Home
Creators
Search Recent Random
Posts
Search DMs Popular Hash Lookup Tags Random
Importer
Import FAQ
Register Favorites Keys Review DMs Logout
Community
Telegram ThePornDude
Home Creators Posts Import Register Favorites Logout

Our next podcast recording (2.8.25) - 681: Contra: The Hard Corps (Patreon)

Published:
2025-07-31 10:43:20
Imported:
2025-07

Content

Here's where you can contribute your thoughts and opinions for Contra: The Hard Corps for potential inclusion in the forthcoming podcast.A friendly reminder that where the feedback for the podcast is concerned, we love it - but keeping it brief is appreciated. We do want to include a breadth of opinions where appropriate, but no-one wants a discussion podcast that’s mostly reading out essays. Better to save yourself time and cut to the chase if you can.

Comments

TracyWil1

Growing up I only played Contra (NES) and Contra III (SNES). I enjoyed both games but I was not hardcore enough (pun intended) to finish either one, even with the Konami code. I didn't actually play Contra: The Hard Corps until recently for the podcast through the Contra Anniversary Collection on my PS5. Lives up to its name, the game is not easy. I was only able to finish 3 endings using the save state feature built into the collection. However I did enjoy my time with the game. It plays well, and I do like being able to hold multiple selectable weapons. Although the homing lasers with Sheena was my jam.

Robin Enrico

It only when I had access to the Japanese version of this game that I was FINALLY able to see all it had to offer. Hard Corps isn’t as simple and tight as the NES version of the original, and no where near the level of spectacle that Alien Wars is. In all the ways it feels like it is aping Gunstar Heroes it nearly looses it’s own identity. But with just that slightly lower demand for mastery the Japanese version made me more inclined to want to take another run at the game. Knowing I could mess up a few times and still push through made me curious to see what the branching paths had to offer. I wish Konami in the 90’s had enough faith in Hard Corps as something you could find joy in running through over and over again instead of forcing your hand towards mastery. It could have been one of those “play once every 2 months favorites” you keep in your collection in the 90s.

psychohype

I first played Contra: Hard Corps in the fifth grade while staying over at a friend's house, and I remember being absolutely floored by the instant, explosive action. By this point in time, I was loosely familiar with the Contra franchise, with fond memories of having once played the original Contra arcade game, as well as Contra III on the Super Nintendo. I also distinctly remember how my friend guided me through the first couple of Stage 1 mini-bosses, including the mid-level encounter with Maximum Jumbo, a building-sized enemy robot that can throw cars and fire a laser from its cyclops eye. "Just stand in the middle and shoot straight up," he told me as the robot lurched ominously toward the players' position. Sure enough, there was a safe spot right in the middle of the screen where you could avoid taking damage and destroy the metal colossus before it even got to its second attack phase. Such a simple concept, but it was foundational to my understanding of how the game was meant to be played: Learn the patterns of the enemy and know the places from which to attack at all times. From there it was only a little further to the actual stage boss. This one took a little more skill to defeat, as it was more nimble and had a few more tricks up its sleeve. But once we did, something unexpected happened. There was a cutscene. A man in a jetpack emerged from the wrecked machine. He said his name was Deadeye Joe before he jetted away, taunting us to chase him. Just as he did, we got a call for help from a scientist who said there was a research lab outside of the city that was currently under attack. What were we going to do, chase the terrorist or rescue the science lab? The choice, it turns out, was not insignificant. Not only did the two options send the player into completely different Stage 2 scenarios, it would set the stage for a completely different endgame later on. I don't think we made it past the brutal Stage 4 jungle area that weekend, but by the time my dad came to pick me up, it was official. Contra: Hard Corps was the coolest video game I'd ever played. I think it was also my dad who was with me when I found a discounted copy of the game at the mall maybe a couple years later and got to take it home. I've been playing the game off and on ever since. Today, more than 30 years after the game's release, I still consider Contra: Hard Corps to be one of the best side-scrolling action games I've ever played—one that was clearly tailor-made for the Sega Genesis. Between the gritty, cyberpunk-inspired aesthetics; the adrenaline-fueled techno-metal soundtrack; and the unwritten rule that something must be exploding at all times, this game is dripping with style. Speaking of the music, I'm pretty sure I've memorized every warbling synthesizer note of every melody of every track in the game by now. And my brain still marvels at some of the game's smaller details, like the sleek morphing animation that occurs when you cycle through the four different protagonists on the character-select screen. How did they do that? Still, what astounds me most of all is how the game is almost like four games packed into one thanks to the different stage configurations—with wildly different endings and story conclusions stemming from two decision points at the end of Stages 1 and 4. Do the story branches make narrative or logical sense? Not really, but that's sort of what I like about it. It's such an audacious concept! It's like they couldn't settle on just one crazy idea for how the game should conclude—why not include four? That's not even counting the most amazing Easter-egg secret ending ever devised. On top of that, you have four characters to choose from, each with their own four weapon upgrades that are all unique to the character. So much variety! If there's one minor criticism to be leveled against Contra: Hard Corps, it's probably the game's notorious difficulty, especially in the North American version. For as many times as I've played and beaten the game, I've still never gotten to any of the main endings as Brad Fang, a.k.a. the wolfman character. He's got such a big hit box, and two of his attacks—although powerful—are punching based, making them hard to time correctly. On the flipside, when I played the game as a teenager, I almost exclusively chose Browny the robot, who has the best mix of weapons, a much shorter hitbox, and the ability to execute a second hover jump. It's basically the game's closest thing to an easy mode, but the challenge is certainly still there. This is Contra, after all.

SludgeWizard

I think Contra III is considered the darling of the series, but Hard Corps is my favorite. It gets so intense so quickly, I remember booting it up for the first time in college and hitting the Game Over screen in roughly 8 seconds. Hard Corps indeed. It feels sort of like a predecessor to DOOM 2016 in the way that it cranks everything up to maximum settings and then breaks the knob off. Even though I still haven’t seen the end, I rank Contra Hard Corps among my favorite Genesis games. How can you not like a game that is so over-the-top that it can’t even see the ground? Three word review: Werewolf in sunglasses

Alex79

I love run and gun games, especially the Metal Slug series, and I'm not bad at them. I mean I'm not great, I'm not coming anywhere near a 1cc on any of them, but I'm not *bad*. Contra though? I don't know why but I've never been able to get anywhere in these games. I've tried Hard Corps on both the Konami anniversary collection and the Switch Online service and I can barely get through the first area without dying. Shame, because it looks great! Perhaps I'll try to rewind/save scum my way through some day... EDIT: Yeah just had another quick go, I got as far as the cyborg boss before hitting the game over. It's a shame the continue doesn't drop you right back where you were, I might have a chance then 😆