AuthorTopic: Contra 4 DS - Developped by WayForward (Read 54368 times)

Dascu · **on:** June 20, 2007, 03:09:43 pm

Wow, Konami just announced Contra 4 for the DS.
http://www.gaming-age.com/upload/news/2007/6/20-35

And who's developping it? None other than some of our own forum residents, WayForward Technologies.

Congrats on getting hold of such a franchise. Don't screw it up. :p

Conzeit · **Reply #1 on:** June 20, 2007, 03:27:06 pm

whaaaaaaaaaaaat? I wanna be in it

Froli · **Reply #2 on:** June 20, 2007, 04:06:30 pm

Whoah! that's awesome. Congrats guys, and I hope you all make something epic

huZba · **Reply #3 on:** June 20, 2007, 04:21:29 pm

Mixed feelings... I really really love contra and wayforward has been making games for a long time. But what worries me is that it seems the whole game portfolio of wayforward consists of tight schedule/budget license games like Barbie and spongebob ranging around 40-60% scores on gamerankings with the few original titles having the highest scores (shantae 75% and sigma star saga 68%)

Luckily Contra isn't something that can be sold with it's licence alone, so i hope they'll be given a chance to make it really good. Also hope it's a proper new game and not like the horrid Contra Advance tuna salad mix.

junkboy · **Reply #4 on:** June 20, 2007, 08:25:10 pm

This is just incredibly awesome. I wish them the best of luck.
If the team is in need of a fluffer I'm willing to do it for free.

AdamTierney · **Reply #5 on:** June 21, 2007, 09:33:27 am

Most of our recent licensed games have gotten reviewed pretty well, actually. The Flash game averaged 72% on Metacritic (69% on gamerankings) and got mostly 8/10s. The last Barbie got a 70% at IGN (don't think it got reviewed elsewhere). The last two GBA Spongebobs averaged 68% and 70%. These aren't mindblowing scores but for licensed games, where the reviewers usually go in looking to hate, we're definitely running above par on our scores.

konjak · **Reply #6 on:** June 21, 2007, 02:42:55 pm

Well, I did a load of animation and some effects for it. Like, a whole playable character, and then some for another playable character. Several enemy sets. There was a lot of demand on smooth animation indeed...

And a lot of demand for footrubs from Adam, until I was told he wasn't even officially involved.

ptoing · **Reply #7 on:** June 21, 2007, 03:16:48 pm

Looking forward to it

.TakaM · **Reply #8 on:** June 21, 2007, 03:18:22 pm

sounds great

Don't forget to make a dump topic when the time comes

garsh · **Reply #9 on:** June 23, 2007, 12:36:43 am

I'm really apprehensive about this. Even if Konami was doing it, I'd be nervous. I just hope you guys don't over do the narrative. Contra is about shooting aliens and dodging all the crap that's flying at you from all directions. That's all there is to it, really. It doesn't need the "drama" and stuff from the PS2 games.

Also, Contra's supposed to be a little tough, but I thought they over did it in Contra 3. It's a problem when it gets to be unfair, like when it's just not possible for a moderately skilled and dedicated player to avoid every hit in the game, or when it just gets exhausting to try and do so like in Contra 3. Moments of intensity should be broken up by comparably relaxed stretches. I think that's what worked in the NES port of the original Contra. Many of the stages were really not that hard, but they had hard parts, and the bosses were somewhat demanding.

I know you guys posting here are probably involved in just the graphics, and I don't know if you have any say in design, but those are my concerns. I know you guys will have the visuals covered.

crab2selout.png · **Reply #10 on:** June 23, 2007, 07:02:18 am

Don't hate me, but my Contra love was killed after discovering Gunstar Heroes(the original, not the subpar GBA remake). With that said, I wish you guys well. This is huge. Contra. Konami! I'm really looking forward to seeing your monster designs. Make sure to update us when you release vids and pics to gamespot/ign.

konjak · **Reply #11 on:** June 23, 2007, 09:41:47 am

garsh, as with all of these games, it's a learning curve, and there's nothing unfair in Contra 3 to me. I keep hearing people think Contra 3 is so hard, but since it was one of the few games I had as a kid I can still beat it and to me it's the EASIEST such game.

I'm more worried Contra 4 will be too easy to accomodate more people. I have no idea about the difficulty of it.

huZba · **Reply #12 on:** June 23, 2007, 01:15:24 pm

haha, i agree with konjak. When i was a kid we only had Megaman X, Mario Land, Zelda and Super Contra for a pretty long time and we played the hell outta those games. I've finished super Contra on the hardest difficulty as well as normal difficulty two player game alone one hand on each controller, so better not tell me that it's "impossible"

The one part that i didn't like on the very hard mode in super contra was the desert worm thing that had the rotating sandpit floor. Holy shit i almost puked after finishing that.

[goofing]
As for the ps2 games, Neo Contra showed what contra really is all about, even though some of the weapons totally break the balance gameplaywise. It had the manliest cutscenes in videogame history. Watching those wil turn boys into real men, hell, it'll even turn girls into men.
[/goofing]

About the graphics, super Contra and contra Hard Corps had really creepy monsters and worn out overall style, so i think that's easy enough to nail, especially seeing how at Wayforward they always have the graphics part well done. I think the next issue of nintendo power has some screenshots, and from what i saw it seemed really good.

Now it better be hard enough to make grown men cry like sissy girls, or ELSE *shakes fist*

snake · **Reply #13 on:** June 23, 2007, 03:54:37 pm

I've done some small jobs for this thing as well, looks like several indie freelancers have been contacted for the project. From what I've worked with, I get a slighty more classic feel than say, Neo contra. Rounded machines and pipes, more retro future, but not quite steampunk. But then, I guess the next press-releases will show wether this is the standard or not.

