Contra: Operation Galuga

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Once again I turn back the clock of time to the 80s, where me, my friends, and my cousins were constantly playing Contra on the NES. All of the run ‘n gun action, jumping from platform to platform and over pits of death, and taking on huge bosses kept all of us coming back to play over and over. At some point we got so good we didn’t even need the famous Konami Code (if you know, you know).

Sequels would come, of course, some better than others. But it’s safe to say Konami’s Contra franchise has seen the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, with decent efforts occasionally giving fans hope they’d get more of the former. Enter Contra: Operation Galuga, the latest effort to revive the franchise for a new generation of potential run ‘n gun fans. While a bit rough around the edges, it’s the closest we’ve gotten to having a “true” Contra experience in some time.

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Developer WayForward is no stranger to Contra, having crafted one of the better entries of the franchise with 2007’s Contra 4 on the Nintendo DS. Billed as a reimagining of the original game (the superior NES version, not the clunkier arcade one), Operation Galuga follows our favorite Arnold Schwarzenegger “inspired” heroes, Bill Rizer and Lance Bean, as they take on the evil terrorist  organization Red Falcon. The Story Mode features something resembling a story, which is so bonkers I recommend not skipping it before diving into the infinitely more enjoyable Arcade Mode.

Things kick off with them securing a gravity-based weapon, the Lemeris, that’s capable of taking out entire countries. If that wasn’t enough trouble for Bill and Lance, there’s talk the weapon is of alien origin, and that these ETs are controlling Red Falcon’s soldiers. You’ll help Bill and Lance mow their way through multiple enemy-packed levels as they destroy, explode, and evaporate endless baddies using a variety of weapons that get the job done. The only solution, of course, is to attack aggressively.

It’s hilarious how the art and “animation” styles change throughout the Story Mode, like it was slapped onto a pretty decent arcade-style adventure that didn’t need the padding. At best it’s skippable filler that adds nothing to the experience, at worst you’ll have annoying interruptions that force you to listen to horrible dialogue in the middle of an intense action scene.

Attempts to revive the Contra franchise have largely come in two types: more straightforward run ‘n gunning (Contra 4, Contra ReBirth) and more top-down or isometric shooting (Contra: Rogue Corps, Contra: Rogue Corps). Thankfully, WayForward realizes this franchise works best when players cruise through levels, blasting enemies, and memorize platform jumps while trying to groove into their “Contra Zone”, and they achieve that here, for the most part.

Controls feel spot-on, which is critical for a game like this, and there are plenty of options to make the game easier or harder (i.e. the health bar vs. 1-hit kills) and a fun new “dash” to help with the platforming. You can swap between two different weapons culled from franchise favorites, such as the classic rapid fire machine gun to the fan-favorite spread gun. It’s all about the (overly) powerful homing attack, though, but at least the flamethrower is an actual flamethrower! Grab two of the same weapon for an added power buff, though get hit and you’ll lose it.

Weapons can also be detonated with all-new overload ability that gives each an offensive or defensive skill, such as the machine gun becoming a bubble of invincibility or the spread gun exploding into multiple mini guns that spread over the screen. You’ll lose the weapon, but there are always more.

Extra perks can add some added gameplay, such as increased jumping or added lives. There are tons of extra characters to unlock, each with slight variations to the stock Bill and Lance style, such as omitting double-jumping (and adding a grappling hook), slides, hovering, etc. My favorites are easily the Probotectors (from the dark days of European censorship), who are basically just Bill and Lance palette swaps, but with cool robo voices.

Visually, the game is decent, capturing the basic look and feel of the Contra franchise with 3D models instead of sprites. While I appreciate how fast and fluid everything is, it can feel a little basic at times, not unlike the little-seen mobile title Contra Returns, right down to the generic character artwork and story integration. Not just that, but the abundance of earned perks and pacing can make it feel like it began as a mobile title as well, not unlike Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls on Apple Arcade.

Soundwise, however, the game fares much better, even with the cartoonish, um, performances in the story mode. But classic sound effects and stage music are high-quality stuff, and you can even unlock more soundtracks from the 8-bit Contra games and even other Konami classics. Playing through these levels with Castlevania tunes made me hopeful that WayForward would produce a similar return-to-basics adventure for that franchise. I hope they do.

One big gripe, though, is how the game is missing so much of the “Contra Spectacle” the best games in the franchise have. Fans know what I mean; two minutes of intense action, followed by giant multi-segmented boss battles before it’s on to the next level. Yes, earlier games were short (by today’s standards) but they were small bites of action-packed joy, and the credits rolled long before you ever tired out. But the gameplay loop was so addictive, the music so memorable, the scenarios so much fun you’d play again and again.

With Galuga we get levels that go on way, way too long (some take upwards of 10 minutes to finish) and rarely vary up the experience. There are only two hoverbike levels (no top-downs here) to change things up, just waves and waves of enemies.  Simply adding more enemies, repeated again and again, doesn’t make the Contra experience any better or more fun, quite the opposite. It can feel exhausting. I was shocked at how bland and underwhelming boss battles are here.

As bad as this sounds, however, Contra: Operation Galuga still has enough of the Contra magic to earn a recommendation for those anxious for a classic Konami fix. While it’s not the return to greatness many fans hoped for, it comes closer to recapturing that indescribable “feel” more recent games have lacked, at least the top-down ones. Yes, there are pacing issues aplenty, and the overall design plays it too safe at times, but there’s enough action, unlockable characters (and soundtracks!), and multiplayer options to keep you satisfied.