3/5 ★ – RawMetal's review of Contra Evolution.

System: Arcade Started: February 12, 2024 Ended: February 12, 2024 I was surprised to see a modern Contra arcade cabinet, but it's in Japanese. I had to do a quick research on my phone and apparently Contra Evolution was exclusively made for China for mobile and arcade ports until a Western region version was released for mobile. The only Contra game I played in the past was Contra III: The Alien Wars for the Wii Virtual Console. I still have not beaten the third game since it's crazy-hard, but it's one of my favorite games that I enjoyed. Evolution is a remake of the original game with added changes to attract new and veteran fans of the franchise. This entry was pretty mixed, but fun. There are problems I have with it that will never match up with the past juggernaut entries of the franchise. For anyone who has never played a single Contra game, it's basically a futuristic run-and-gun as you shoot your way to the end of the level. The franchise is notorious for its high difficulty due to one-hit kills and its notable cheat code, which gives the player 30 lives. The difference between Evolution and the original Contra is the art style with its 3D appearance and aside from playing two classic duos, Bill Rizer and Lance Bean. This game added two female characters, Erica Ricci and Sally Inohara and both characters have unique abilities on weapons and skills, even when you get a different power-up. Contra Evolution is nostalgia for Contra fans since this is a full remake only with minor additions and change-ups. This game felt more like Contra for beginners. This game’s difficulty is not that hard; the projectiles are a little bit slower, so you can react quickly to avoid them. You even get to continue where you died since this is the arcade port I’m playing. The two new characters are fun to use, like Sally, for instance, can throw knives at baddies. Erica plays exactly like if Lara Croft were in a Contra game. I have mixed feelings about the in-game pre-rendered art style. It looks pretty stiff and cheap. Although I do like the character illustration art for the four characters. The controls are a bit janky and I am playing this with a joystick. I’m glad that I played the arcade version because the mobile version was considered the worst due to bloated Microtransactions and the touch-screen controls were bad enough. You even have to unlock the two new characters whereas the Arcade port, you can play them immediately. If I had played the mobile version, I would have given it a 2-star rating. It may not have the same charm as the original Contra, but the two new characters in this game are reason enough to try and check it out. I would only recommend the arcade port to play this game over the mobile port. Besides, Konami pulled the game out of the App store, so emulation is the way to go. I thought it was okay, but I would rather play the classic version over this to be honest. This is only worth playing if you are very new to Contra and at least hardcore Contra fans would be alright with this for wanting to play Erica and Sally, so it would not be a complete waste of time. Just don’t expect it to be one of the best Contra games.