Sunday, July 20, 2014

Review of Contra III: The Alien Wars

Contra III: The Alien Wars
Customer Ratings: 4.5 stars
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Contra III: The Alien Wars was really one of the first games that really showed people what the Super Nintendo was capable of. Released in 1992, this classic is now available on the Nintendo Wii's virtual console for 800 Wii Points (eight dollars respectively). It's a short game, but it's fairly addictive and easy to get into.

The Red Falcon is trying to take over the world, and the only two people who can stop this even alien menace are Bill (the blue guy) and Lance (the red guy). Contra has NEVER been about story. It's always been about gameplay. No matter how you look at it, and Contra III is divine.

The gameplay has been brought to new heights since the NES versions. You've got guns, super bombs you can use and to make things even better, you're able to carry two guns and switch between them on the fly, and even use both at the same time. Graphically it was one of the first SNES games to have a stylish look, and showed us just how much you could really put on the screen at any one time. The environments are decorative, the explosions look good, and the bosses are still some of the most detailed the Super Nintendo ever had.

Contra has always been known for its difficulty, and Contra III is no exception. Old fans of Contra, of course, remember the classic Konami cheat. It doesn't work in Contra III, but to compensate there are difficulty levels and you can choose to start off with more lives. Of course hardcore fans will go through the game on Hard Mode with the default 3 lives. If you thought the first two Contra games were hard, you haven't seen anything until you've played through Contra III on hard mode.

The only real drawback to the game is that it's pretty short. It's only six stages long and the levels themselves aren't really that long. It's got a ton of replay value to its credit, however, and fans will probably be dying to go through the game without getting hit once. So it has some good replay value at least. The only other drawback to the game, for Virtual Console, users is simply that while the Virtual Console version supports the Gamecube Controller, it's almost impossible to use, unless you want to find out just what ways your fingers can bend. A Super Nintendo game was no designed to be played with a Gamecube controller. So those downloading on Nintendo Wii's virtual console, keep in mind that without a Classic Controller, gameplay will be next to impossible.

Contra III is arguably the best one in the series, with the Sega Genesis version Hard Corp competing for this position. Both are strong games, and both were probably the last good Contra games to ever be released. Any fan of Run and Gun shooters will absolutely love this game.

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The Super NES is my personal favorite Nintendo system mainly for its large list of great games. When it first came out, it automatically had great games to start off with, which normally a system doesn't bring in the good batch until a few months later. This game, Contra III: The Alien Wars, is among the first batch of Super NES to be released into the market. And how did this game turn out? Nothing short than a gaming masterpiece.

THE GOOD

Contra brings back the elements of the original games, such as the "one hit equals death" aspect that many dislike, infinite ammunition and the variety of guns, and good ol' fashioned beatdown that can either be taken solo or you can bash your enemies with a friend in its two-player mode. In addition to this, you have the ability to "switch" weapons using the L and R buttons and when you hold onto both, you fire each weapon simultaneously (you can have two different or identical weapons at a time). In fact, if you wanted to keep the weapon, you can always select the other one in case. Also, the graphics are quite good for the time period, but really, if you're a true gamer you could care less.

The difficulty is a major point for me in the Contra series because the enemies keep coming at you and then at the end of each stage, you fight a humongous boss. Pure gaming bliss.

THE BAD

Find something wrong with this game usually causes fatality. If you think the lack of save points is a drawback, you're just a [....].

OVERALL

This game is among the elite entries in the Super NES's library. THIS IS A MUST HAVE. If you dislike this game and think that it's bad, you are wrong.

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You are a soldier in a futuristic year where aliens have appeared (from under the Earth) to take over the world while destroying it in the process. This game has said to be one of the most difficult ever, because of the exciting challenge in seven levels and the fact that if anything touches you, your dead! The gameplay is very good and offers several forms of gameplay from side scrolling platform shoot-em up action to overhead play against waves of soldiers, aliens and insects. You start off in a large US city with side scrolling, and then go onto the highways with an overhead view and work your way to the desert with a hidden alien structure deep in the Earth. There are tons of nice weapons, spread guns, homing missiles, lasers, flame throwers and more. The graphics and sound are amazing and each enemy is very detailed and overall challenging. The only downfall is that dying over and over again may get very annoying. 2 player similtaneous game.

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After two highly successful and ridiculously fun games on the NES, Konami brought Contra to the Super Nintendo. And wow did they do an incredible job. Contra III is my favorite SNES game and one of the best games for the system. It took everything that Contra did and just improved on it.

