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Super Cyborg (Contra lives again)

E

ElTopo

Banned
SuperCyborgDemo_title.jpg


Steam Greenlight page

What is Super Cyborg?

It's Contra. It's Contra in everything but the name. Biggest difference is that all weapons have a charge shot ability (ala Contra 4) and there's no way to hold a position and fire 8 ways. So it plays closer to the NES Contra's. Also, the Spread Gun is good here (it's not almost worthless like in Contra 3 or 4).

Holy titballs! Where can I get this?

On Desura. Or you could vote for it on Steam Greenlight and wait until it's available there.

Is there more footage where I can see how it plays?

Sure, check out Slowbeef's video. Spoilers but it is not a complete LP. It's more of a taste of what the game is like.

Does it support controllers?

Yes, I know it supports 360 and PS3 controllers. Not sure if there's support for others.

What's the difficulty level like?

I guess you could call me a Contra vet, I can beat Contra and Super C without using the code or using more than 1 or 2 continues at the most. I've beaten Contra 3 many times (on Normal, Hard is a different story) and have played the hell out of Contra: Hardcorps (IMHO the best Contra) and have gotten all of the endings. I've only briefly played one of the PS2 Contra's and tried to get into Contra 4 but the dual screen gimmick pissed me off. Also beaten Conta Rebirth without much difficulty. This game is very challenging but the challenge is still fair. It will take a while to beat it. Well worth $5.
 
H

HellBlazer

Member
Hmm, interesting. I do love Contra. Still, from what I could see... same weapons, same enemy patterns, similar levels; it feels a bit lazy. They could have been a little less literal in their homage maybe? Anyway, I'll probably still try it out at some point. I doubt we'll get something worthwhile in that series from Konami again... :(
 
E

ElTopo

Banned
Yeah, anyone who's played Super C will see a lot of similarities between the two. But Super Cyborg takes the basic level design and does something a little different.

I'm right at the final boss and it is kicking my fucking ass right now. So many phases....

Only cons I have with it:

It's a little too similar to Super C at times, but this isn't a big deal. But it's definitely noticeable.

Phase 2 of the 3rd level boss. The 1st and the last phase are fine but phase 2 just feels significantly unfair.

Weapon placement for Co-Op. I've yet to play Co-Op so maybe this is different but I've noticed that the weapon drops don't seem to be suited for Co-OP. In every Contra title when you see those floating orbs fly by, they come in two's and carry two different weapons. This is to give both players at least a single weapon power up or to give a single player a choice between weapons. Sometimes that happens in Super Cyborg but most of the time it's just one floating orb.

The default gun is too weak. Against basic enemies it's okay but against bosses, you may as well reset if you're down to your last life and just have the basic gun. The damage is absolutely pitiful. Compare to Contra where the default gun was at least decent and didn't demonstrate a huge downgrade in damage dealt. In Contra 1 and Super C it seemed like your default gun did as much damage as the weapon powerups, only difference is that the powerups had a wider spread and faster fire rate. It also helped that very few enemies in Contra 1 and Super C required multiple hits to kill unlike Super Cyborg.

Level 6 goes on forever. It forces you to play it slow and methodically which goes against the rest of the game. Contra is supposed to be fast and fluid and can be played methodical at times, but it's not really the focus of the gameplay. Add to it some very cheap enemy spawns and boss attacks.

I'd still recommend this of course but be prepared for the difficulty later on.
 
E

ElTopo

Banned
digoutyoursoul said:
I need Contra 3 remastered
Click to expand...

You might like Contra Rebirth (For Wiiware). The sprites are exactly like those in Contra 3, but it doesn't feature as many weapons. Has some unlockable characters and a very tongue-in-cheek plot. The bosses seem to be based on bullet-hell games though and it's not terribly difficult.
 
C

Claneko

Member
Looks cool and I love Contra, but I do see a lot of level layouts similar to the NES version of Super C...maybe a little too similar (dregs up those negative feelings of being derivative) but overall it's definitely true to the spirit of Contra.

Speaking of Contra, wasn't there talk some time back about Konami having another studio trying to resurrect it or something of that nature? Been a while so I don't remember the details.
 
H

HellBlazer

Member
Claneko said:
Speaking of Contra, wasn't there talk some time back about Konami having another studio trying to resurrect it or something of that nature? Been a while so I don't remember the details.
Click to expand...

Yes, it was rumored that a Contra reboot was Mercury Stream's (of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow fame) next project... I'm not really hopeful.
 
E

ElTopo

Banned
Is Shattered Soldier and Neo Contra still on PSN? I never realized those were re-released. I always thought Hard Corps Uprising was an XBLA exclusive.

At least I have a good excuse to pick up a PS3 again.
 
K

Korigama

Member
HellBlazer said:
Yes, it was rumored that a Contra reboot was Mercury Stream's (of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow fame) next project... I'm not really hopeful.
Click to expand...
Dave Cox was the main one hinting at that as a possibility, but he's no longer with Konami (considering the CoD-catering angle he admitted to having in mind for such a hypothetical game, I should hope that means that nothing will come of it).
AlexSA2 said:
Is Shattered Soldier and Neo Contra still on PSN? I never realized those were re-released. I always thought Hard Corps Uprising was an XBLA exclusive.

