Developer: Wayforward Publisher: Konami Release: 02/21/24 Genre: Action Platform: Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series
Contra has had a rough go of it over the years. While the games were one of the top action series of the 8 and 16-bit era they fumbled after that. Inconsistency was the rule of the day. For every Shattered Soldier or Contra 4 there is a Legacy of War or Rogue Corps to make you question why you even liked these games in the first place. Contra: Operation Galuga goes back to basics and remakes the original for a modern audience in grand style and is a truly amazing game. Give me one of these every year and I can die happy.
In the year 26XX AD a meteor shower blankets the Galuga Archipelago off the coast of New Zealand. At first it is considered a random incident. But six months later the Red Falcon terrorist group invades the island and unusual gravity waves follow in their wake. The Earth Federation sends in the GX Army for reconnaissance, but contact has been lost. The Earth Marine Corps dispatches its best soldiers, Bill Rizer and Lance Bean to investigate and neutralize any potential threats. This seemingly simple conflict will see the fate of mankind hanging in the balance.
Contra: Operation Galuga is a reimagining of the first game. While it tells the same story it significantly expands on the events of the original Contra both to add context and to set up future stories as well. Wayforward and Konami have done an excellent job of bringing in characters from throughout the series history without making it feel crowded and if this is the timeline going forward I am all for it. The game largely builds off Wayforward’s work on Contra 4 which is good as that title was a nice mix of old and new. There are plenty of new mechanics that give it additional depth and a feel all its own however.
You begin the game as either Bill or Lance but in short order more characters become playable. The general weapon set is identical to Contra III however almost every character has at least one unique armament, be it Lucia’s charging spread gun or Stanley’s rapid discs. Collecting the same weapon twice awards a more powerful version that in some cases is absolutely devastating like the Crush Bombs. The weapon gauge allows you to summon a weapon drop once full. The overload system sacrifices a weapon for a powerful attack or even a defensive option in the case of the flame thrower. You have a lot of options at your disposal.
As a reimagining much of the ground you tread is familiar. Generally the game follows the same track as the arcade and NES game. That means you will still climb the Waterfall, trek through the jungle, and invade the alien’s lair. However Operation Galuga plays on your expectations and throws in new twists and expanded content. The aforementioned jungle gives way to a mountain region before reaching its climax. Rather than running through the enemy base you drive through on a hover bike in a nod to Contra III. The village seems brand new at first. But once you reach the midpoint you ascend the familiar waterfall and even fight the same boss with new attacks. They balance these moments extremely well to keep veterans on their toes while thrilling new players.
In general I like the level design. It straddles that fine line between new and old extremely well with few stumbles. The vehicle levels are cool set pieces but they drag on longer than I would like. But that is one of my few complaints. The story is serviceable and does its job of giving a reason for the mayhem. It gets a bit hokey toward the end but you know what I can live with that. I have to give a special mention to the fantastic bosses. Every encounter, even the minibosses is memorable and at times creative. This is the epitome of the pattern based action that made us fall in love with video games. They are difficult at first but once you see the pattern you will begin to min/max your play style.
Speaking of difficulty Operation Galuga presents a challenge that is in line with the series. The life bar of the later titles returns but you will still have to work for the end credits. The perks shop from Hard Corps: Uprising returns and allows you to customize each character in numerous ways. There are general perks such as life bar increases or starting lives and character specific perks like granting an invincibility frames while dashing as Bill or allowing the Probotector’s to hover. To balance it out you can only equip two perks. But even with these they do not break the game, they merely give you more of a fighting chance. While the game can be hard the perks system makes it more accessible to casual players.
Even after the campaign is over there is still plenty of life in this package. A number of extra characters become available in the perk shop as well as alternate soundtracks. Arcade mode is for those that do not care about the story. You can play it like the normal campaign or go for the traditional Contra experience with 1-hit kills. Going this route is much harder obviously. But the game rewards you with significantly more credits the further you can progress. Arcade mode showed me that I am too accustomed to the amenities of the modern games to ever go back. I am sure that with practice I could manage but I am not that guy anymore. I know my limits.
The biggest extra is Challenge mode, a staple from Contra 4. This mode offers thirty mini missions with objectives such as killing a set number of enemies with limited ammo, clearing an obstacle course without firing a single shot, or killing a boss as fast as possible. While it is not explicitly stated the challenges are a sort of training mode, introducing you to characters and slices of each level piecemeal to give you an idea of what to expect. In addition the objectives teach you how to be a better player. The obstacles courses were a stickler for me. My completion time was way off the best. But that was because I stopped to kill every enemy which is not the point. Once I studied the careful enemy placement and used my movement skills effectively it became a ballet. Even better, I carried that same skill to the campaign.
In Closing
Contra: Operation Galuga brings Contra back in to the limelight in style and is a great entry point for new fans to the series. It is challenging yet fun and has a lot of replay value between arcade mode and its challenges. Is Operation Galuga good enough to warrant multiple runs? In my opinion yes. Just like its predecessors the measured action, pacing, and set pieces are practically begging to be seen more than once. And now the game gives multiple reasons to do so. I cannot recommend this one enough.
