Contra Advance: The Alien Wars EX (GBA) Playthrough [4K]
3"Contra Advance: The Alien Wars EX" is a side-scrolling shooter developed and published by Konami in 2002 for the Game Boy Advance. It's a port of the classic Konami game "Contra III: The Alien Wars" for the Super NES. The game maintains the energetic design of its predecessor, featuring intense side-scrolling action across six levels. By the end of each level, there's a huge boss to defeat. The port, however, omits some of the more graphically intense levels present in the original, replacing them with side-scrolling levels from the Genesis game "Contra: Hard Corps".
The gameplay involves players navigating a commando character through levels filled with alien enemies, employing a combination of running, jumping, and shooting. The game relies on trial-and-error memorization, as players encounter fast-moving aliens and projectiles, losing a life upon contact. While the graphics generally remain faithful to the original console version, the absence of the original's overhead rotate-and-shoot levels results in a more monotonous experience, lacking the variety found in the 16-bit version. The game also has a two-player co-op mode.
Overall, it's an enjoyable shooter with its intense action, but too too short with only six missions. While the game captures the essence of the classic Contra series, it falls short of meeting expectations with its short length and limited variety in level design. The bar has been set very high with earlier entries in the series, and this game doesn't quite reach it.