Contra Force appeared for that NESsystem and was originally called Arc Hound. Someone decided to name the game Contra, probably to increase sales. I can understand why; there are definitely similarities in appearance and gameplay mechanics to Contra. But the name comes with certain expectations that Contra Force can't live up to. Even if you separated it from the series, it would still be bad.
A community effort
Unlike most titles in the series, Contra Force is a group effort. You have four characters to choose from: team leader Burns, Smith, Iron and what you don't say, Beans. There are numerous differences between the characters, such as B. Burn's ability to jump higher and Bean's perpetual crouch stance that lets bullets fly past, but most of it revolves around their guns.
The weapon system
The existing weapon system has more in common with Gradius than with the other titles. Instead of the familiar weapon pods, you collect suitcases to progress down a Gradius-like weapon bar. Each character has their own weapons, with three of the upgrades being shared and only two weapons being unique to each member. Burns has a machine gun for rapid fire or hand grenades. Smith has a sniper rifle that lets his shots span the entire length of the screen and homing missiles. Irons has a short-range flamethrower and a bazooka, while Beans is equipped with either time bombs or time mines.
System and Practice in Contra Force
This system is actually a nice idea, but in practice it's just uninteresting. Most weapons are just awful. The hand grenades are thrown in an arc, which is good for getting enemies behind cover but otherwise useless. The homing missiles spend more time circling enemies than taking them out. At least the sniper rifle is useful, but you shouldn't need an upgrade to keep the bullets flying farther. Beans' two weapons only make sense in the overhead levels, and there are only two of those. On top of that, you have to really search to find briefcases in order for you to get any upgrades at all. There are many destructible objects in the environment and just as many suitcases placed over bottomless pits.
Some cool features
You can switch characters at any time, which is necessary for a number of reasons. Each has their own pool of lives, and the game doesn't automatically switch when one dies. You can also set a character to follow you as an AI companion in one of six formations. These formations last six seconds, but you can spam them at will. However, the probability that you will do so is zero.
The frame rate
That's because Contra Force runs at a lousy frame rate. The game runs completely in slow motion. Konami seems to have been aware of this, as there are rarely more than two enemies on screen at once. If you blow up the environment, the game stutters even more and you get some of the worst flickering on the system. This makes the side-scrolling levels that make up most of the game almost completely unbearable. When you think of contra, you picture fast action, but certainly not this one.
overhead levels
The only levels that don't suffer are the overhead levels. These levels are the best in the game. But they too suffer from being way too long and full of repetitive scenes. That pretty much sums up Contra Force; for every good element there are two bad ones dragging it down.
Conclusion
It's a shame that the entire production suffers from so many flaws, as there are some ideas that suffer from terrible execution. Contra Force is a terrible game that still needs a lot of work to be decent. The sad part is that this isn't even the low point of the series.
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