Contra: Operation Galuga Review (dhaos)
For this one I'll write 2 reviews:
1 For new gamers: 7 of 10.
Operation Galuga is a entertaining game. It takes a couple of hours to complete but it has some replayability value. Grab it on sale (about 10 - 15 usd would be a fair price) if you like arcade games.
2 As a Contra fan: 5.5 of 10.
Wait, what? well, I think this Contra fails short for a Contra game with modern resources. Either this was made as a mobile game or they aimed for a low budget development expecting big profits from brand name and nostalgia.
I've played the game for about 16 hours already so it's not like I hate it however, I feel it could be better in several areas.. lets see:
a) controls
Ok for the most part. Analog stick allows you to aim on any direction which is a good thing. My issues:
- precise jumping could be better
- crouch: d-pad is faster. you will notice this when you want to dodge a bullet in short notice
- gun overload takes some time. I'd like to have a setting for it to be instantaneous. Don't worry, If I hit it by mistake that's my problem
b) gameplay
This feels like a Contra game. with a few quirks:
- weak soldiers do not die with a single shot. This breaks 'run and gun' formula at some places to make Contra a 'walk and aim' game. I don't like this
- auto grab to ceilings. Alien Wars had this and it was ok. Here, it breaks the pace or makes you take damage. I would like to be able to decide between doing a normal jump or hang to ceilings
- no bomb. man this is heavily missed from contra 3. Bombs could save your ass on tricky contidions! well, not in this game. Also, the 2 weapon 'victory' pose is gone. Not actually useful but it was cool
c) chars
Having several chars is a good thing. The problem is they get treated unevenly. A char gets less hit points than others, some cannot double jump, and some are slower (not great for a fast paced action game). Also some weapons change (for worse) depending on which char you are using... and Grapple is not great to have for the most part. Overall, it feels like the game was designed for Lance and Bill so, playing with other chars can put you on disadvantage at some points
d) weapons
Classic weapons are here but, damage-wise, they do not feel more powerful. An enemy can take 3 shots from the default rifle, M gun or even Laser.
Weapon overload... is a good mechanic however, some overloads can either be godlike or pretty much useless depending on what you are fighting.
New weapon types would be nice to have
e) boss fights
Those are ok for the most part. Some of the later bosses will attack you with hard-to-dodge moves which can feel unfair (maybe some googling can help there). Certain weapons will make some fights way easier but the opposite is also true: being there with a 'wrong' weapon can make the boss fight harder
e) graphics
In-game graphics are ok. Nothing spectacular but they do. My main complain is that sometimes it is hard to see where you are and you can get hit/killed because of that. This is an important issue.
History mode graphics feel low budget, specially the ending sequence. I mean really low budget. Contra in 2024 deserves better. Also some char animations, and the bike stage transitions do not feel as smooth as they should be.
f) music
New music is bland. Nothing to write home about here. But you can unlock old game music which is much, much better.
g) stages
Developers took ideas, places and enemies from previous contra games. Stages are ok for Bill and Lance but you can struggle with other characters. I hated a couple of things:
1 the stage with the green crystals where you can't see yourself directly
2 the climbing sequence near the end... totally annoying if you don't have a spare L gun
And no top view stages. Those would be good to have
g) story / dialogs
Voice acting is ok, but some dialogs can feel uninspired or even a bit dumb. History is ok, not epic but not terrible either
h) other
Sometimes stages take a long time (10 seconds or more) to start for no reason... (unless they wanted to simulate ps1 load times)
On summary, This Contra is an ok game, but, for the full asking price it should be better (grab it on sale). The game is not a remake or a remaster; they took a lot of things from old Contra games and mixed them all together in a new Contra game. While some things can be improved, I think Contra fans can have fun with this game.