Balancing diffeculty is always tricky. I've played Contra 1 NES, Super C and Alienwars and the latter is the hardest so far. Since failure in shoot 'em ups are deaths rather than other penalties, it's more a question of how you're going to be attacked and to what level. Dodging bullets is not the same as timing jumps or getting stomped at by some huge monster. The norm on consoles is usually low diffeculty, or that deaths don't burn as bad. Of course, pleasing fans are another factor. Guess we'll see the result come deadline.

Lee N · **Reply #14 on:** June 23, 2007, 06:10:31 pm

First (shitty) scan.. far from pixel perfect, but it gives you an idea of the style they're opting for..

Looking forward to see the first direct feed images sometime soon.

ptoing · **Reply #15 on:** June 23, 2007, 06:19:06 pm

ME WANTS, NOW!!!!!!!!!!!

.TakaM · **Reply #16 on:** June 23, 2007, 06:38:33 pm

looks cool

btw, that scan has that dark purple colour in a few places, that special shade of dark purple that makes windows play videos if they're behind it

Lee N · **Reply #17 on:** June 23, 2007, 07:15:10 pm

Quote from: .TakaM on June 23, 2007, 06:38:33 pm

btw, that scan has that dark purple colour in a few places, that special shade of dark purple that makes windows play videos if they're behind it

I've never had that happen.. sounds more like a bug with your drivers and the way they're treating overlays rather than windows itself.

Akira · **Reply #18 on:** June 23, 2007, 11:13:46 pm

No, it's windows itself.

I too, want to play this game.

Lee N · **Reply #19 on:** June 24, 2007, 09:01:36 am

Quote from: Akira on June 23, 2007, 11:13:46 pm

No, it's windows itself.

Off all my years running windows, I've never had that happen.. and it didn't happen on that particular image either. So it's something wrong on your side, since it shouldn't happen.

.TakaM · **Reply #20 on:** June 24, 2007, 10:13:15 am

lol, its definitely windows, it's pretty well known.

open up a video and put it behind that contra DS scan, you'll see a few pixels that show the video youve got in the window behind

ptoing · **Reply #21 on:** June 24, 2007, 11:08:50 am

stop being offtopic! kthxbye.

Lee N · **Reply #22 on:** June 24, 2007, 11:21:55 am

Quote from: .TakaM on June 24, 2007, 10:13:15 am

lol, its definitely windows, it's pretty well known.

open up a video and put it behind that contra DS scan, you'll see a few pixels that show the video youve got in the window behind

I obviously tried it, but it doesn't happen here.. on any of my computers. So it can't be windows itself. Feel free to PM me a bigger image with that particular colour and I'll try again.. But I believe I would've noticed it before if that was the case.

Quote from: ptoing on June 24, 2007, 11:08:50 am

stop being offtopic! kthxbye.

I'm sorry, I'll stop now.

Zolthorg · **Reply #23 on:** June 24, 2007, 06:01:03 pm

i'd appreciate that pm, and knowledge as to what terrible version of windows you're running

The current screenshot is interesting, but it's not clear enough to chat about really.
all i can see from it is everything has a lot of contrast, so i hope it's easily discernable in motion.

crab2selout.png · **Reply #24 on:** June 24, 2007, 08:20:03 pm

Quote from: Lee N on June 23, 2007, 06:10:31 pm

First (shitty) scan.. far from pixel perfect, but it gives you an idea of the style they're opting for..

Looking forward to see the first direct feed images sometime soon.

Sweet! Cant wait to see those grassy cliffs in full pixely awesomeness.

Cow · **Reply #25 on:** June 24, 2007, 11:05:24 pm

~~Is that implied 4 player I see?~~ guess not

That scan looks pretty rad, hope the game looks consistently that good throughout.

Konami Classics should tide me over 'til it's out.

garsh · **Reply #26 on:** June 25, 2007, 01:17:59 am

Even though the scan robs the image of any clarity, I can see already that the graphics are truly amazing; far surpassing my expectations. From that quality, it's evident you guys (Wayforward) genuinely care about this project as much as it deserves. This is almost enough to put all my concerns to rest. I'm certainly not apprehensive anymore, anyway. Good job! I'm excited.

.TakaM · **Reply #27 on:** June 27, 2007, 11:37:03 am

found some good quality scans:

looks and sounds great

Conzeit · **Reply #28 on:** June 27, 2007, 12:24:39 pm

oh man I really hope this is well recieved, Matt and the gang really deserve some recognition

Helm · **Reply #29 on:** June 27, 2007, 01:26:10 pm

This looks really true-to-form. If it plays as well as the old games and has a few innovations thrown in, there's no way the contra-fanbase won't like it.

Lee N · **Reply #30 on:** June 27, 2007, 01:39:02 pm

Seems like Virt is doing the music too.

So many reasons to be excited, they better not fuck this up..

huZba · **Reply #31 on:** June 27, 2007, 03:24:52 pm

Okay now i'm properly excited! Seems like the guys understand manly Contra bad-assery. Art looks awesome too. The feel from the previous games is there, but there's a very original touch present as well.

AdamAtomic · **Reply #32 on:** June 27, 2007, 04:31:34 pm

wow! me too - 4 player? that's hot! and virt is my favorite chiptune creator too...damn! can't believe i didn't get to work on this!

LoTekK · **Reply #33 on:** June 27, 2007, 04:45:18 pm

Dear god, this is pure awesome. :O The art looks great so far, and the interview certainly makes it seem like the team understands the series and its appeal. And 4-player dual-screen action?! I'm already sold.

Cow · **Reply #34 on:** June 28, 2007, 12:38:37 am

Hope that 4-player's correct (press release says 2, so, you know, mixed messages). That Virt guy's also one of my favourites (stumbled upon his website a long while ago). I'm very excited (parentheses).

