This game's apparent word play on 'hardcore' is a pretty accurate descriptor as far as things go because Contra Hard Corps is a crazy intense experience from start to finish.

The game starts with an armored car barreling through enemies in a desolate city before crashing with your character smashing through the windshield into immediate action. You literally hit the ground running to the crunching electronic soundtrack. The game just never lets up from this manic start with giant robot bosses, bike chases, aliens, dropships, helicopters and other things I don't want to spoil because on each replay I was constantly surprised by the amount of crazy content Konami fit onto this game.

This is the first Contra I have played with a real attempt at story. Set 5 years after Contra III with a terrorist group led by a former soldier stealing an alien cell to experiment on. The great thing about it though is there are cutscenes and story choices that actually direct the flow of the game into a branching path with multiple endings and stages giving it a good amount of re-playability to see all the different variations, additional levels and boss fights.

You can choose between four different characters to play as; Ray, Sheena, Browny and Brad. Two humans, a robot and a ...werewolf? Each character can carry up to 4 weapons collected as you play which they can freely swap between. When you die you only lose the weapon you were carrying which can be used strategically if you're good enough similar to one of my other favorite megadrive games Thunder Force IV. Additionally each characters arsenal is actually different so there is some variation in experimenting between which you like most. No matter who you pick this game just feels good to play. Movements are precise, smooth and fast with the option to lock in place to fire without moving, slide and weapon switch. It just feels comfortable.

Not going to lie, after not really enjoying most of the older Contra's going into this kind of blew me away. The only thing to be really aware of is Contra Hard Corps isn't a walk in the park. I used save states on the anniversary collection to make it through and did find my first play through frustrating. On my 5th run having grown accustomed to the controls and fast paced run and gun gameplay however I was starting to fly through it so depending on your skill level there may be a barrier to get past but I can't recommend this enough. There was no need for Konami to go this hard (corps).

+ Crazy set pieces, enemies and fast paced gameplay.
+ Crunchy pounding music.
+ Gorgeous sprites and visuals.
+ Doesn't let up.

- May be a bit too hard for some people.

Yeah, It's fucking awesome. Konami squeezed every little thing out of the mega drive with this one. The music rocks, there's explosions and shit everywhere, four playable characters, you can slide now, there's branching levels, a secret ending where you fight a robot belmont (y'know, the castlevania guys), go back in time and become monkey king or whatever, and it's actually accessible with a heavy asterisk because yet again 90s game localizers and/or publishers were just moronic sometimes and were convinced that everything needed to be made arbitrarily harder to artificially extend playtime. There's no beating around the bush here, play the Japanese version. If limited continues and one hit per death sounds daunting, just know that there's always a version of the game available with unlimited continues and 3 hit points per life. This and Alien soldier cement the mega drive as the platform for run 'n guns of the time. Pure high octane, high adrenaline action.

Hard Corps idea of an introduction is having you plow through some unsuspecting goons with your truck tank and it doesn't stop escalating for the remainder of its terse runtime. A single one of Hard Corps vividly imagined and gorgeously animated encounters would probably drain a considerable portion of a modern triple a production's budget but here the mega cyclops tearing up half the city in the first stage gets checks notes 30 seconds. That there are multiple characters, paths and endings slathered on to this action behemoth is the cherry on top for me. What a wonderful introduction to the world of run and guns.

The best game on the series was somehow on the Mega Drive all this time. I legit wasn't expecting to like Hard Corps this much.

For starters, four different characters, each with their own weapon loadout - that's sixteen mostly distinct guns. My favorite ended up being FANG, a humanoid wolf with a gun for an arm, that also wears sunglasses. Video games, man.

Half of his guns don't shoot in multiple directions, but they are all absurdly powerful, making for an incredibly satisfying character.

The game also features some branching paths, with a few unique levels between those paths.

There is also a slide with some very generous i-frames, and it's immensely satisfying to use that.

But really, maybe what puts this above other games in the series is that this is a healthy challenge. Something like Contra 4, for example, is absolutely brutal, and the NES games are stuck in that memorization arcade mentality.

The auto-scroller boss is a bit of a pacing killer though, and fairly brainless. So brainless that you can actually fast-forward through a good chunk of the fight on an emulator, since the screen just auto-scrolls and you can't damage him at all in these sections. Lame.

Play the Japanese version though, or the American version with the proper romhack. It features a 3-hit life bar and infinite continues, while the western release has you die in one-hit and features limited continues, get out of here.

Did the two routes I skipped over on my first playthrough this time. I don't think I'm as partial to these two (Ultimate Being and Alien Heart) as the others, but it's not really important. What is important is just how much content and replayability there is here. More surprising is the amount of grotesque detail in all the final bosses, the unique movement and code for every individual boss, all that kind of stuff. I would say I don't know how this was pulled off in 1994, but if you look around a bit there is an absurd amount of cracked games from that year, and really the 93-95 period as a whole.

