Contra: Hard Corps, Part 2 - Special Features

Today I'm going to look at some of the alternate endings and assorted weirdness in this game.

Contra: Hard Corps (Sega Genesis, 1994)

Here's the Genesis counterpart to Contra III, and it's everything you'd expect. Higher difficulty, brighter color palette, and lots of X-TREME ATTITUDE. Sega: They Do What Ninten-don't.

Contra III: The Alien Wars (Super NES, 1992)

Time for one of the greatest action games of the 16-bit era. This game actually came out -before- Contra Force, but it blows away that game in every area.

Contra Force (NES, 1992)

 This game is a spinoff of the main series, and it tries some new gameplay elements. Unfortunately, it's a victim of "NES games that came along during the SNES era" syndrome, and isn't very good.

Operation C (Game Boy, 1991)

This is the Game Boy spinoff of Contra, and like most Game Boy spinoffs from that era, it's very scaled-down in comparison to its NES counterparts. While those games had 8 or 9 stages, this one has 5. Said stages are shorter, too. That said, it's pretty damn fun. PUSH START KEY!

Super C (NES, 1990)

This is the sequel to Contra, and for some reason they didn't call it Contra II. Not sure what the deal is there. Maybe they were trying to distance themselves from the word after the Iran-Contra scandal. One thing is for sure: Super C is even MORE Xenomorphy than its predecessor.

Contra (NES, 1988)

Today I'm going to look at a game that takes everything awesome about the 80's, puts all of it in a blender, and hits EXTREME PUREE~!

This game is so rad, it should be called Badder Dudes.

Axelay (Super NES, 1992)

 This is one of my favorite space-shooters of all time. It's probably second only to Space Megaforce; oddly enough, it also came out at around the same time. It's odd that the Super NES, a system with a notable deficiency of space shooters, dropped its best two in the same calendar month. I suspect this cut into the sales of both games dramatically as they were forced to compete. Regardless, Axelay is pretty awesome, and today I'm going to show you why.

DuckTales (NES, 1989)

Now here's a game that has been critically acclaimed for decades. Not too surprised to see that it's by Capcom, since they were on fire in the late 80's/early 90's. DuckTales recently got new life in the form of an HD remake on current gen systems, but the NES version continues to be a true classique.

The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse (Super NES, 1992)

 Here's an old Super NES game that I'd like to highlight a bit. It's a surprisingly great game, and it's enjoyable in the Kirby's Dream Land sense: Short, easy, and fun. And really, I'm just glad to be playing something colorful and happy after playing The Last of Us.

The Last of Us (Playstation 3, 2013)

Today I'm going in the opposite direction from retro and looking at one of the biggest games of 2013. For a while, I didn't even consider playing this game. It looked depressing and boring, I was sick of seeing Ellen Page in modern games, and survival-horror simply isn't my genre. Hell, I didn't even really like Resident Evil 4 all that much and that's like the best survival-horror game of all time. However, after I played Bioshock Infinite, my need to continue with 2013's GOTY contenders drove me to get ahold of the game. Here are my thoughts on it. Spoilers will abound.

Mega Man 2 (NES, 1989)

There's a missing link in my Mega Man lineup. I covered the original Mega Man and I covered Mega Man 3, but what of the game that, for many, put this series on the map? An astronomical improvement over the original, Mega Man 2 is one of the finest and most iconic action games on the NES.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Playstation 2, 2004)

With GTA5 hot off the presses, I figured this would be a good time to finally get around to San Andreas. This is the next game in the venerable series for me, as I played GTA3 and Vice City previously. San Andreas has a whirlwind of hype surrounding it, and I'm not sure if can measure up.

Come on in. Punch and pie.

Dynasty Warriors (Playstation, 1997)

Today I'm looking at the genesis of one of the more popular beat-em-up series' of the past decade and a half or so. The very first Dynasty Warriors is a cult 2.5D Playstation fighter, and bears little resemblance to the badass 3D games that make up the rest of the series and are far more well-known. For this reason, it's worth taking a look at.

Nintendo Power, Issue 52

 

 Today I'm going to be looking at a magical relic from September 1993: Issue 52 of Nintendo Power (RIP). I just picked up a used copy on Amazon, so I'm reading it for the first time.

This was nearly the first issue of Nintendo Power that I had as a kid; I subscribed in August, but it didn't get processed in time to get this issue. Instead, the first one I got was the fairly underwhelming October issue. That issue still blew my mind at the time, but I can only imagine the level of mind-blowing that would have occurred had THIS issue been my first. I was an absolute Mario fanatic.

Highlander: The Series 1x12 - Eyewitness

The last episode of season 1's first half, which might as well be a different show from the second half. This is it, the big conclusion to Highlander: Cop Show.

Highlander: The Series 1x11 - See No Evil

Time for THE WORST episode of Highlander. But you know what? It's still better than The Source.

Highlander: The Series 1x10 - Revenge is Sweet

Tonight, the world sweats and trembles with suspense, awaiting a milestone in television.

What? Breaking Bad? Naw, I'm talking about the latest Highlander post.

Is it weird that every brightly-lit "Happy New Year" sign now reminds me of Bioshock?

The Donkey Kong Land Trilogy

Today I'm looking at a trilogy of games that are both sub-par and antiquated. But...they're only sub-par with the Donkey Kong Country trilogy to compare them to. Taken on their own, they aren't bad for the original Game Boy.

Note: This post will be featured in Banana Yellow, much like the cartridges for these games.

Valkyria Chronicles (Playstation 3, 2008)

Today I'm going to take a quick look at a fairly underrated PS3 game from Sega. It's a strategy RPG that transpires on three-dimensional maps. The story runs during an alternate version of the early-to-mid 20th century. It's incredibly unique, and I haven't seen anything else quite like it. THIS... is the Chronic- (What?) cles of Valkyria! I said the Chronic (What?) cles of Valkyria!