Game:

C: The Contra Adventure (1998)

Category:

Let's Play

Duration: 14:26

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"C: The Contra Adventure" is the second of two Contra games developed by Konami (of America) and co-produced with Appaloosa Interactive in 1998, the previous title being "Contra: Legacy of War" which was released for both Playstation and Sega Saturn in 1996 and 1997 respectively. Unlike the previous game, this game was only released in the U.S. In the game (which takes place several months after C:LoW), a meteorite infested with advanced alien lifeforms has fallen to Earth somewhere in South America, where it's revealed that they are spreading to invade the planet from an ancient Mayan temple. The elite Contra Force has gone their seperate ways with their leader, Ray, retiring after survivng several major campaigns. However, due to the great danger the meteorite poses (with a Contra operative, Tanya, sent to gather intelligence but not returning), the world needs Ray to come back to fight once more as he is the most skilled and best suited for the task.

The game improves over C:LoW in some ways but falters in other ways. On one hand, the game includes ten relatively long levels with varying gameplay styles from classic side-scrolling Contra stages to 3D explorable dungeons with 360 movement to overhead fragfests to even what is known as the "Weightless Elevator View" which alternates between multi-directional and three-dimensional action on a single screen. The classic view is enough to appease fans of the old Contra while the 3D stages expand upon what C:LoW presented and is an interesting addition. However, while the side-scrolling segments are relatively challenging and enjoyable, the 3D levels suffer from terrible aiming and camera issues, not to mention Ray's controls are just plain clunky in these segments and the camera will seem like it's out to kill you. This is offset somewhat as you don't die from everything in one hit (though there are still plenty of things that kill in one blow), but the enemies spawn entirely too quickly and make some segments unnecessarily cheap. It's also kinda lame that you only play with Ray, though he can gain access to the better half of a dozen weapons. If you just want to play and practice levels however, there are several codes (don't do the training level; it doesn't train you for much and is kinda useless).

The audio/visuals are pretty good for a Playstation game. While not as imaginative as past Contra games, the side-scrolling segments are crisp enough and there are some decent background details and special effects as well. The 3D levels are okay (about par the course for the time) and aren't an eyesore. Additionally, the framerate is steady enough and there's lots of action and areas to explore as the levels are pretty large. The music is in the spirit of the Contra franchise and is nice to listen to, but the sound effects and short ditties are kinda muffled and low quality... they don't detract from the experience, but I found it a little lazy. Overall, the game is kinda interesting... if the 3D levels featured tighter controls and the game featured a few more options, it'd be a game I'd have no problem recommending to fans of old-school action games. As-is with its play issues, I'd recommend it only to die-hard action and Contra fans.

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