Xion · **Reply #35 on:** June 28, 2007, 01:55:18 am

Yay, a game with a musician I've actually heard of!
Yay, a game with artists I've actually heard of!
Yay, a game I've actually heard of!

THIS LOOKS RIDICULOUS OSSUM.

Lee N · **Reply #36 on:** June 28, 2007, 07:36:49 pm

Direct feed images of it here (albeit jpeged and scaled):

http://www.1up.com/do/media?cId=3160432

edit: Hands-on too..

http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3160665

Lee N · **Reply #37 on:** June 29, 2007, 04:54:34 pm

The latest 1UP show is apparently showing Contra 4 in action..

http://zdmedia.vo.llnwd.net/o1/1UP/1upshow_0607_640x360.zip

Froli · **Reply #38 on:** June 30, 2007, 01:51:53 am

Here is the streaming vid.
http://www.gamevideos.com/video/id/12644

I'm really excited playing this game and a lot of people are hyped. I really wish you guys good luck because this is really big. It is contra afterall.

Conzeit · **Reply #39 on:** June 30, 2007, 02:24:37 am

the transformation in the oppinions in fan forums has been amazing

from the most blatant, shameless "oh, a contra from the makers of barbie, just dandy cant wait to see Bill in a tu-tu" replies to "OMG it's the PURFEKT CONTRA GAAEM" it's amazing =D

Kennethfejer · **Reply #40 on:** June 30, 2007, 02:20:09 pm

wow thats really impressive

everything looks so detailed.
cant wait to try it out

Helm · **Reply #41 on:** June 30, 2007, 02:30:05 pm

Haha one 1up fellow didn't find the graphics 'cool' enough. Top-notch pixel art misinterpreted once again.

Lee N · **Reply #42 on:** June 30, 2007, 04:25:30 pm

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=6886975&postcount=172

some proper ownage in that post.. haha.

Seriously though, to the Wayforward guys here at the forum. Now that the game is announced, we've seen screens, scans and movies from it.. you think you could post at least one image from the game that isn't rescaled and compressed to shit so we can really take a look at the art in the game? I (and I think I speak for the rest of the visitors of this forum, too) would really appreciate that.

huZba · **Reply #43 on:** June 30, 2007, 05:41:34 pm

Quote from: Helm on June 30, 2007, 02:30:05 pm

Haha one 1up fellow didn't find the graphics 'cool' enough. Top-notch pixel art misinterpreted once again.

Some of the guys blurted that it's not pushing the hardware and not as good looking as Castlevania DS. Personally i don't see that much difference really in overall quality of the pixelart. The DS is certainly powerful enough to show pretty much anything you want on the screen and even to waste some power for 3D effects like in castlevania, so it all comes down to style and art direction. Style that we think is totally awesome might be way too oldskool for the average joe.

.TakaM · **Reply #44 on:** June 30, 2007, 05:50:13 pm

he actually said "I think it looks worse than the castlevania games"

only thing that bugs me is there's no animation when you go from upright to prone, but it's easy to look past

ptoing · **Reply #45 on:** June 30, 2007, 06:56:00 pm

They never had those and it makes sense gameplaywise.

.TakaM · **Reply #46 on:** June 30, 2007, 07:01:51 pm

I know they never had it and it allows to shoot a few frames earlier, but I'm sure there will be some other transition animations that contra never had before.
I just think it's a rather large jump, and I'd gladly sacrifice atleast 2 frames of readiness to smooth it out a little

Ed Oscuro · **Reply #47 on:** June 30, 2007, 07:49:23 pm

Quote from: .TakaM on June 30, 2007, 05:50:13 pm

he actually said "I think it looks worse than the castlevania games"

I think they meant the newer GBA/DS ones. I suppose you could say there's an argument there, although those guys should have seen more of the games than we have. It certainly seems that recent Castlevania games have been focusing quite a bit on the artistic aspect and it's going to take a good artist to match or top that

For my part, I think it looks great...you can tell right away that the SNES and NES sprites were used as general models. I didn't see a lot that you can tell comes straight out of Contra III, the item icons and player lives font come out of Contra III/Spirits, and I thought the jetbike (that water stage is reminiscent of Shinobi III, at least when viewing it!) and alien dog looked very close to their Contra III counterparts. I'm pretty sure the alien dog has been redrawn, seems to have some sinews standing out that I didn't remember from the SNES game. I could be wrong there.

Edit: In the interest of full disclosure, I'm the dude behind revamping the Contra HQ. I've been amped about this ever since I heard about the announcement (three days late). The dual-screen thing is a real challenge for action games and it's a pleasant surprise to see it handled so well - then again, I never had any reservations about the developer because I've actually had some experience with their products which apparently the "this sucks" crowd hasn't. This looks like it'll be even better than what we've seen before, though (not much of a fan of SSS, played a bit of it and then got thoroughly sick of the random ship battles)!

Faceless · **Reply #48 on:** July 01, 2007, 04:02:11 am

The DS Castlevania games look pretty sucky...
There are a number of people on these boards that could easily match it.

To be honest, I didn't know what to expect from this game when I heard the announcement.
It looks really good though, so

from me.

AdamTierney · **Reply #49 on:** July 02, 2007, 12:54:01 am

Can you guys tell who the background artist is from those shots? Shouldn't be too hard to figure out if you look closely at the style.

And yeah, first WF game for Snake. Woohoo!

ptoing · **Reply #50 on:** July 02, 2007, 01:04:24 am

I know

Helm · **Reply #51 on:** July 02, 2007, 02:52:59 am

I think the mountain background in Neiborg.

