In all my years of gaming, I’ve rarely heard a bad word about Contra – Konami’s 1987 hard but fair run ‘n gun shooter. It’s the game that often headlines dubious NES-based plug ‘n play consoles, no doubt much to Konami’s infuriation. Even today, when a new run ‘n gun game is announced it’s usually compared to either Contra or Metal Slug, and that’s despite the series being stuck in a rut for a decade or so. The task of making Contra great again has been put upon WayForward, creators of Contra 4 for Nintendo DS, and it’s pleasing to see Konami hand off the franchise to a studio with experience.
The volcanic island set Operation Galuga is a soft reboot, being a reimagining of the 1987 original rather than a new game or full-on remake. The third-person segments haven’t made the jump, replaced with things such as stage two’s new motorbike chase scene, and there are a few surprises along the way – especially when it comes to bosses. New characters are also introduced, including the return of the Probotectors from the PAL version, along with a mech unit that can hover. The references go far beyond this, with a choice of OSTs from various Konami franchises, allowing you to play the Challenge Mode with classic Castlevania tunes. A pleasant surprise.
For its visual style, it features 3D characters and backdrops, and for the most part it looks rich and vibrant, backed by subtle lighting and explosions with particle effects. Bosses are large and well-animated, and upon defeat most have elaborate death animations. Playing on Xbox Series X it runs like greased lightning too. I wouldn’t hesitate to call it polished visually, being one of WayForward’s better looking games. It also controls well, with the default characters (Bill and Lance) able to double jump, dash, hang from ledges, and aim in eight directions. Holding RT affixes characters to the spot, allowing for free aiming – handy for targeting a boss’ weak point.
Two weapons can be carried, with the default being a rapid firing machine gun, and new weapon types are constantly doled out on the battlefield via flying drones. Every weapon here feels delightfully overpowered, with the flame unit burning through troops, and the homing weapon making some sections a little too easy. Grabbing the same weapon icon twice will power it up, but upon death it’ll be lost for good. Another feature is that weapons can be overcharged – it’ll be destroyed in the process, but for a few seconds the screen will be filled with formations of bullets, varying depending on weapon consumed.
If you’ve bounced off past Contra games, you’ll probably be relieved to hear that Operation Galuga is pretty forgiving – a frustrating final stage, with rising goo and too many vertical climbs, notwithstanding. The eight stages last 10-15 minutes each, and have several checkpoints, including one just before a boss. Characters can withstand three hits and have four lives as default and retries are infinite. Then there’s the matter of the perk system. Credits are awarded throughout play, allowing perks to be purchased – two of which can be equipped. These include an extra starting life, an extra health point, increased invincibility after taking a hit, and starting stages with certain weapons. The perk store later expands to selling OSTs and new characters – and to unlock everything will take a considerable amount of time.
And that’s kind of the rub here. Operation Galuga is a thoroughly arcade-like experience that can be beaten in an hour once familiar, or around two hours if you’re going in fresh. The idea is to play through it again, and again, tackling the Arcade Mode and beating bosses without taking a hit (achievement/trophy quota) and seeing the unique endings for each character. Even during the first playthrough, it’s easy to see how a 1CC is possible. Enemy bullets are chunky and slow moving, grenades are highlighted in red, and boss attack patterns are easy to memorise. The only thing that may put a spanner in the works is the aforementioned irksome final stage, which ramps up the difficulty and doesn’t always feel fair. The Challenge Mode, which also doles out credits, has many missions based around completing 1 minute long gauntlet runs without taking a hit, and this will likewise take considerable time to complete fully.
The perk system, adjustable difficulties, and easy-to-read action make for an experience that’s surprisingly accessible, and due to the way credits are awarded, it’s rewarding to master. A combination of a high asking price (£34.99) and a short runtime makes this a slightly hard sell, though. You’ll definitely need to play it several times over and see the majority of endings to get your money’s worth. Despite that, it successfully manages to put the series back on track, and that’s the main thing. If WayForward are allowed to explore the franchise one more time, we may have a series high note to look forward to. Fortunately, something tells us their partnership isn’t over just yet…
Konami’s Contra: Operation Galuga is out now on all formats. Developed by WayForward.