually the opposite. This is a very rigid, cramped game. It constantly forces the player into small areas, to wait, to occupy just this part of the screen and no more. When you know what to do it feels like a solved equation instead of a fight. And the interstitial non-sidescroller levels were always an issue with Contra games, but those top-down Mode 7 levels are the worst. Ugly, disorienting, and simplistic. Also what's up with that legacy-obsessed last level? It's more than a little embarrassing fighting watered-down bosses from the two prior games.
Yeah, it's still Contra. The sidescrolling levels had never looked as good. It's responsive to be sure, and when the game encourages movement (like the stage 3 boss) it can be a pretty good time. But going back and playing this was a really disappointing experience.
In practice, it's usually the opposite. This is a very rigid, cramped game. It constantly forces the player into small areas, to wait, to occupy just this part of the screen and no more. When you know what to do it feels like a solved equation instead of a fight. And the interstitial non-sidescroller levels were always an issue with Contra games, but those top-down Mode 7 levels are the worst. Ugly, disorienting, and simplistic. Also what's up with that legacy-obsessed last level? It's more than a little embarrassing fighting watered-down bosses from the two prior games.
Yeah, it's still Contra. The sidescrolling levels had never looked as good. It's responsive to be sure, and when the game encourages movement (like the stage 3 boss) it can be a pretty good time. But going back and playing this was a really disappointing experience.
Run ‘n Gun-a-thon — Part 2
Contra III starts off with a bang. As soon as the music starts, your instinct is to move right and blast everything in sight. Within 60 seconds, you’re jumping into a tank and annihilating fortification posts. Then a combat plane swoops in and sets the entire street ablaze, forcing you to grab steel beams to navigate the conflagration. After that, a gargantuan alien turtle bursts through a wall, eager to murder our ripped heroes.
All of this happens within the first level, making you think the rest of the game will be similarly energetic and fun. You are greeted with the map of level 2 and realize it’s a top-down level. Okay, no big deal. The top-down levels from Super C and Operation C were tolerable. Then you start playing it and realize you have to control the camera to aim because some nutjob at Konami thought making your head spin during a shooter was a brilliant idea. I rarely get motion-sick, and yet I found these levels to be borderline nauseating. My heart goes out to those who played this on original hardware and needed to vomit after playing. I found out in level 5 that you can hold L to lock your aim in place to counter the quicksand that spins you around. This is nice, but good luck beating the boss without dying.
The other levels are hit-or-miss. Level 3 has some cool setpieces and was just as fun to play as 1. 4 on the other hand is very dull until you’re hopping between missiles in the sky. 6 was also underwhelming with how similar it was to the original game’s alien lair.
So much of the experience is style over substance. In that sense, it has some parallels with Super Castlevania IV. Both titles were technical showcases for the SNES, but I had much more fun hanging out with Simon Belmont. Its atmosphere has yet to be equaled by any 2D platformer and it retained a healthy degree of challenge despite some mechanical tweaks that favored the player. The only reason I would replay Contra III is the first and third levels.
Contra III starts off with a bang. As soon as the music starts, your instinct is to move right and blast everything in sight. Within 60 seconds, you’re jumping into a tank and annihilating fortification posts. Then a combat plane swoops in and sets the entire street ablaze, forcing you to grab steel beams to navigate the conflagration. After that, a gargantuan alien turtle bursts through a wall, eager to murder our ripped heroes.
All of this happens within the first level, making you think the rest of the game will be similarly energetic and fun. You are greeted with the map of level 2 and realize it’s a top-down level. Okay, no big deal. The top-down levels from Super C and Operation C were tolerable. Then you start playing it and realize you have to control the camera to aim because some nutjob at Konami thought making your head spin during a shooter was a brilliant idea. I rarely get motion-sick, and yet I found these levels to be borderline nauseating. My heart goes out to those who played this on original hardware and needed to vomit after playing. I found out in level 5 that you can hold L to lock your aim in place to counter the quicksand that spins you around. This is nice, but good luck beating the boss without dying.
The other levels are hit-or-miss. Level 3 has some cool setpieces and was just as fun to play as 1. 4 on the other hand is very dull until you’re hopping between missiles in the sky. 6 was also underwhelming with how similar it was to the original game’s alien lair.
So much of the experience is style over substance. In that sense, it has some parallels with Super Castlevania IV. Both titles were technical showcases for the SNES, but I had much more fun hanging out with Simon Belmont. Its atmosphere has yet to be equaled by any 2D platformer and it retained a healthy degree of challenge despite some mechanical tweaks that favored the player. The only reason I would replay Contra III is the first and third levels.
otro maldito juego del diablo que me pasé hace años en más de una tarde con un emulador de la snes, peak fiction
Obnoxious level design, unbalanced difficulty settings (normal is a cakewalk, hard is a frustrating mess), bosses and even popcorn enemies are massive bullet sponges, nauseating top-down stages, excessive gimmicks, and somehow the weapon swap bug was never caught in testing. One of the few 2D Contras that missed the mark.
Ever since my first review, I think I’ve replayed this game about 20 times (mostly on normal), so I decided to just log a replay already.
Great on easy, one of the best run & gun games oat on normal, and fucking mind numbing on hard. Don’t let people trick you into thinking Hard Corps is tougher than contra 3 on hard.
Hard mode is just goddamn impossible man, I had to use the Japanese version with infinite continues just to get far in it, and that second checkpoint in stage 6.. holy shit.
Play this on easy or normal, don’t even bother with hard unless it’s on the Japanese version. still love this game even if the stage 5 boss exists
Great on easy, one of the best run & gun games oat on normal, and fucking mind numbing on hard. Don’t let people trick you into thinking Hard Corps is tougher than contra 3 on hard.
Hard mode is just goddamn impossible man, I had to use the Japanese version with infinite continues just to get far in it, and that second checkpoint in stage 6.. holy shit.
Play this on easy or normal, don’t even bother with hard unless it’s on the Japanese version. still love this game even if the stage 5 boss exists