Conzeit · **Reply #52 on:** July 02, 2007, 04:42:20 am

I read somewhere that there's high priority in the game to show good animation without making the actions longer

WHY? there ARE ways to do it outside the action itself: Anticipation, outcome. We all know how action doesnt need to be shown in itself to make the viewer understand it.

That in which Pixelart cannot surpass 3d is bone animation to link actions together, so there must be intuitive design in every action to make them fall into eachother naturally.

I feel if WayFw has a weakness is the art direction is a bit conservative, the skills in application involved are always amazing but I just dont see strong concept art or mood backing it up.

Rosse · **Reply #53 on:** July 02, 2007, 07:47:41 am

Quote from: Helm on July 02, 2007, 02:52:59 am

I think the mountain background in Neiborg.

Do you mean Henk Nieborg? This was my first guess, but I can't believe Henk is working for Wayforward (but when i'm thinking about.. why not?). The bridge in the forest is made by Gustav I think as well as the player. Some enemies are made by Joshua Astorian and the backgrounds are made by vedsten I suppose (because his backgrounds in Justice League Heroes were quite Nieborg-ish)

ptoing · **Reply #54 on:** July 02, 2007, 08:19:11 am

Lots of background stuff IS by Henk Nieborg

miascugh · **Reply #55 on:** July 02, 2007, 01:40:05 pm

Quote from: AdamTierney on July 02, 2007, 12:54:01 am

Shouldn't be too hard to figure out if you look closely at the style.

Should it not? I'm stumped. Is he Pixelationian? Because if not I've got a suspicion.

edit: duh, there's a second page...

big brother · **Reply #56 on:** July 02, 2007, 03:10:31 pm

Saw the video and was annoyed. Cutting from the gameplay video to their nerdy faces is about as necessary as a shot of the male's face in a straight porno. Grrrr... these guys need to realize that they're not rock stars and the only reason people even watch it is for the in-game footage. They need increase the ratio of game to bullcrap so I won't have to skip as much.

As far as Contra 4 goes, great work, guys! The only way it could be more badass is if the playable characters were the cast from the first Predator movie (Arnie, Jesse, Carl, Sonny). Love the helicopter.

Lee N · **Reply #57 on:** July 02, 2007, 10:49:17 pm

Quote from: big brother on July 02, 2007, 03:10:31 pm

Saw the video and was annoyed. Cutting from the gameplay video to their nerdy faces is about as necessary as a shot of the male's face in a straight porno. Grrrr... these guys need to realize that they're not rock stars and the only reason people even watch it is for the in-game footage. They need increase the ratio of game to bullcrap so I won't have to skip as much.

As far as Contra 4 goes, great work, guys! The only way it could be more badass is if the playable characters were the cast from the first Predator movie (Arnie, Jesse, Carl, Sonny). Love the helicopter.

http://download.gamevideos.com/12648/gv.com.Contra4DSJungleLevelGameplay_640x480.mov
http://download.gamevideos.com/12646/gv.com.Contra4DSCityLevelGameplay_640x480.mov
http://download.gamevideos.com/12650/gv.com.Contra4DSOceanLevelGameplay_640x480.mov

Ed Oscuro · **Reply #58 on:** July 03, 2007, 01:23:02 am

Is it just me or is the enemy death cry annoying? Only a bit. Besides that, can't say I have many complaints. The civilians in the city level seem out of place for an old-style game, but I'll live with it. The fight over the water looks like a big Dracula X reference - funny that, DX Chronicles is coming out soon.

Lee N · **Reply #59 on:** July 03, 2007, 07:14:30 am

This poster reeks of the 80s.. in a good way. Good job.

Ed Oscuro · **Reply #60 on:** July 03, 2007, 07:54:12 am

Whoa, where did THAT come from? O_o

Lee N · **Reply #61 on:** July 03, 2007, 08:20:37 am

Quote from: Ed Oscuro on July 03, 2007, 07:54:12 am

Whoa, where did THAT come from? O_o

Nintendo Power.

and btw, here are two more videos.

http://download.gamevideos.com/12690/gv.com.Contra4SpreadgunMachinegunGameplay_640x480.mov
http://download.gamevideos.com/12692/gv.com.Contra4UnderwaterGunfightGameplay_640x480.mov

Ed Oscuro · **Reply #62 on:** July 03, 2007, 08:22:39 am

Whoa, sweet. I'll definitely run and get that issue of NP, then!

Edit: noticed that at about 1 minute 20 in the underwater gunfight gameplay video a water spray gets stuck on the screen for the rest of the video

Lee N · **Reply #63 on:** July 03, 2007, 12:22:35 pm

Will Contra 4 be localized as "Probotector" in Europe btw? Contra, Super C and Contra III all got turned into Probotector games in Europe because of censorship (and it's probably the most accepted case of censorship too, in fact, european fans seem to want another Probotector game).

I'm just asking because it would make little sense to release "Contra 4" in Europe since there are no Contra 1-3 there.

Evil-Ville · **Reply #64 on:** July 03, 2007, 12:43:31 pm

I myself didn't even know about the contra -> probotector thing until about two years ago. It's always been contra to me. (Could be because american versions of the games were actually cheaper here, and I had a modded NES, thanks dad!)

TomF · **Reply #65 on:** July 03, 2007, 01:55:14 pm

I seriously hope it stays as Contra. I want to run around as a wicked buff guy, not some boring robot.

