Contra hard corps sheena sprites12/9/2023 If I’d continued playing for score (and racking up extra lives), I’d probably still be at it now. Once I did finally clear it, I proceeded to crush the harder second loop without dying once. Memorizing the stage layouts and enemy patterns took me a couple hours. It’s not particularly challenging, either. The short length, lack of multiplayer, and recycled music all combine to limit its appeal for me. Operation C’s isn’t an ideal Contra experience, nor is it among my personal favorite installments. There’s little I haven’t heard before, however, and that’s a shame. Sure, they sound great and they’re in stereo. It leans heavily on reprises of tunes from the first Contra. On the flip side, I’ll admit to being somewhat disappointed by the soundtrack. Sprites are universally well drawn and backgrounds have just enough detail to convey a strong sense of place without obscuring the action. Operation C’s graphics are simply masterful, in that I can’t imagine a better looking take on Contra existing within the limitations of a four-color Game Boy display. Every offensive option is viable, too, so you won’t find yourself frustrated when you accidentally grab a “power-up” that screws you over. The iconic spread and exploding fire shot from Super C round out a selection that, while small compared to the likes of the later Contra: Hard Corps, is on par with those of its predecessors. Can we really call that a loss? The mediocre laser has been removed as well, replaced by the far cooler homing. No more furiously tapping away with your single-action pea shooter. The machine gun power-up is indeed gone, since the player now has access to it by default. Although this is technically correct, I believe it more accurate to say that it streamlined things. It’s been said that Operation C reduced the player’s arsenal relative to previous Contras. As in Super C, they’re not as dynamic or entertaining as the traditional side-view running and gunning, but they’re fine for what they are and easily trump most other Contra gimmick levels. ![]() The similarity is most obvious in the second and fourth of its five stages, which adopt the same overhead perspective Super C used to break up the standard side-scrolling. ![]() Operation C is essentially a riff on the superb NES port of Super C, except shorter, slightly slower (to minimize motion blur on those tiny LCD screens), and single-player only. Then there’s Europe, where Konami kept up its tradition of rebranding the early Contra titles as Probotector and replacing the human protagonists with robots in deference to Germany’s notoriously strict censorship laws. Not that you can tell the two apart in monochrome. The Japanese version of the story has you playing as Bill Rizer and the North American one claims you’re Lance Bean. Which beefcake heeds the call varies by region. ![]() On the off chance you’re curious about the rationale for all the carnage here, a sinister group called Black Viper is using alien DNA to create world-threatening bio-weapons and it falls on our favorite shirtless future commandos to take them down. Quite the resume for a lowly handheld trifle, no? It also innovated in the gameplay department via the introduction of the homing gun, a fan favorite weapon that would go on to become a series staple. Whereas the original Contra and its immediate sequel, Super C, started out in the arcades, Operation C was the first entry to be created from the ground up for a home audience. On top of that, it did its part to push the franchise forward. It succeeded where some other early Game Boy efforts like Castlevania: The Adventure failed by delivering a faithful and fun portable rendition of the 8-bit Contra formula. 1991’s Operation C for Game Boy deserved better and still does. When Konami released Contra III: The Alien Wars for the Super Nintendo in 1992, they effectively denied the legacy of what was indisputably the true third Contra outing. I’ve said it before, but handheld platforms are the Rodney Dangerfields of the gaming ecosystem: No respect at all.
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