Playing Through My Evercade Collection Part 3: Data East Collection 1

I still quite enjoy this. Its basically what happens when you take Contra and dilute it down a little and add a bit more control in aiming and a bit more control on weapon loadouts.

I enjoy it quite a bit. Sure its not a looker but its certainly something I happily play through casually.

One day, while I was fucking about on the Genesis Mini 2 that I definitely have, I stumbled upon this random game called Midnight Resistance, and I thought “Eh, why not, it may not be the worst thing ever”, and then one microsecond into starting the game, I then realized that it was a blatant Contra clone. I then got a tiny bit upset for a split second, until I then realized this game was made by Data East, and I thought “Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh… that makes way too much sense.” So, after that discovery, I then decided to stick through with the rest of the game, and to my surprise, I discovered that the game wasn’t a steaming pile of dogshit, and is instead somewhat good. Yes, it is still a blatant Contra clone, and it doesn’t do too much to stand out against it, but it is still fun at times, and there are things that the game does that I would actually like to see in an actual Contra title (and if they actually are in one of the games, I probably haven’t played that one yet, so stop typing that comment right now).

The story has plenty of plot elements that usually aren’t in games of this era, such as drug cartels, family kidnappings, and governments not wanting to help out (which isn’t too far off from the truth, AMIRITE), which is generic for the type of game this is, but the effort is appreciated, the graphics are fine for what they are, but not gonna lie, the animations for your character’s actions are pretty damn bad, the music is pretty good, even if some of the tracks are very samey, the control is not that good at all, with it being pretty hard to get used to, even if some parts of the control are admirable, as I will touch upon later, and the gameplay is what you would expect from a Contra clone, but there are some unique elements that make it stand out from it.

The game pretty much plays almost exactly like Contra, where you go through plenty of side-scrolling stages, shoot up anyone that stands in your way with plenty of weapons, gather said weapons and items from enemies to help you out along the way, and take on bosses at the end of each stage. Again, it is pretty much exactly like Contra, but unlike Contra, there are additions to the game that make it standout (somewhat) from those titles. First off, unlike in Contra, you have a button which allows you to lock onto a direction to aim while shooting, so for instance, if you are shooting up, and you hold down the button, you will continue to shoot up no matter what direction you move in afterwards. Not only is this a pretty good change to the gameplay, but it helped out tremendously when taking on the threats you face in this game (as well as helping deal with the jank-ass control).

In addition, the way you acquire weapons is also different. Unlike in Contra, where you can grab them from enemies whenever they drop them, instead here, at the end of each stage, you are taken to a storage room where you can use keys gathered from enemies to choose weapons, bombs, and other items to use for the upcoming stages. Yes, you could say this is more limiting compared to what Contra had, but it does let you try out the weapons to see which one is best, as well as strategize while using said weapons, which is appreciated. What also helps this is that, whenever you die, your weapons and items drop to the ground, allowing you a chance to pick them back up when you respawn, which was also really helpful, especially when it happened in some pretty tough fights.

Of course though, this is no Contra, and as such, it does have issues that need addressing. Ignoring the control and graphics issues I already mentioned, some of the bosses can be pretty damn annoying, which is understandable, given what the game is, but it is still apparent, there is limited ammunition for special weapons, which just seems unnecessary for this type of game, and there is plenty of slowdown that can be found in some sections where a lot is happening on screen. In addition, unlike Contra, which had different types of stages to mix up the gameplay and keep things fresh, this game just has the 2D side-scrolling stages only, which isn’t really all that bad, but I’m just saying, if you are gonna blatantly copy another game, you may as well go all the way with it. Really though, those are the only real problems that I have with the game, as aside from that, it is only held down moreso by just not holding up in comparison to the big boys, and anyone who has played said big boys would know exactly what I am talking about.

Overall, while not a bad game by any means, and while it does have a few admirable elements that I wish that its inspiration series would take after, at the end of the day, this is just when you ask your parents if you can have Contra, but they tell you they have Contra at home, and of course, it isn’t as good or exciting as the original thing. I would only recommend it for those who really love Contra, and want something else to satiate that desire for more of it, but aside from that, it doesn’t really warrant any kind of attention. It really makes sense though, when looking at the title of the game, since it really is a MIDnight Resistance that we are dealing with here.

Game #252