I was almost having doubts about the music until I downloaded some of Jake Kaufmans stuff. Now I'm confident this game is going to kick ass in every aspect.

ptoing · **Reply #66 on:** July 03, 2007, 03:44:36 pm

I always kinda liked the robots better than the soldiers, dunno why. They both are equally cliche, but when I played super probotector I was like, what, 14 or so. Robot's were/still are cooler than shirtless sweaty dudes.

big brother · **Reply #67 on:** July 03, 2007, 04:05:47 pm

Come on, nothing is cooler than shirtless sweaty guys. Unless they have guns, which they do.

huZba · **Reply #68 on:** July 03, 2007, 04:18:45 pm

Back then i was like HOLY is dat zum KEWL ROWBATTTT!!! The Probotector cover arts and between mission pictures are awesome. Tho it is more manly to go fight aliens shirtless. I prefer the original men in Contra, but it would be great to have the Robots as secret unlockables.

Lee N · **Reply #69 on:** July 03, 2007, 04:58:50 pm

Personally I'll play the game either way, but I thought that since the game is flirting so much with the oldskool fans - it would do better in Europe if the old fans knew and recognized the game.

JonathanOfDrain · **Reply #70 on:** July 03, 2007, 07:02:54 pm

Spread fire seems to be as bad-ass as ever. The running animation is pretty tight too. I'm already prepared to buy this. SuperC was MY first game. It was the game that was mine and nobody elses. I also put a label on it.

Ed Oscuro · **Reply #71 on:** July 03, 2007, 10:10:35 pm

Quote from: Lee N on July 03, 2007, 12:22:35 pm

Will Contra 4 be localized as "Probotector" in Europe btw?

Speculation here, but...I would be a little surprised. As far as I know starting with Legacy of War (developed in the UK) it's been changed to Contra, and I believe it's remained that way through Neo Contra. Not sure.

Also, don't forget Operation C which also got Probotector-ized, although the Game Boy Collection release (with the cool color game selection screens) seems to be the Japanese release of Operation C with only a name change in the title screen/selection screen (you'll notice that the mini-portrait is taken from the box art/sticker label of the Japanese release).

Quote

I'm just asking because it would make little sense to release "Contra 4" in Europe since there are no Contra 1-3 there.

Gryzor 2?

Konami has made some odd changes to brand names at times for strange reasons, although since this isn't Igarashi we might see a more rational approach.

For what it's worth, I think Probotector 2: Return of the Evil Forces has a nifty title screen and the characters look cool.

The Mega Drive Probotector was a low point, though - butchered the character selection.

Quote from: huZba on July 03, 2007, 04:18:45 pm

I prefer the original men in Contra, but it would be great to have the Robots as secret unlockables.

I second this motion. It was great that the developers of Hard Corps paid homage to Probotector by throwing in Browny; surely throwing in a few robots as "extras" wouldn't hurt the feel of the game.

What I would like are character-held weapon models that change depending on the weapon (generic weapon models are lame), and I'm also a fan of Super Contra-style weapons that resemble the actual one. Of course, that can lead to confusion...it'd be nice as a menu option though.

snake · **Reply #72 on:** July 03, 2007, 11:36:52 pm

Quote from: AdamTierney on July 02, 2007, 12:54:01 am

first WF game for Snake. Woohoo!

Odd seing people descussing this after being hush-hush for so long. Good to know the work is paying off.
I'm loving the retro poster (... though the rather disgruntled sir with the bandana has some issues with his trigger hand)

I reckon the vids are from the beta build?

Jad · **Reply #73 on:** July 04, 2007, 12:09:31 am

Gangsta' guy to the top left has no idea of how to hold a gun if he can't hold it gangsta-style.

"How do ya aim this shit. Mufuggin mufugga."

Ed Oscuro · **Reply #74 on:** July 04, 2007, 06:12:16 am

I can't even tell what gun it is. If you want a laugh, check out the topic I made on 4chan (it's worksafe, at least thus far)'s Weapons board: http://zip.4chan.org/k/res/604021.html

Not EXACTLY the help I was looking for, there. Anybody want to take a stab at guessing (Mad Dog?) Vin and Lance's weapons?

Edit: Haha, now I don't know if I should be crediting Lee N or GoNintendo.com:

http://gonintendo.com/wp-content/photos/contra_poster_2_dsf.jpg

Gonna keep my eye on them...

LoTekK · **Reply #75 on:** July 04, 2007, 08:30:38 am

Clockwise from top-right:
L85 (SA80)
undersized MP5 (maybe an N, or an A3/A5?) with EO sight
MP5 (same as above, but not as undersized) with EO sight
bastardised MP7

snake · **Reply #76 on:** July 04, 2007, 09:51:36 am

I knew I had seen the top-right guy's weapon before and it's quite obvious that it's a modified Disel Electric Locomotive model 37.

The proof:

Ed Oscuro · **Reply #77 on:** July 04, 2007, 10:25:34 am

Quote from: LoTekK on July 04, 2007, 08:30:38 am

Clockwise from top-right:
L85 (SA80)

Note that it's missing the scope!

Quote

undersized MP5 (maybe an N, or an A3/A5?) with EO sight

Now that I've looked at it some more, it looks like a trick of perspective - check out how big the weapon is compared to their heads in both. I'd guess this is an MP5N-A3, or an MP5 A3/A5.

Quote

MP5 (same as above, but not as undersized) with EO sight

MP5-A2, I believe. Doesn't look much like an EO sight to me (here or in the last one), but it's definitely a sight similar to that on Lance's gun. Tacticool!

Quote

bastardised MP7

Pretty much what I thought. Glad to see I'm not going insane. Somebody suggested it was a JaTiMatic, which I had already considered and dismissed as completely wrong.

Anyway, back to your regular Contra 4 discussion, then!