Gunstar Heroes is still my preferred of the two, but a big thing I like more here is the convenience of switching between free and fixed shots on a dime, whereas in Gunstar Heroes you have to choose between them at the start and stick with that. The soundtracks are about on par with each other, and Gunstar wins in most other aspects for me. Both 10s for sure though, and I'm not sure how I didn't realize it for my first playthrough of either of them.

I talked about it the first time, but this is actually another victim of difficulty being ramped up in the US version. I'm not actually sure if there's translated versions of the JP rom, but there are patches to add its health bar and unlimited continues into the US version. I would definitely recommend that first.

Fuck, man. I love run n' guns. I oughta try Metal Slug soon, everybody seems to love that one.

There comes a point where in your goal to push a franchise's spectacle as far as possible, you'll eventually hit an absolute limit on what you can do. Hard Corps is that limit. No other Contra game after this one managed to reach this level of insanity and creativity. They might still be fun, but they will all be aping what Hard Corps and Contra 3 already did, and did so perfectly. But, probably the most insane thing about it is that not many people talk about Hard Corps, even though this may very well be the best Contra game out there, more than the NES one, more than Contra 3.

I feel like I'm a broken machine everytime I talk about the impressiveness of a 90's Konami game made for the Genesis, but come on, you've played one or two of them, you know that you're in for some good shit with the next one. So, perhaps I could instead talk about Hard Corps introducing the choice of four playable characters, each with their own unique arsenal of weaponry? (although i'll obviously still use the guy with the spread shot, i mean, come on)

Or, how about the fact that there are now multiple routes, that lead to multiple different stages, that lead to multiple different endings? In Hard Corps, the replayability no longer just stems from practicing and mastering the same set of 6 stages. Now, there's choice, and that choice impacts the events that play out, and the obstacles you'll face. Perhaps you'll have a preferred route, or perhaps you'll want to master each individual one. The game leaves that up to you.

Still, it is Contra, and if you were ever looking for a point where Contra becomes more accessible, this ain't it. Everything's still a motherfucker to overcome, alongside your limited lifes and weakness to toe-stubs. Interestingly, I've learned that this is another one of those examples where the game was made harder over in the west. You've got three hits that you can take in the Japanese version, but you've only got one everywhere else, the classic Contra standard. Depending on what kind of player are you, seeking out a romhack that incorporates the 3-hit system may be recommended. Alternatively, a cheat code for more lifes.

And if you can't beat the game the way the western version intends, then trust me, you really do want to go out of your way to set up some cheats for yourself. Because whether you're good at Hard Corps or not, it's worth playing just so you can go "oh wow" or "oh shit!" every 10 seconds. Contra Hard Corps goes hard on every aspect. The soundtrack, the feel of the weapons, the graphics, the visual effects, the replayability... it's just so damn good that it's worth seeing no matter your skill ceiling. This, right here, is where Contra peaked, and more people need to be aware of that.

Maravilloso.

No es solo arduo: es entretenido. No es injusto: es difícil. No insulta al jugador: apela más al aprendizaje que al reflejo.

De los mejores run and gun, a la altura de la trilogía Metal Slug.

Cleared on March 4th, 2023 (SEGA Genesis Challenge: 2/160)

Contra Hard Corps is a 2D side scroller shoot em up where you run through dangerous battlefields and enemy territories to stop them of their devious plan to use the Alien cell for world domination, and it is radical. It's really hard as you lose a life in one hit (oddly some versions have it where you take three hits before losing a life), but it's a game that you can get really good at because it doesn't go over-the-top with its difficulty through spikes although still hard enough that it may warrant using save states if you don't have patience.

They save the over-the-top aspect for the visuals and the action because good god it's wild. It's a sci-fi military world in chaos with machines and aliens running rampant and it looks incredible in its pixelated form. Also, I just love the music of this game. GTR attack is a hype-infusing song that boosts adrenaline and the bosses that this song accompanies tend to be the most fast-paced. The Last Springsteen invokes terror and suspense as you are about to square off against whatever monster you end up having to face last.

One of more interesting features of this game is that it has multiple routes which lets them add so much to the overall game while confining the general length and encouraging replay value to see what set of bosses you will get to face next. There are four routes that change based on the simple decision that only serves to move you along one of those routes. Of course, some bosses are mandatory to fight in all routes.

