Even without a Konami Code, Contra III still manages to please.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewmini/36127
Contra games are tough. Even on the easiest difficulty, you will still see a Game Over screen on the first stage if you’re not careful. Nevertheless, Contra III: The Alien Wars manages to balance difficulty and gameplay extremely well -- if only the North American VC release had the Konami Code to balance it out even further.
Like most arcade-style action games, the story in Contra III is minimal: aliens invade and it’s up to you to shoot down every last one of them. The stages vary from a linear side-scrolling shoot-’em-up, to stages displayed with top-down perspective where you have to hunt down enemy pods and destroy them. The side-scrolling stages are better than the top-down levels, which can be a bit annoying to traverse since you change directions with the shoulder buttons. While I died a lot in this game, it still felt fair because I was able to learn how certain enemies attack, run, etc.
The graphics are impressive, yet show their age. While your character and the smaller enemies tend to be super pixelated, the game runs extremely fluidly, rarely ever slowing down due to the number of objects on screen. The bosses are the best example of this fluidity, as they can each take up nearly half the screen but move just as fast as any other enemy.
Unfortunately, North Americans do not get the Japanese version, which has codes for 30 Lives and Stage Select, making it superior in my opinion. While the Restore Point feature might eliminate the need for Stage Select, it would have been nice for the option of switching the ROM to be included with the purchase of the North American version. Nonetheless, Contra III is still a classic game that I recommend.
Topic: Contra III: The Alien Wars Review Mini (Read 2093 times)