Millenium · **Reply #78 on:** July 04, 2007, 10:36:53 am

I have just looked quickly all over this thread. Correct me, but I haven't seen anyone mentioned Contra: Hard Corps . I believe this one was the greatest contra game ever released, basicly with different endings, cool graphic, several layers and detailed environment. One of the fact that it was the greatest for me was the 3 live bar(well actually only in jap version, eng had only 1). It was easier to kill all those bosses in lots of cool environments. And another thing was the explosions! There were lots of explosions. In addition It was fantastic to play with each character which were different in look, weapons, even abilities as for example browny which was small and you didn't have to dodge all those bullets heading to you.

Ed Oscuro · **Reply #79 on:** July 04, 2007, 11:16:44 am

Quote from: Millenium on July 04, 2007, 10:36:53 am

I have just looked quickly all over this thread. Correct me, but I haven't seen anyone mentioned Contra: Hard Corps .

Contra: The Hard Corps is right up there for me. I'm not sure if I like it more than Contra III in general, but the stage selection is a plus (even if it's handled kinda awkwardly in-game via a prompt).

A lot of people rag on it as being "not Contra" in terms of gameplay, as there are more bosses, although these work similarly enough to Contra III. Never bothered me, but it's definitely a departure for the series. Contra 4 seems to follow Contra III's approach for battles; fewer single minibosses, more "waves" of enemies. Of course, people also complained about the extreme difficulty (the US commercial had a kid being turned through a grinder into hamburger, which seems only a small exaggeration!), and people who know about the hit bars either complain that we didn't have them or dismiss the life bars as "not Contra" (although the MSX2 Contra had them, and in Super Contra the heroes use "lives" rather like hit points because they don't die until they run out of "lives").

Graphically, Contra HC was a big departure...the visual style is not as serious and there's quite a few visual gags/simple looking machines in there. They really made use of the Genesis with stretching limbs made out of individual sprites and other graphical feats based off the game's style.

Alevice · **Reply #80 on:** July 04, 2007, 02:18:40 pm

Quote from: huZba on July 03, 2007, 04:18:45 pm

Back then i was like HOLY is dat zum KEWL ROWBATTTT!!! The Probotector cover arts and between mission pictures are awesome. Tho it is more manly to go fight aliens shirtless. I prefer the original men in Contra, but it would be great to have the Robots as secret unlockables.

Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, select start

*swisssssh!*

Probotector mode enabled!

Lee N · **Reply #81 on:** July 11, 2007, 07:04:11 pm

Guess I'll have to post images myself then..

bengo · **Reply #82 on:** July 11, 2007, 07:10:18 pm

Those are gorgeous, huh, is that that robot European dude everyone was talking about in the sixth screenshot(design wise, anyway)?

Evil-Ville · **Reply #83 on:** July 11, 2007, 07:15:09 pm

Those screenshots look incredible. I want it now.

ndchristie · **Reply #84 on:** July 11, 2007, 08:54:59 pm

i have to appreciate the amount of balls it takes to make stone and scrub textures that have crazy seams every other tile, and still manage to look fantastic.
The only place it breaks down is that dark tile with the bright band on the bottom, placed, oddly enough, above another instance of itself, which by most logic should be the only thing it would look good against.

What i love most is the grass platforms and the edges of the stone "wall" regions.

I've never played a contra game (or any other shmup or sidescroller except for megaman X) and as such could really care less about game play, it really just needs to look nice.

AdamAtomic · **Reply #85 on:** July 11, 2007, 08:58:23 pm

nice! only beef is the platforms in the last shot blend in quite a bit with the background, which seems out of style compared to the other areas shown. otherwise the designs look VERY contra and yet new and fun, kudos!

halu · **Reply #86 on:** July 11, 2007, 09:04:45 pm

Wow, the game looks great, I need this.
nao.

Lee N · **Reply #87 on:** July 11, 2007, 10:02:48 pm

more.

bengo · **Reply #88 on:** July 11, 2007, 10:23:53 pm

How far is this game from being complete anyway(Just wondering, because I really want this game, just a rough estimate, like quarter 4 '07 or whatever)?

Jad · **Reply #89 on:** July 11, 2007, 11:28:00 pm

I'll have to say that I'm not really a fan of these over-saturated ball-like four-way flipped explosions, oldschool as they may be, the're one part of 'oldschool' I'd want to leave behind me.

Eh, I'd say I'm a fan of everything else, though.

Kudos for the alien levels that scream 'SHADOW OF THE BEAST' in a pleasant way. Can't wait to get this game :]

Helm · **Reply #90 on:** July 11, 2007, 11:42:54 pm

Hm actually I can see lots of things that could be done better (in a perfect world without any deadlines or art direction - to artists static communication and so on).

AdamTierney · **Reply #91 on:** July 12, 2007, 10:22:04 am

Quote from: bengoshia on July 11, 2007, 10:23:53 pm

How far is this game from being complete anyway(Just wondering, because I really want this game, just a rough estimate, like quarter 4 '07 or whatever)?

It comes out this year.

Quote from: Jad on July 11, 2007, 11:28:00 pm

I'll have to say that I'm not really a fan of these over-saturated ball-like four-way flipped explosions, oldschool as they may be, the're one part of 'oldschool' I'd want to leave behind me.

They've been updated since these shots.

Ed Oscuro · **Reply #92 on:** July 12, 2007, 06:10:01 pm

Whatever, flipped explosions are the heart and soul of Contra!

Looks great thus far, of course, and if it's looking better than THAT we'll certainly be going crazy over the finished product. I'm used to seeing 3D rendered games look better with newer screenshots, but having this sort of update for any 2D game is a new experience for me.

Lee N · **Reply #93 on:** July 12, 2007, 06:53:18 pm

AdamTierny: What's going on in these spots btw? The odd tiling in some spots I can look past, but parts of the scenery just abruptly ending like this does seem a bit weird. I take it (or rather, I hope) this is something you're working on?