At least I have a good excuse to pick up a PS3 again.
Click to expand...
They are, yes. And for anyone else who hasn't picked it up, Hard Corps: Uprising is indeed not an XBLA exclusive (just came out on it first by a month), and is also available on PSN.
 
E

ElTopo

Banned
Okay, I finally beat it. Holy shit. That final boss... Just holy shit. I'd say it took me about a week of on/off playing to beat it.

Damn good game. The dev will be revising it a little bit for the Steam release (and I think he wants to add a stationary button, so you can hold a position and fire in 8 directions ala the later Contra's) so there's that to look forward to if the game is kicking your ass.
 
Tizoc

Tizoc

Member
How the hell do I only learn of this thread now?!
If I get it from Desura, would I eventually get a Steam key?
 
D

duckroll

Member
I... can't support this. I like indies who are inspired by old stuff and try to make something similar but new. This just looks way too much of a clone. Everything from the level design, the graphics, the flow.... I don't think it's cool to just copy it like this and make a few changes. I feel the same way about fanficiton. If you can really make something good, don't use a property you really love as a fan to water it down. It cheapens the entire thing.
 
E

ElTopo

Banned
duckroll said:
I... can't support this. I like indies who are inspired by old stuff and try to make something similar but new. This just looks way too much of a clone. Everything from the level design, the graphics, the flow.... I don't think it's cool to just copy it like this and make a few changes. I feel the same way about fanficiton. If you can really make something good, don't use a property you really love as a fan to water it down. It cheapens the entire thing.
Click to expand...

I really don't think it's that much of a clone (that is until you get the secret character, no spoiler for that) aside from level 1 and the last level and you can look at that as an homage. I wouldn't say it's a straight out clone. I'm okay with a game that's similar but slightly different, where would the FPS be today if it didn't mimic Doom?

Also, cheat codes:

40 lives:
,
,
,
,[up],[down],[down] ,[up],[down], [jump],[jump],[jump] - you need to input this code on title screen and if it's done correctly you'll hear a sound effect. And this code works only when you start a new game.

level select: [main fire],[jump],[jump],[alternate fire], [up],
,[down],
,[up],
,[down],
- input this code on title screen

weapon select:
,[jump],
,[jump],[up] ,[main fire],[up],[main fire] ,[alternate fire] - input this code in pause during the game​
 
D

duckroll

Member
AlexSA2 said:
where would the FPS be today if it didn't mimic Doom?
Click to expand...

But that's exactly my point. The FPS genre did not get to where it was today because of cheap Doom clones. The FPS genre evolved because people made FPS games which were -not- Doom. It's pretty easy to tell which games were copying Doom and which games were advancing the genre.

When you release a side scrolling action game pandering to Contra fans, and you have a character which jumps exactly like Contra, uses a machine gun weapon exactly like Contra, uses flying power-ups which have to be shot down like Contra, and it starts on a jungle stage with a backdrop like Contra, and have enemies and environmental threats much like Contra, that just cheapens everything.
 
J

jett

D-Member
duckroll said:
I... can't support this. I like indies who are inspired by old stuff and try to make something similar but new. This just looks way too much of a clone. Everything from the level design, the graphics, the flow.... I don't think it's cool to just copy it like this and make a few changes. I feel the same way about fanficiton. If you can really make something good, don't use a property you really love as a fan to water it down. It cheapens the entire thing.
Click to expand...

I was also a bit surprised by how much it looked like Contra.
 
E

ElTopo

Banned
duckroll said:
But that's exactly my point. The FPS genre did not get to where it was today because of cheap Doom clones. The FPS genre evolved because people made FPS games which were -not- Doom. It's pretty easy to tell which games were copying Doom and which games were advancing the genre.

When you release a side scrolling action game pandering to Contra fans, and you have a character which jumps exactly like Contra, uses a machine gun weapon exactly like Contra, uses flying power-ups which have to be shot down like Contra, and it starts on a jungle stage with a backdrop like Contra, and have enemies and environmental threats much like Contra, that just cheapens everything.
Click to expand...

FPS titles still took their ques from Doom. Hell, aside from Military games the FPS still uses the default Doom weapons (A melee weapon, a puny pistol weapon, shotgun, machine gun weapon, rocket launcher, amazing super weapon, etc).

I'm okay with this because there's so few actual good Run 'N Gun games out there. Plenty of ripoffs but few that are actually good and even fewer these days. When you break it down it comes down to basically:

Contra franchise (with big lulls in between releases), Metal Slug franchises (with again, big lulls), Gunstar Heroes, Alien Soldier, Turrican franchise. That's it. And there haven't been many new games in either Contra or the Metal Slug franchise in the last decade and Turrican is long dead.
 
Tizoc

Tizoc

Member
I think the issue that duckroll is bringing up is that the game is Contra 1 having various sprites swapped out for different ones, something along the lines of plagiarism I think?

I too hunger for a Contra game, but the MG company ain't giving us one any time soon...which is kind of a reason I want to get this game >_>;
 
L

lazygecko

Member
Tizoc said:
I'm curious as to what other indies are direct clones or copies of classic games.
Click to expand...

Gunlord

I think "ripoff" games like these have a tendency to show up when there's a hungry fanbase for them, yet it's clear there aren't going to be any new official entries in the series as is the case with both Contra and Turrican.
 
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