Contra

Contra 4. Essentially, Konami has given the finger to all the other games of the series, and said, “Sorry, folks. You don’t count.” This game is all about giving fans of the old-school games the biggest dose of fanservice it possibly can.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Blood and Gore, Fantasy Violence, Language

Game Description: The action franchise that started it all is celebrating its 20th anniversary with an all-new adventure on Nintendo DS. Set after the events of Contra III: Alien Wars, the game follows mercenaries Bill Rizer and Lance Bean as they battle to save the world from a new extraterrestrial threat. Contra 4 takes advantage of the dual screens of the Nintendo DS to deliver larger than life action, with massive enemies, detailed platforming and mind-blowing set pieces. Across a variety of game modes, including full cooperative play through the main story mode, two players can take the fight to the alien army of the Black Viper and reclaim Earth for mankind.

After reading Matt's analysis of Neo Contra, I think he nailed it when he said that it lacks the staying power of its predecessors. It's clearly a good game at its core, and technically, things are smooth and feel good in my hands. In fact, I'm always glad to see this kind of fast-action shooter come down the pike, especially with the name Contra attached to it.

Neo Contra delivers a fun, violence-filled romp, but its virtues as a hardcore action game are tarnished by its hit-or-miss attempts at parody. Other developers have elevated the classic 2D shooter to a form of ballet, where memorizing bullet patterns and releasing your own perfect counter-attack is the grammar of an elegant dance.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Mild Language, Violence

I've noticed a trend in both my and Brad's reviews, something I'd characterize as a "glass half-full versus glass half-empty" pattern. If you disregard the scores and go by the reviews themselves, our thoughts on games are often similar, the only difference being that one of us likes or dislikes a game for or in spite of the qualities we both agree it has.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Animated Blood, Violence

Game Description: All of the legendary action and adrenaline of the famed Contra series comes to the PlayStation 2 with Contra: Shattered Soldier. Massive, screen-filling boss characters, a Contra series staple, do everything they can to keep players from proceeding through the multiple action-packed missions, while environmental threats such as swarms of bugs, aggressive enemies and alien encounters keep players on their toes.

After sitting down and spending time with Contra: Shattered Soldier, its clear to see that older gamers are the ones who will likely enjoy it the most. The graphics are solidly rendered in 3D, but they're not anything that will impress or engage people more accustomed to the visual flash prevalent on today's powerful hardware.