This a good one, but the price is too expensive.
It should be around 20$ not 40$.
Wait for it if you can.

Pretty damn good so far, honestly.

Been a huge fan of Contra my whole life, but specifically have very fond memories of Contra 4 for a variety of reasons. Contra 4 also happens to have been developed by Wayforward and was a phenomenal entry. This game has a lot of the same feels and vibe as that one did.

The 2.5D visuals used feel a little dated, but the Contra run and gun gameplay you know and love is there and that’s all that truly matters.

Sound wise everything is satisfying and the soundtrack is more on the orchestral side, but you can also unlock different soundtracks for arcade and challenge mode. Speaking of those modes, there’s plenty of content on offer from what I can see so far. A full fledged story mode with cutscenes, arcade mode which is just classic play until you run out of lives, and a challenge mode with tons of different challenges (speed runs and stuff). There’s also a new perk system where you earn points as you play to spend in a perk shop that give nice little buffs to your character (Spread equipped on level start, Lance having a higher double jump, etc.) so that’s a nice little way to change the game up or give you an upper hand if you’re struggling. Don’t forget to put in the Konami Code for a special shop bonus!

This game also runs perfectly on the steam deck out of the box, 60fps, so you can get your Contra fix on the go.

All in all, as a fan, I recommend the game so far. If that changes at all the more I play, I’ll be sure to update my review.

(Any game that lets me play as Probotector is a good game)


Finally we can leave all that crap with Rogue Corps behind..

I liked the improved graphics and arcade gameplay but this is not a $40 game. I might pick this up again if it is on sale later for $20. It's worth $20 - $25 in my opinion. Game did not crash which was good. Thumbs down until price is better.

Suddenly I am feeling very old.

Wayforward knows what they're doing because they already made Contra 4. Contra: Operation Galuga on the surface might look like a simple cash in on Contra 1 nostalgia. but mechanically there is quite a bit of new things added to the series.

First off character selection there are 10 characters who all vary in degree, Bill and Lance, have the most standard playstyle they have double jumps and Dashing/Air Dashing, but even between the two you can get a character specific perk. Bill's allows him to be in invulnerable durring a Dash, and Lance gets a Higher Double jump. Then you have a character like Stanley Ironside who's playstyle is entirely different, He can't Double Jump or Dash, but he has the Contra 4 Grapple hook to elevate himself higher quickly, and he can Hover. The Probotector Robots have the potential for all 4 movement options since they get double Jump and Dash, and with their two character perks giving them access to the Grapple Hook, and Hover, you only get two perk slots. so those movement options will be at the cost of something else that can give you more fire power, or survivability. Different characters may also very in what weapons they get.

The Perk system is there if you want a bit of an edge in gameplay, there are cheaper perks like Start a level with your weapon of choice, or more expensive perks like keeping a weapon after dying, or increasing the amount of hit points you get, or healing a hit point when you overload a weapon (useless if you play with one hit deaths of course)

When it comes to weapons the Lv2 upgrades by collecting the same one twice makes a return from Contra 4 and the new feature is Overloading. you can use a weapon (or just it's Lv2 upgrade if you are on an easier difficulty) in exchange for a powerful move. For example Laser lets you slow down the world around you, and you'll be free to deal a big chunk of damage to a boss. Flame gives you a very long lasting Flame wall that stops projectiles, Machine gun gives you invulnerably for a decent amount of time. You can also call in a bonus weapon pod if you fill up the meter. So every weapon drop you see is the opportunity for an overload.

The levels enemies and bosses are a re-imagining of Contra 1, it'll be familiar but there is always a twist to keep things fresh, for example the Snow level now take place on a speeding Train moving though the snow top mountains, and the Robot boss is more elaborate, half way though it turns into a homage to a Contra Hard corps boss. This is a Solid Contra game, and it's very much worth playing.

True to the original. A bit pricy for what it is.

I think my biggest issue with this game is that it doesn't adhere to the old philosophy of contra design (something cool or unexpected needs to happen every 3 screens, there's allot of repetitive dead air in this one most likely due to the 4-player mode) and the soundtrack being so forgettable, I really wanna like it but so far as a long time fan who was cautiously excited for something new I kinda dislike how there doesn't seem to be a single original idea in this game at all? Also it uses allot from contra 1-4 in ways that are kinda questionable? Like what if Super C gets remade? All of its ideas got re-used in this one already. Also all the enemies being hodgepodges from the other games without any real thought as to why they are there.

Contra 4 had allot of original ideas, and this game kinda just re-uses them down to almost it's whole enemy roster (in terms of enemy behavior) and the whole time I'm thinking "man this game is pretty creatively bankrupt in a way I'm not enjoying"

I'm not gonna say the game is bad, it's not, but it's just "passable" and kinda bland.

I'll have to replay on arcade mode to see how the game really truly feels but clearing story mode on normal *is not a very good first impression* as a long time fan.

