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Full Lineup Revealed For Upcoming Contra Collection

by Donald Theriault - May 29, 2019, 5:31 pm EDT
Total comments: 10 Source: IGN

NES Contra? Confirmed.

Konami has revealed the full list of games for the upcoming Contra Anniversary Collection, and it's full of variations.

The collection was revealed to IGN this week, with the following included in the US$19.99 collection:

  • Contra (arcade, NES, and Famicom)
  • Super C (NES)
  • Super Contra (arcade)
  • Operation C (Game Boy)
  • Contra III: The Alien Wars/Super Probotector: Alien Rebels (SNES)
  • Contra: Hard Corps/Probotector (Genesis/Mega Drive)

The original Contra was included in the original four games announced for the collection, but it wasn't clear which version would be included. The Probotector titles are versions of Contra III/Hard Corps for the European market, which altered the main characters and enemies to avoid running afoul of early 1990s European content regulations.

Talkback

ejamerMay 30, 2019

That's a solid price for that list of games.

However, it's a shame that the excellent Contra 4 release from DS and Contra Rebirth release from WiiWare are MIA. Both seem like underappreciated (or at least underplayed) games from this excellent series.

ShyGuyMay 30, 2019

Oh man, NES Contra! NES CONTRA!

also, there's a different Famicom version?


edit:

Quote:

The Fami version also has cut-scenes and a rather cool Ghouls n Ghosts style overworld map.

OH HO HO!

Luigi DudeMay 30, 2019

It should also be worth noting the Japanese version of Contra 3 and Hard Corps is suppose to be patched later after game release, which is kind of a big deal as well.  Hard Corps is almost a different game since they cranked up the difficulty to an insane degree for the West.  The original Japanese version has a lifebar so you can take 3 hits before you die.  This was done because the game was designed to be a more action packed, boss fight oriented game so taking hits was more likely to happen, hence why the developers added a lifebar to balance out the gameplay change compared to previous game.

So when Konami decides to remove the lifebar for the West because they don't like people renting, it completely destroys the games difficulty balance and leaves behind something with an insanely unfair, similar to what they did with the 2nd half of Castelvania 3, except now the entire game is like that.

Then for the Japanese version of Contra 3 while not a huge change gameplay wise, is certainly more player friendly.  In the Japanese version of Contra 3 you can see the games ending if you beat it on Normal, while the Western version requires being beaten on Hard to see.  The Japanese version also allows the Konami code to be input for 30 lives while that was removed from the West as well.

Ian SaneMay 30, 2019

25 years too late I now think of a better approach to combat renting rather than ruining the game for everyone including people that bought it.  Some titles were released as rental-only at major chains like Blockbuster so we know the game industry made deals with the rental chains.  What companies like Konami should have done is release their difficulty increased versions as rental exclusives and made deals with the major chains.  Maybe the rental version gets released a month earlier as a carrot for the rental store and to create interest for the retail release, which is the normal version of the game.  Since deals are made with the chain itself then Blockbuster probably can't offer the normal version of the game without breaking the contract but they also don't really have much incentive to get the retail version when they already have something virtually identical available to rent (and 99% of the customers wouldn't know the difference anyway).

Of course this wouldn't effect mom-n-pop video stores who probably obtained their rental games through retail but targeting the chains would cover the majority of the rentals and in a large enough volume that it would decrease the amount of sales "lost" due to someone beating the game in a rental.  The differences in difficulty don't even have to be made known to the public.  The rental version could simply be promoted as being different solely as being available pre-release and the higher difficulty modes could be available as an option in the retail version or as a code.  Or they just tell the public that the rental version of a "preview" and that the game is subject to change by the time its released, which is always does.

Mop it upMay 30, 2019

With so many versions of games, this seems like a bit of an odd collection. Also, aren't Super C, Super Contra, and Operation C pretty similar to each other as well?

ShyGuyMay 30, 2019

This is probably my GOTY 2019 and it hasn't even come out yet.

Luigi DudeMay 30, 2019

Quote from: Mop

With so many versions of games, this seems like a bit of an odd collection. Also, aren't Super C, Super Contra, and Operation C pretty similar to each other as well?

Super Contra and Super C have some different levels and bosses between them.  Plus Super Contra being an arcade game has a higher difficulty as well with more enemies on screen.  So there's some decent differences between those two games.  Operation C is suppose to be pretty similar to Super C but I've read there's some changes here and there in the levels so might as well include it for completion sake.

broodwarsMay 30, 2019

I find the lack of Contra 4 a missed opportunity since, unlike Castlevania, there really isn't room for another collection. Yeah, it's a DS game, and blowing it up to 1080p wouldn't do the game a lot of favors...but at the same time there's a GameBoy game on here, where it would be even worse.

AdrockMay 30, 2019

Quote from: ejamer

However, it's a shame that the excellent Contra 4 release from DS and Contra Rebirth release from WiiWare are MIA. Both seem like underappreciated (or at least underplayed) games from this excellent series.

Including Contra Rebirth would make this an instant buy for me since I missed the boat WiiWare. As of now, I’m not terribly interested in this compilation.

Quote from: Luigi

It should also be worth noting the Japanese version of Contra 3 and Hard Corps is suppose to be patched later after game release, which is kind of a big deal as well.

I’m not understanding the whole patch-the-Japanese-version-in-later dealie. It’s nice and all because Konami didn’t have to do anything. At the same time, these games have been out for 37 years. Isn’t it more work to patch old ROMs in later than include everything from the start? What is life? Am I having a stroke?

Ian SaneMay 31, 2019

In regards to Contra 4 or Rebirth, it's pretty clear from the list that this is covering a specific time period of the Contra series.  There's also no Shattered Soldier for example and that would also be a good inclusion.  This is 8 and 16 bit era games only.  Odds are they'll save the later Contra games for a potential sequel.

The Castlevania Collection was the same way.  There was an obvious date coverage for it so that's why titles like Adventure Rebirth and the Metroidvanias weren't included.

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