The original Contra is a fantastic game that, while not the pinnacle of its series*, still holds up phenomenally well. It’s easily one of the most influential games of its era, ushering in a proud lineage of side-scrolling platform shooters. More importantly, Contra is legendary for its difficulty, to the point where its 30-live-bonus cheat, the fabled Konami code, is culturally ubiquitous, as it is the only way most players were able to beat the game on NES or in arcades. So when I found out about Konami’s project to remake the original Contra: Evolution, my excitement was tempered by my fear of the cynical hack jobs often found in mobile ports. However, I’m pleased to report that while it doesn’t always hit the mark, Contra:Evolution is overall a surprisingly decent and well-crafted remake of one of the most hardcore games ever made.
For those who are familiar with Contra, rest assured that the deviously ingenious level design is almost completely unchanged from the original. To the uninitiated, Contra’s aesthetic vibe feels like Predator crossed with Rambo, as you jump and dodge through levels that have multiple platforms and paths, withenemies and hazards in nearly every possible place you can put them. There’s no plot to speak of other than “stop the alien invasion”, and your job is to shoot anything and everything, using a variety of weapon types that you pick up along the way. The kicker, of course, is that you can die in a single hit from any of these hazards, so you’ll burn through lives pretty quickly. The result is one of the most endearing and challenging side-scrolling action games in video game history, one that mixes exceptional challenge with the kind of compelling twitchy action that keeps you coming back for more even when the game has beaten you to a pulp.
The core game is still phenomenal**, but as far as additional features go it’s a mixed bag. The most egregious sin that the game commits is the removal of the legendary Konami code cheat, as continues are now dependent upon an in-game currency system. Before you start frothing at the mouth, it is still reasonably possible to get through the game without shelling out real world money. You get coins just for opening the app, and a decent amount just for playing the game. There’s also an IAP-only form of currency (diamonds) that revive you at a set rate but at least Konami is decent enough to give you 20 of them for free with the game. While I would prefer the retention of the NES continue system, Contra: Evolution harkens back a bit to the game’s quarter-hoarding arcade roots. Furthermore, you’ll likely make enough gold just from playing the game to continue without much obstruction.
The remake also adds in a couple of beneficial features on top of its low-key efforts to wring more money out of players. In addition to the traditional arcade run, there is a new mission mode, which challenges players to play each level individually to try to meet certain time survival goals in beating the level. It’s a neat idea that I never realized I wanted from the original Contra. As an added bonus, the remake is kind enough to auto-save your progress in the arcade mode, so if you have to stop and pick it up later, you won’t have to start from the top.
There is also a leveling system, which though accelerated by in-app payments, actually progresses at a fairly reasonable rate just by playing through the game. I found that by the time I’d pulled off my first successful run through the game, I’d unlocked enough to play all the levels of the game in mission mode. Leveling up also occasionally increases the number of lives you have and adds on some one-time use “emergency weapons” in a new auxiliary slot. On top of that, there are two unlockable female characters with unique abilities to balance out the presence of Lance and Bill from the original game. It’s a bit of a bummer that they’re only playable after beating the mission and arcade modes, considering that the weapon sets for each are totally different from the standard set, and it’d be nice to have both genders available from the outset.
The thing that simultaneously makes and breaks this remake are the touch screen controls. The greatest innovation offered by the game is the addition of an auto-fire option. My purist sensibilities balked at the idea initially, only to realize how difficult it is to manage multiple buttons simultaneously on a touch screen. However, it isn’t a a big concession, because anyone who plays Contra keeps the fire button held down the whole time anyways. The virtual direction controls aren’t quite the same success story: They work wonderfully for the four cardinal directions but diagonals are a bit finicky sometimes. This seems to be more a problem of virtual controls than anything else, as I tried firing up a (legally obtained) ROM of the original Contra in an emulator, and the touch screen d-pad still made diagonal aiming difficult. The controls, though, are still an overall improvement over an emulator by virtue of the auto-fire function, and are at the very least above average compared to other android ports.
As can be expected with a remake, the visuals have been updated, and this is one of Contra: Evolution’s biggest improvements. The updated visuals do a good job eliciting the feel of the original game, as they are in the same stylistic vein, while adding in more detail to make all the massive bosses and chaotic levels seem more vibrant and rich. The pseudo-3D base-invasion levels are the most improved by this addition, as the depth-of scenery and the visibility of oncoming fire are a lot clearer in the remake. The audio design receives a nice update in the same fashion, with eight-bit bloops fleshed out with guitar-based covers of the soundtrack and fuller sound-effects.
Overall, Contra: Evolution is a solid if unremarkable remake with great updated graphics and a decent-enough touchscreen control system. I feel morally obligated to knock the score down a peg for attaching the continues feature to in-app payments, but even the IAPs are fairly unobtrusive. At a mere 99 cents, Contra: Evolution is the rare mobile remake that doesn’t defecate on its classic origins.—
*Shout-out to Contra III: The Alien Wars.
**I couldn’t shake the feeling that this remake was slightly easier, though, and replaying through the NES version of Contra as a comparison confirmed my suspicions. However, this should be taken with a grain of salt, as I was already familiar with the level layout of the game before playing the remake. It’s not a major difference by any means, though, as the remake is still a significant challenge.
