Contra: Operation Galuga - Review
At E3 2019, the last actual show, I was invited by Konami to check out a title that was not yet announced and as I was curious, I agreed almost right away. Contra: Rogue Corps was the game they were showing off and almost nothing about it felt like what Contra was and players seemed to have agreed. So when Konami announced Contra: Operation Galuga, a reimagining of the original title that spawned the series, I was cautious and now that it is here, was that the right position to take?
Coming into the game, I honestly wasn’t aware that this was a reimagining of the original release, for one main reason, I didn’t pay any attention to the game. This was not me being malicious or anything sinister, I honestly have just been burnt by the series too many times by this point that getting any form of excited will just invariably lead to disappointment. My only reason for hoping this might be a decent release was that WayForward were developing it, as the studio is not only known for their excellent side-scrolling titles, but they also crafted the fantastic Contra 4 on the Nintendo DS. So, with hope from the developer and low expectations, what was the end result, honestly it was just pure dumb fun and I loved it. The game offers a few modes, but you need to complete the game’s story mode first in order to access them all, so let us begin there.
As this is a reimagining of the first game, there are going to be some familiar beats, but greatly expanded upon. This is not so much a directors cut or anything, in fact its best to think of Operation Galuga as the District 9 to the original’s Alive in Joburg. The latter was the short film by Neill Blomkamp that inspired District 9 and the original Contra is doing the same here. The plot is mostly the same, Bill Rizer and Lance Bean have been sent by the EMC to the Galuga archipelago, a fictional land where months earlier something landed there from space and the islands were then taken over by the Red Falcon Organisation. As the pair push forward across the island, they soon learn that not all is what it was thought to have been, as an alien threat is attempting to cause havoc on the world, before an armada invades.
The story is pure B grade Hollywood, it is honestly the least important part of the game, but its still fun. Much like how The Expendables series has built a brand off of former action movie stars from the 80s and 90s returning to save the day again, Contra: Operation Galuga aims for the same level of campiness. The story isn’t bad, there are a host of characters that you will encounter across the games length and while some are more fleshed out than others, by the time the credits roll, you won’t really think about what just happened. While the bulk of the story is given at the start, as you meet new characters and move from mission to mission, more of the tale is told. You don’t have anyway of actually impacting the story, but as I said before its more of a mean to an end, rather than the focal point, for that the gameplay is the king.
If you have ever played any Contra game before, then you should know what to expect here, you run to the right and shoot everything that isn’t your friend, which if you play solo means everything. The games first level drops you on the islands outskirts and provides a few tutorials on how to play, but basically you run and shoot, simple. As you progress through the stage, you will encounter floating power up cases, shooting them will let you pick up a new weapon modifier and that in turn changes up how you approach things. There isn’t too much more depth to the game than that, as you get further and further into the game, the enemies will get stronger and tricker and even the stages will require more from you, but its mostly the same experience.
Where things change for this release is in two parts, the first is the character selection and the second is with the perks. To begin with you can only select from Bill and Lance, but eventually an island native in Ariana will join the fight. The game will actually ask you if you want the single hit mechanic of the old school games, or a more modern health bar, and if you go for the second option, your character selection will impact a few things. Bill for example has three health bars in that mode, but Ariana only has two, so she is quicker to fall in battle than Bill. But while that might seem like a downside, the characters have different abilities, so finding the one that works for you is going to be crucial. I tried all of the characters, but I just felt that Bill was a better fit for me, so I went with him, but you are not stuck with each character as they are when you first meet them, as perks are offered.
As you complete stages in the story mode, or the other modes, you will earn points and you can then use them to modify your next run. One of the earlier perks you can buy is the ability to earn an extra health piece, which for Ariana means 3 instead of 2, but for Bill it means 4. You can also get a perk that means you don’t lose your weapon if you die, or depending on the one you want, start a stage with a particular weapon modifier. While there are a decent selection of perks, you can only have two equipped at any time, meaning choosing will be important. The perks have different costs for them, so while you can easily get some cheap ones earlier on, they may not be that helpful when compared to the latter ones, so deciding when to buy is going to be as important as what to buy.
Now as for the games remaining modes, there are two, the arcade mode and the challenge mode. Arcade mode is just what you might think it is, the games story missions just without the story and it is honestly a great way to enjoying the levels without interruptions. If you select this mode there are additional characters that you can use here, including the Probotectors. The other mode only unlocks once you complete the story mode and it is the challenge mode, which is literally what the name says it is. There are a host of challenges from time trials to parkour levels, basic challenges made all the more daring with a host of restrictions applied to them, like not getting hit by anything. Some of them are simple sounding, but can be quite a challenge with the restrictions, but they are a nice fun change of pace from the rest of the game.
As for the game’s performance there really isn’t much to say, it runs fairly smooth, and looks great whilst doing it. Almost all of the stages have some parallax shift going on, rotating around and such, which helps add depth to them, but the most comes from the backgrounds. As the game is a run and gun, meaning you are almost always moving it can be easy to miss most of the little elements happening in the background. It wasn’t until my third attempt at the stage when Ariana appears that I noticed her in the background far sooner than when she starts to interact with you and the same happens in other stages. Without a doubt, one of the stages that looked the best to me, was a latter stage that has you running around giant crystals. Not only was it one of the most visually stunning ones, as running behind the crystals often distorted the look, like an actual crystal would.
The games soundtrack has some familiar melodies to it and they all sound fantastic, with the only time they really drop off being when characters speak in cutscenes. When you beat the story mode, you can purchase the original soundtrack from the NES release, as well as host of remix tracks. The games cast sounds great, with some voices being quite familiar to me, but regardless of the actors pedigree, they all feel right for the character they are playing, even the Probotectors sound good with their robotic resonance voice.
Contra: Operation Galuga was a game that had a lot to prove to me and it honestly delivered across the board. The game is just fun, there is a challenge to be had with some stages and of course the bosses, but even after dying against a few bosses multiple times, I never felt like it was being unfair. The overall run time of the story mode is short, but the challenges and arcade do add more to enjoy. If you are a fan of the old school entries or looking for something fun to play, this is one title that you need to sign up for.
The Score
8.5
Review code provided by Konami
The Pros
The gameplay is smooth, running, jumping and shooting just feels right
The bosses are challenging, but not punishing which helps keep things fun
The Cons
The overall run time is a bit short, more so if you only want the story
There are some weird visual hiccups from time to time, which stand out a bit