Tho, I feel the biggest point that hurt this is the soundtrack being so bland.

Shattered soldier and Hard Corps have some AMAZING OSTs, the whole series does even contra 4 was AMAZING in the department, and WF is usually known for their amazing music so idk wtf even happened here? I feel like the music might even be the main culprit to why I feel this harshly about the game, if it had some boppin tunes it might recontextualize the game for me but as is the OST is very uninteresting.

Also, don't make a contra game this story focused ever again that's all I have to say about that.

I really wish I could reccomend this game, I'm a long time fan of the series who really cares about its legacy titles and while I wasn't expecting much I was still disappointed in baffling and unique ways.

Look - I like this game. As Contra fanatic, this is a very solid entry to the series with few new additions to the gameplay. I'm not sure if story mode was really necessary but oh well. If you enjoy run 'n guns and Contra, you will enjoy this game, no doubt.

That being said, as many have mentioned in the discussions and stuff, 40€ is an insane price for this title. I would say 20€ would be a much fitting price. Another MASSIVE downside is that there is no online co-op whatsoever. Why? Obviously you could do some of those fancy streaming things but in a game like this where your movement has to be very precise, it's not very pleasant experience.

While I did buy this game, I'll do what is needed and NOT recommend this game till the price is lowered. The amount of reviews at the moment should already tell that many people (unlike me) decided to NOT buy this.

At first I was skeptical about the look of the latest installment of Contra. To my surprise though, it nails the feel and gunplay to classic Contra games and adds up a few modern touches like gun/perk upgrade, new characters and unique level design. I would absolute recommend it!

8.8/10

Is this game a masterpiece? Yes, it is one of the best classic sidescrolling run and gun games on the PC. The background story is easy to summarise: Red Falcon, a terrorist organisation, has occupied a remote group of islands and appears to be developing a forbidden weapon there. A special military unit sent there to clear up the situation has gone missing. So the two elite soldiers Bill Rizer and Lance Bean are sent out to stop the terrorists (or whoever is on the islands). They can also rescue the missing soldiers if they are still alive.

At the beginning, we can select the difficulty level (easy/normal/difficult). Another setting allows us not to immediately lose a life with every hit, but to be a little more resilient thanks to several hit points. After each game, we receive a few coins - the further we have progressed, the more. We can use these coins to buy small improvements in the main menu, such as an extra hit point or the ability to upgrade our weapons from the start. Not dramatic upgrades, but definitely useful little things. There are a total of 36 such improvement, and we can select two of them per character at the start of each level.

We run and shoot, but we are a little more mobile than in the classic Contra games. Double-jumping is one of our abilities right from the start, as is sprinting (dash). We can learn eight more skills in the course of the game. As in part one of the series, we can also lie flat on the ground to avoid the - comparatively slow - approaching enemy projectiles. We can easily shimmy along steel beams. We use the controller to control the game; by pressing RT, we remain in place and can use the stick to change the direction of our fire and fire in all directions. We carry up to two special weapons (there are six in total), which we can switch between at any time in a matter of seconds. There are eight game sections in total. In the second level, we are not running on foot but are travelling on a hoverbike and cannot stop. Supply drops give us new weapons when we collect them. We can also overload (and thus destroy) one of our weapons, which briefly gives us an extra ability. Weapons can be improved in their performance if we pick up an upgrade for them.

There is a story mode, arcade mode and a challenge mode. The game can be played alone, although in story mode both elite soldiers are involved in the mission. However, it is even better to play the story mode together with a friend in local two-player mode. Then one controls Bill and one controls Lance. Chaotic, but also incredibly funny. You can play with four people (locally) in arcade mode. Bill and Lance are then joined by two probotectors (soldiers in a combat suit) or other unlocked heroes; there are no conversations or cutscenes in this mode. The challenge mode, on the other hand, offers 30 difficult individual scenarios and is only possible for one player. You can play with an ultra widescreen (21:9) without any problems - but with black bars on the side. Gamepad support on the PC is good - Playstation Dual Shock and X-Box One controllers worked straight away.

Conclusion:
Contra: Operation Galuga brings the series back to its old strengths, but significantly reduces the previously often inhuman level of difficulty. If you like, you can also set the difficulty level like in the old games (loss of life after a hit, tons of wildly shooting enemies). I am not so skilful and frustration-resistant and have more fun with a slightly lower difficulty level. But you should be careful here - with the difficulty turned down, with checkpoints and endless continues, as a pro you will be too fast in front of the final boss in level 8. The graphics are fantastic - with a resolution of 2560×1440 you simply see more than with the oldies at 300×200... Plus 100 FPS at 100 Hz (on my monitor) and a great soundtrack and voice output. Classic gameplay, modern technology - brilliant. The gameplay is also great fun - finally a really good classic run'n'gun game in the Contra universe again.