AdamAtomic · **Reply #94 on:** July 12, 2007, 09:36:25 pm

If you'd read any of the above posts (like about the explosions already being replaced) you'd have been able to successfully deduce that these are Work In Progress screens...

crab2selout.png · **Reply #95 on:** July 13, 2007, 06:07:02 am

Just watched the video with the underwater boss. Loved all the fun rotating/skewing fish body parts. I'm wetting my pants at the thought of seeing it in full pixelly glory upon release. My favourite tiles are in the broken down city, especially the one large shattered glass window.

Ed Oscuro · **Reply #96 on:** July 20, 2007, 03:34:09 am

Update!

I got together with the developers and they gave a candid interview on the series. They also gave some screenshots of the Tunnel mode. Check it out:

http://contra.classicgaming.gamespy.com/welcome.htm

Sohashu · **Reply #97 on:** July 22, 2007, 12:09:58 pm

http://au.ds.ign.com/articles/806/806929p1.html

Dunno if anyone has seen this, but congrats to Wayforward.

Blick · **Reply #98 on:** July 23, 2007, 08:20:36 am

Quote from: Lee N on July 12, 2007, 06:53:18 pm

AdamTierny: What's going on in these spots btw? The odd tiling in some spots I can look past, but parts of the scenery just abruptly ending like this does seem a bit weird. I take it (or rather, I hope) this is something you're working on?

DS screen, so it's two screenshots for the price of one. Should explain most of the abrupt ends. Then again, maybe not. I can't really tell what's happening.

Froli · **Reply #99 on:** August 03, 2007, 12:10:43 pm

The Angry Nintendo Nerd, The Angry Video Game Nerd from screw attack made some comments about this game from his e3 experience. <A fun reviewer and quite famous specially in youtube and gametrailers.com>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IGS0XX76i0

Lee N · **Reply #100 on:** October 04, 2007, 07:22:21 pm

New info + release date..

yosh64 · **Reply #101 on:** October 06, 2007, 10:25:33 am

hey

Looks like some great artwork

.

Anyhows I also hope they make a "Probotector" version for over here, as I prefer the robots

. This is probably because I had Probotector on the NES when little, and used to play with me bro

. Hmm, I don't think we ever completed it, but I think we got close.

Looking back, I liked how it was so hard, it means ya don't complete and stop playing it. Hmm, I think that's something I miss in todays games, is that they arn't hard enough, and that ya can save so often.

cyas

MrMister · **Reply #102 on:** October 10, 2007, 06:55:12 am

I've got the Contra 4 poster from Nintendo Power up on my wall.
Stoked for this.

Froli · **Reply #103 on:** October 30, 2007, 03:04:27 pm

Whoah! the stage 2 boss is awesome!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw4MymnEFPs

baccaman21 · **Reply #104 on:** October 30, 2007, 04:00:46 pm

booo... no predictive scroll.

Helm · **Reply #105 on:** October 30, 2007, 05:24:12 pm

Probably will be the best Contra ever. Extremely impressed.

Rargh! · **Reply #106 on:** November 01, 2007, 10:12:57 am

Still TBA on a release date over here...

alkaline · **Reply #107 on:** November 14, 2007, 02:36:28 am

Contra 4 gets an 8.0 from IGN; congrats guys, it looks great.

http://ds.ign.com/articles/834/834843p1.html

Jad · **Reply #108 on:** November 14, 2007, 03:18:57 am

Haha, it gets points docked for the art :O

Which is not the fun part.

The fun part is that everyone that comments on the article writes that 'What the hell!? The graphics are perfect!'

Which is all the merrier to hear :3

Froli · **Reply #109 on:** November 14, 2007, 03:38:28 am

... Pixel art focus. Wtf

But the score is great! Hell yeah!!, and I believe more reviews with good scores will be flooding the awesomeness of CONTRA!!!

AdamTierney · **Reply #110 on:** November 14, 2007, 06:14:21 am

Contra 4 = Snake + Henk + Jawsh + Fejer + Monsoon2D + Sals + Gustav + Konjak + Panda + Vedsten + Paul Robertson

Most in small doses, but it's definitely been the most Pixelation-heavy WayForward game so far.

By the way, if you wanna see a whole mess of beautiful pixel art from Panda, check out Shrek: Ogres & Dronkeys on DS (also out this week).

Froli · **Reply #111 on:** November 14, 2007, 09:31:48 am

Quote from: AdamTierney on November 14, 2007, 06:14:21 am

Contra 4 = Snake + Henk + Jawsh + Fejer + Monsoon2D + Sals + Gustav + Konjak + Panda + Vedsten + Paul Robertson Most in small doses, but it's definitely been the most Pixelation-heavy WayForward game so far.

By the way, if you wanna see a whole mess of beautiful pixel art from Panda, check out Shrek: Ogres & Dronkeys on DS (also out this week).

Jesus christ, that's a power house team. The only missing was helm and ptoing. And man, Panda is quite busy this days huh?

baccaman21 · **Reply #112 on:** November 14, 2007, 01:49:42 pm

I've never been a fan of Craig Harris Reviews... but 8's a good score... 7.5 for Gfx though... sheesh...

what a piss poor comment too... "looks good but a visual step back wards..." WHY BECAUSE it's not 3D...! What a Wanker... [/rant]

Great line up adam... nice to see you had a hand in it too...

huZba · **Reply #113 on:** November 14, 2007, 04:54:14 pm

I think there's a good point though. It's something that could've been done over 10 years ago, it's oldskool and not completely in a positive sense. I can easily appreciate how it looks, being a big contra fan. I'll probably enjoy becoming a nostalgia junkie just for this one time to go 10 years back in time. But what about everyone else who doesn't have contra running in their veins? (I know it's aimed for vets and that's awesome) If it has pixel art it screams retro and i don't think a lot of people like that these days. It's old stuff done good, but it's still old stuff. There's nothing extraordinary. It's like the peak of mount pixel has been visited already a long time ago and everything from there on is only almost or just as good.