If this somehow sounds tedious, there are four playable characters and you could do what I did and assign those characters to a specific route. I'll go over them one by one.
Ray is about what you'd expect a Contra character to be. All of them share the same core mechanics as you jump, you shoot, you run, duck, and even powerslide (which from my understanding is new for this game and you are going to need it). However, Ray has weapons that are familiar enough to a classic Contra game like the Spread Shot from all Contra games and the Homing Shot from Contra III. However, from what I hear, the Spread Shot is argued as the best weapon in most of those games, but here, it feels kinda underwhelming and really, he's just the most underwhelming of all the characters to me.
Sheena is a favorite of mine as all of her weapons feel useful in some way. Her weapons deal impressive damage and if she needs some spread damage, then her Ax Laser should help her.
Fang is a cool character in visual style, a cyborg anthro wolf with sunglasses? That's awesome! But when playing as him, be extremely careful during the opening level because early on he picks up a charged shot in the middle of an enemy barrage that will put a delay on your attacks which will make you very suspectible to getting taken down. This is an issue exclusive to Fang and unlike the others, he doesn't really have a "Spread" shot, but his weapons do supposedly the most damage.
But then we get to Browny who is quite frankly the most busted character in the game. He's small which gives him an advantage when it comes to having a smaller hitbox than all the others. He doesn't jump as high, but why worry about that when he could double jump? He has many weapons for different situations be it single-target damage or pulverizing mobs. But what really stands out is his Yo-Yo which just shreds bosses and it locks on too. So if you ever find yourself struggling with this game, bring these guy out.

The routes themselves also linked with difficulty. Route A and B are kinda easy (at least for this game's standards), but Route C and D are pretty hard. My advice is to just start with Route A and then go from there, and you'll have a much better time with the game.

But regardless of how you do it, it's a fun game and among my favorites from the Sega Genesis catalog.

January 7th, 2024 Update: I went back to replay the game as the Japanese version intended with 3 hit points, and I was shocked at how easy the game was in comparison. Not only does 3 hits give you a better chance to not get smoked almost instantly at the first level, but because of how the game's mechanics work where you lose the weapon you have equipped upon losing a life, you can actually hold on to your weapon much longer which allows you to deal significantly more damage throughout the game, making it much faster to clear. If Contra Hard Corps is giving you a hard time, finding the means to buff your health points be it through a patch or the Japanese version may be your best shot.

Alrighty, I had actually never heard of Contra Hard Corps prior to this, in fact the only game like this I heard of was Hard Corps which was a spiritual successor to this game. I honestly think this game does a lot of stuff that took Contra to that next level that I didn't think it'd go to.

You get options of 4 characters and all have different loadouts that differ quite heavily from each other. the game goes at a VERY fast pace and it's quite difficult for it, sometimes to the point of being unfair. The bosses are actually a joy to fight because they don't follow any of the conventions of the past games and stages are all different and have different story paths leading to different bosses and different stages connecting.

I feel like this is how the Contra series should have moved forward, while this game is pretty hard, it's rewarding by being different and a breath of fresh air to the series.

Has some weird pacing--Long Hand Guy is a vibe-killer every time--and there are some parts that are way too easy to cheese with homing weapons... but other than that, this is a kick-ass and truly generous video game, with 4 playable characters (each with 4 unique weapons) and branching paths with six different endings. Plus, if you're playing the JP version, you get infinite continues, checkpoints, three hits before a death, and restored health at the end of a level(!!!); which, on top of the nice bevy of extends you get for scoring, makes for a downright pleasant 1CC experience (depending greatly, of course, on the path you choose).

The Mega Drive was just a goddamn embarrassment of riches for run-and-guns, huh? Alien Soldier is my one true king, but I honestly don't know which I'd choose between this and Gunstar Heroes... shocked to even be saying that, but there it is. GG Konami.

Finally: best character-select screen in a video game? Maybe. (Has anyone made a Coolest-Character-Select-Screens list on here? I should do that.)

The game is good, I liked it, the feeling of going back through old levels and mastering them to get another shot at making it deeper in and eventually beating the game is a gameplay loop I enjoyed. However, it frankly feels like this game just didn't earn a lot of those restarts. Attacks that came out without warning or were too fast to reasonably react to as a first time were where the majority of my deaths came from here, rarely did I actually die to a boss after learning what their attacks did and what their telegraphs were. It felt like it was forcing me to go back instead of me going back as a result of me not being good enough. But admittedly that isn't a terrible issue, the game (on a single run) is short, only taking about 6 levels to get to the end (at least on the path I took, I assume the others are around the same length).

The game has very high replayability, with 4 distinct characters to choose from and different level paths being available, which definitely helps the longevity of what would otherwise be a pretty short game.

The game aesthetically is wonderful, high quality visuals with a great soundtrack that perfectly fits the gameplay as well. I really love the sounds the Genesis produces in general, it makes for good music.

I think Contra Hard Corps was a good game, but it's overhyped, especially in the difficulty area. If this is the best the series has to offer, I'm unsure if I'll continue spending my time with Contra. I do hope to complete the other paths of this game in the near future though, maybe I'll change my mind on it after I truly finish this one.