Highlights

Campus News

Wildcat Weekly Minute for Nov. 17, 2011

A look at what's happening on campus this week.

Faith

Cleansed through the Cross

Dr. Quarles speaks on the efficacy of Christ's sacrifice at weekly chapel

Sports

LC hoops teams wrap up homestand with pair of wins

Off to Ozarks, UT-Dallas next

Organizations

LC media student give to Toys for Tots

More than 100 toys will help local charity

Campus Life

February is Heart Health Awareness Month

Stay healthy and 'God Red'

Culture

All the Shakespeare you could laugh at… and more!

tlc's adaptation of 'Shakespeare Abridged' pulls out all the stops

Special Coverage

LC brings another successful ‘Follow the Star’

'Christmas on the Hill' and 'Gala' add to festive weekend

Konami’s Contra 4 a successful return for a legendary series

by Quinn Lavespere

Konami made a triumphant return to the Contra series with Contra 4.

Few gaming franchises can still run strong after 20 years. The Contra series is one of those exceptions.

The year 2007 saw legendary game company Konami celebrate the 20th anniversary of its critically acclaimed Contra series with the release of Contra 4. Over the past few years, the Contra series had not gone so well quality-wise, and Konami’s last title Contra title, Neo-Contra, had not received many favorable reviews. As they prepared the 11th installment of the Contra series, Konami was looking for a return to the gameplay that made Contra so well-loved.

So how does the official follow up to the classic Contra 3: The Alien Wars fare? It is indeed a great triumph and return to form for the Contra series.

Taking place two years after Contra 3, Contra 4 sees series heroes Bill Rizer and Lance Bean lead a team that seeks to stop the forces of Black Viper from laying waste to the planet Earth. To do so, the team must traverse nine levels filled with vicious enemies and guarded by terrifying bosses.

Despite being a new entry into the series, Contra 4 feels like a pleasant trip down memory lane for many Contra veterans. Some of Contra’s most famous bosses return to harass our heroes, and several memorable levels, such as the Waterfall and Jungle, also reappear. Furthermore, a few of Contra’s most acclaimed music tracks have been specially remixed for this game, and veteran Contra players will no doubt be happy to hear them again.

The Contra series is famous for its brutal difficulty, and Contra 4 makes an effort to preserve that tradition. Those new to Contra will find Contra 4’s difficulty overwhelming, as even Easy mode will keep players on their toes. Making it more frustrating is that the final two levels of Contra 4 are removed on Easy difficulty, leaving it up to players to battle Normal difficulty and the nightmarish Hard difficulty if they want to truly complete the game.

As players traverse through Contra 4, they will be able to unlock bonus content not available at the start of the game. Completing the game once on any difficulty will unlock a Challenge mode that will make it possible to discover the rest of the bonus content. I will not reveal anything about the bonus content, but I will say that there are a few pleasant surprises involved that makes it worthwhile to fully complete Challenge mode and defeat Contra 4 on higher difficulties.

Boasting vintage gameplay, terrific music and nice graphics, Contra 4 is the best game since 1994’s Contra: Hard Corps, considered by some Contra fans to be the greatest Contra ever. I give it a 9.5 out of 10.

Contra 4 is rated Teen by the ESRB for violence, minimal blood and gore, and mild language.

This entry has been viewed 505 times.