The graphics look great. The explosion effects, the gunfire, the levels, and even the backgrounds all look fantastic, even for a 16-bit system. The enemies are varied and well-designed, especially the bosses. Konami has always been extremely creative when it comes to the Contra bosses and they definitely topped themselves this time around. My personal favorite has always been the boss from Stage 1, the Beast Kimkoh. The sound effects and music are top-notch as well. Each level has its own catchy soundtrack and it just makes the entire experience more enjoyable.

All the classic weapons are back: the machine gun, the fire gun, the laser gun, and of course, the spread gun. I personally think it's all over once I get the spread gun. An interesting change is that you automatically start with a machine gun instead of a single shot rifle like in Contra and Super C. New weapons include the homing gun, which shoots enemy-seeking missiles, and the crush gun, which shoots standard rockets. There's also the return of the barrier shield and the grenades that kill everything onscreen. Vehicles are a big part of the game as well, and only add more diversity to the gameplay

The gameplay is fast-paced, intense, and extremely tough. As usual, one hit = death and you are bound to get hit without some practice. The controls are wonderful; tight, responsive, and easy to pick up and use. You can shoot in nearly any direction you want to with almost no effort. A new and particularly awesome feature is that you can hold L and R and press the fire button to shoot both your guns randomly in all directions as you jump and spin in the air. This is very effective in dealing with the endless onslaught of enemies and it looks really cool!

Is there anything wrong with this game? No. People say the game is short, but when you beat it, all you want to do is beat it again. Somehow Contra III manages to never get boring. And that's the game's strongest point: the replayability. You can sit down for five minutes, go gung-ho and just blast everything in sight or strategically take your time, plan your attack and try to beat the game. Either way works perfectly and is equally fun.

So all in all, the game is perfect in every regard: it's fun, challenging, highly-polished, and original. Contra III is a must-own if you have a Super Nintendo.

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Konami was one of the SNES's biggest supporters for the console back in the early '90s. They had such a presence during the NES's glory days and it only intensified later on. In 1992, they continued one of the company's best known franchises by releasing Contra III: The Alien Wars and it looked and played so well, they could have released it in the arcades and people would line up to play. They pulled out all the stops and kept the series' legendrary difficulty level intact to make sure it hit hard on the SNES.

Contra III sees the return of the heroes from the previous two entries as they once again stick their necks out to save the world from Red Falcon. Yes, the nemesis of the Contra series returns once again and this time his army of aliens and deformed creatures are bigger and meaner than ever. It's a straight shoot 'em up action game where you will explore 6 stages. You can choose your difficulty level from easy to hard as well as how many lives you want to start out with and configure your controller buttons. Each stage is littered with enemies and the infamous power ups like the Spread gun, the Laser and the Machine Gun. This time around, you can wield two different guns at the time and switch them back and forth on the fly. The more enemies you shoot, the more points you rack and eventually you earn extra lies (you'll need them too.) If the action gets too intense, grab a friend for the 2 player co op mode to double your chances of beating the game.

The PROS: This game looked amazing back then and it still holds up to the test of time. Contra III uses every bit of processing power from the SNES to deliver the best graphics the series has seen up to that point. The music rocks and gets you pumped to shoot enemies and destroy everything in sight. The sound effects and controls are spot on. You will not have a problem controlling your character or hearing how each gun sounds different from each other and shooting enemies and blowing up the boss characters sounds like sweet music to your ears. The 2 player co op mode means you can always get another person to play with you, doubling the fun you can have with this game.

The CONS: Compared to the previous two entries, this one is a somewhat, shorter game so it might disappoint some gamers. Contra III is manageable on both the easy and normal modes. But in order to see the game's ending sequence, you had to play it on hard mode and it is brutally hard. If you can't take an intense challenge, stay away from the hard mode. Grown men have tried and were left to console themselves and even to this date, I haven't legitimately beaten the game. So you have been warned.

Contra fans have already plowed through this game and very few of them have finished it on the hard difficulty level without cheating. Many will tell you that the series hit a very high point when this one came out and they are right. So for those who want to see what this game is about and are not afraid of having their game skills pushed to the limit, track down a copy of this game ASAP. You can also download this title for the Wii from their Virtual Console Service for 800 points (US $8.00) It's a game like no other from a series like no other. I highly recommend it.

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