Not many are even trying to break any new 2D grounds even though there surely are things to be done, but everyone does things based on what they've learned from people who did it the same way just a bit before them.

The nth megaman and final fantasy games all have some oomph to them with special effects, painted backrounds instead of pixelpushing, 3D bg etc etc that use the full potential of DS which is quite powerful compared to genesis and snes for example.

The game looks like just what i expected and i really wouldn't want it any other way, it's perfect if you ask me (Did i spot a probotector guy in one of the shots?). Just wanted to juggle with what mr reviewer is probably thinking. Looking forward to get my hands on this.. but... NO RELEASE DATE FOR EUROPE??!!! WOOOOT!

oh and bacca.. there seems to be 3D sections in there as well

Jad · **Reply #114 on:** November 14, 2007, 05:08:19 pm

Graphics should be judged after its application. This is an oldschool Contra game, what graphics should such a game have? High-polished smooth pixel-art of course :]!!!

The only thing that should evolve here is ..

the ball explosions :<

... But I guess they're necessary for a Contra game.

Plus, the level of detail in backgrounds and so on is _really_ over the general standard of pixel art.

This game gets 9.0 in art from me. It's as good as it should ever be :]

I AM SO BIASED. :]

.TakaM · **Reply #115 on:** November 15, 2007, 05:39:11 am

I shall be honest, contra got dumped today, haven't played much of it.
to keep myself from getting very far at all, I vow to only play it on hard mode until I buy the game once released here

that said, the game has been very awesome so far, 7.5/10 for the graphics is way too low, has really smooth animations and lot's of cool subtle subpixel animation to the bushes etc.

I know contra is serious business to a lot of members here and also in the literal sense, so I just want to reiterate that I will buy the game

edit-
and if you're interested, the contra4 dump topic over at gbatemp is already up to 8 pages, everyone loves it, most have said they will be buying the game, some convincing their friends to also buy, and lots of "wayforward did an amazing job"s

Jad · **Reply #116 on:** November 16, 2007, 10:02:39 pm

Downloaded it to my R4. :] Definately a buy. It's wonderful. I love you guys <3

st3ady · **Reply #117 on:** November 24, 2007, 08:38:00 am

i love this game! great job guys

bengo · **Reply #118 on:** November 24, 2007, 08:49:03 am

Christ this game is hard but I can't stop playing it.

Jad · **Reply #119 on:** November 24, 2007, 04:13:48 pm

Umm, robot + rocket scene is like the definition of RADICAL SHIT

I mean god damnit. How did you guys manage to pack so much FUN into it? It's like wario ware except for that it's all in the same universe. But still.

Shoot!

Jump!

Climb!

Robot!

Hang!

Fly!

Jump between stuff!

Shoot evil push-you-off-evil-rocket propelled stuff!

Get up!

Dodge fire!

MORE ROBOT!

And then I died so I don't know what comes next.

WTF! That, in like one minute. ENTERTAINMENT ROYALE.

Hao · **Reply #120 on:** November 25, 2007, 03:12:36 pm

Nice to open a topic about Contra.

I've been a fan of the (real) Contra series since NES, me and my brother can beat Contra 1 for NES with a single life I think.

And we thought we were actually prepared...

I can't believe how you managed to put so much love in this title. The music is nice, and the (little spoiler) difference between the first song in Normal and Hard = PRICELESS. The Challenge mode is something completely new in the classic Contra series, and really adds a lot of fun (I've only been able to beat half of it, it's really insane). Pixel work is amazing, and gameplay is fast-paced and even harder than many previous Contras, which says a lot of it. The best thing about this game is that you can't stop playing it, no matter how many times you lose.

Buy it. NOW. Don't forget to tell your friends to buy it since 2-players is how this game is meant to be played!

st3ady · **Reply #121 on:** November 26, 2007, 04:59:06 am

any chance there will be a thread with all of the amazing pixel artwork? I know there are tons of sites out there that have all the pixel art from old NES and SNES games ripped out and available for viewing pleasure... is this something that would not be acceptable?
I would like to "closely examine" Sheena and Lucia

bengo · **Reply #122 on:** November 29, 2007, 11:48:58 pm

Kenneth Fejer worked on this? Cool.

Cow · **Reply #123 on:** December 31, 2007, 10:30:09 pm

Also: holy fucking shit at the bug boss in the city level. That's a true act of pixel art heroism.

(shielding my eyes from the unfiltered awesome)

And while we're talking about things, is the skeleton that shoots fire (lol) invincible when you only have the peashooter? I got to the doors and I was shooting them for a good 20 minutes to no apparent avail. I whipped through it when I had a laser though.

Onto Normal to beat it properly I guess.

Lee N · **Reply #124 on:** January 23, 2008, 06:40:59 am

A little late to the party here (a friend of mine ordered two copies at launch and I just got around to pick it up last night).. so far so awesome.

I did notice something that looks like an old photoshop bug in the Museum though, some of the old game covers have a white line on the left and top edges of the image - that's not intentional is it?

Anyway:

AdamAtomic · **Reply #125 on:** July 23, 2008, 04:30:16 pm

Sorry to drag this up, but I just picked up Contra 4 (finally) and it is TRULY, AWESOMELY, excellent. Definitely up there with GODHAND for the most pleasant gaming experience of the last year or so. Great job guys!!

huZba · **Reply #126 on:** July 23, 2008, 07:40:24 pm

What about europaland? It's never going to land here?

ptoing · **Reply #127 on:** July 23, 2008, 10:15:09 pm

You can always import, no? Dollar is cheap as chips atm.

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