Twenty years ago, the world learned the meaning of ‘awesome’. The original Contra hit arcades, but didn’t truly gain popularity until the series came to the NES. The series continued to Super Contra, and Contra III: The Alien Wars, both of which maintained the amazing level of quality held in the first. Eventually moving on to the Game Boy and Game Boy Advance, Genesis, PS1 and PS2, the series quickly deteriorated into nothing but a name that Konami slapped onto poorly developed titles to spur some level of interest and sales. But despite the poor quality, Super Contra and Contra III were still burned into gamers’ memories as titles that deserved such high respect. To celebrate the original’s 20th Anniversary, Konami has published a brand new numbered iteration of the series - the first in 15 years. Contra 4 is a complete throwback to the original game design that made the series so memorable, with the ‘4′ meaning to symbolize the series’ return to the quality that was found in the original three games. But has the Old School design aged gracefully enough to warrant another title?

This is Contra through-and-through. Once again, you play as the original heroes, Bill Rizer, and Lance Bean. As an interesting throwback to the original games, the two heroes are joined by “Mad Dog” and “Scorpion” - both of which were the original nicknames for Bill and Lance. Taking place two years after Contra III, the Black Viper has come to wreak havoc, but Bill, Lance, and their new companions won’t let that happen. That’s all you need to know, and quite honestly, it’s fine. None of the characters control or handle differently, but it’s fine in that way. Doing so would really have pulled from the simplicity of the original games. Contra is all about the insane difficulty, and rock-solid blasting of enemies every-which-way.

With that said, the “blasting of enemies every-which-way” is by no means, an easy task. This game is brutally difficult. In fact, it’s definitely the most difficult game on the system. Developer Wayforward Technologies wanted to recreate that original experience in its entirety, and they succeeded.

This is definitely a game that will drive players nuts as enemies come rushing at you from all directions. Contra 4 really makes you work to reach the end of a level. You are always at risk since the second you are touched by an enemy, a projectile, or any other sort of hazard, you are instantly dead. No health bar. There aren’t any save spots either. Now I know you’re confused. What about in-level checkpoints? Nope. Even if you die right at the feet of a boss, with one hit needed to beat the level, you are thrown all the way back to the beginning of the stage. This may seem incredibly unfair, but it just goes to show you how ‘babied’ we as gamers are in the way games are designed now compared to twenty years ago. Those classic titles relied on skill, and you had to earn every bit of progress you made in the game. Contra 4 is no different. And while there’s that ‘hardcore’ level of difficulty that will certainly make you feel as if you accomplished something by beating a stage, this is certainly a game that will quickly frustrate casual players, and even some core gamers. After spending hours trying get through the first level on the Normal setting, you may wish that Wayward eased off a bit, no matter how much you are teased for it by 25 year old Contra fans.

The art-style is certainly a throw-back to the 90’s-style of gaming. Muscular guys in wife-beaters and jeans shoot everything with big guns and headbands. The overall style looks great and is very nostalgic, but when looking at the box art for the game, you may wish that the designers stuck to that kind of design instead. That said, the in-game style still looks great. The animations are incredibly smooth, and the color-palette is effectively used to create fantastic environments. If put next to Contra III on the SNES, you’d think that this is a game made from that era. You’ll run through amazing-looking jungles, ruined cities, hellish foundries, and many more. All of which look great with a pseudo-3D look that is found in all those classic games.

Speaking of fantastic environments, the level-design is just brilliant. No level gets too redundant, always changing the style in which you need to run-and-gun. With a series of bridges, deadly cliff-jumping, and running up a hill, all within the same level, you will need to overcome all sorts of challenges to reach the end. The entire platforming experience is spread over both DS screens. While primarily on the bottom screen, you will occasionally jump up to the upper screen and continue to action there. Some levels somewhat underuse this, but some completely focus on transferring in between the two. It’s accentuated by the introduction of a new tool - the grappling hook. This item shoots straight up and hooks on to anything that you can hook on to. And it’s really used cleverly too. For example, one level has an item sitting just underneath the side of a cliff, and below that is an endless pit. In order to grab the upgrade, you need to jump off a cliff to the side and grab the item, then use your grappling hook to save you from falling to your death. It’s smart, it’s fun, and best of all, it’s used well.

But there’s one plus-side to turning the game’s difficulty down to Easy - Challenge Mode. This is basically a series of sections pulled from various in-game levels, and give you a scenario to complete. Some force you to make it through absolutely nightmarish stages, and some even take away your ability to shoot your gun. These are even more difficult than the actual game. But by the end, when your palms are completely wet from sweat and you’re desperate to catch your breath, you’ll be incredibly grateful for the fantastic unlockable prizes, other than the five unlockable characters - the original Contra, and Super Contra, its sequel. Both games are wonderfully emulated. When playing these next to Contra 4, you can really see and appreciate how well Wayward managed to mimic the design of the classic titles. But there’s one problem - no 2-player. The multiplayer is what made the Contra games so much fun, so as to why this was removed for the emulation, it’s really hard to find to logic in such a decision. It’s still selectable, but the second character simply follows the primary sprite.Not to say theres’ no multiplayer at all. The Contra 4 gameplay allows for 2-player ad-hoc, which really provides for that solid 2-player experience that the franchise is known for. This is a game you really want a friend to help accompany you on.

Contra 4 succeeds in truly continuing on the franchise from where it should have left off - right after Contra III. The action is absolutely solid in comparison, and Contra fans will undoubtedly feel happy that the game returns to the roots. It’s nightmarishly difficult, the visual style is a complete throwback to the classic games, and everything about it feels like the original games. But this is a bit of a curse, though. While there’s great sense of nostalgia that you’ll undoubtedly have with this game, not much of Contra 4 will feel like the series is moving forward. This may be fine since it’s really a 20th Anniversary celebratory sort of thing… but in terms of being a sequel, it does nothing to make it unique among the rest in the series. Wayward played it a little too safe in that sense, relying too much on nostalgia. But in terms of trying to revive a classic experience, it does everything just fine.

Contra 4 is a great throwback to that classic design found in the original titles of the franchise. It does everything right in that sense. It’s hard, it looks good, and there’s plenty of running-and-gunning mixed with platforming to be found. The game is sure to deliver a healthy dose of nostalgia to all Contra fans, and will really give newer gamers a chance to experience a very classic-styled experience, something that there isn’t much of anymore. Be warned that it is undoubtedly the DS’s most challenging game yet, but with the original two games packed into this title as well, not only is this game an amazing value, it provides a true test of skill for anyone willing to take on the challenge. While it really doesn’t take any risks, or do anything really new for the franchise, Contra 4 manages to stand on its own legs as a celebration of one of the most memorable games to shape our industry.

SCORE: 8.4/10