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side-scrolling is back

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 6
Date: September 27, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I dont how many of you miss the gaming bliss of a new huge castlevania to explore, or some of the old mega mans, but I do, and I think this game is here to bring all that back and more!!! Shattered Soldier is a side-scrolling shooter that will have much similarities to the first contra's. Of course that is only in the gameplay, but you will have new moves and weapons. The graphics in this game are awesome. If you miss the old days of games like metroid, super metroid, and castlevania, then pick this baby up because you will not regret it!!!

Buy it now!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 9
Date: October 11, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game is going to be hot, the graphics look good and the game play will be better than ever!

I try the Demo

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 10
Date: October 18, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Graphic is very relistic and sami 3D but was so hard.....i beat 3 older version contra without cheat, can't even pass stage 1 in this version. Hope this is just demo, otherwise game is harder then reasonable.

This game has to be on your list next the GTA: VC.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: October 25, 2002
Author: Amazon User

OMG this game is awesome, its one of those games that everyone will love when it's played. To start of it's a 3-d platform shooter, which just means you basically run and shoot. No more finding some special key needed to enter something, no more solving puzzles which take hours to solve. It is a basic "Run and Gun" type of game. It may seem easy since that there are no puzzles or mini quests, but when you play this game you will know why konami removed those aspects. This game is a total of an hour long, yeah just and hour !!! But if you think game length is holding you back from buying it, I don't think so. After trying out the first level, I'm positive you won't be able to beat it on your first try. It took me like 5 tries per level just to beat the game and I'm an experienced gamer!!! If you don't have this game yet go out and get it !! Trust me you won't be disappointed.

Better and HARDER than Contra 3

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: October 25, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I'm a big Contra FAN, I bought this game the day it came out. I was worried this game was going to be bad knowing full well of Legacy, and C: The Contra Adventure. I was worried about the new weapon layout but when i put the game in I was hooked. I would have to say this not rules as the best Contra game and I think it is the Hardest one yet. This game is classic 2D side scolling action. You will even see plenty of bosses/mini bosses you have seen from previse Contra (including my all time favorite GB game Operation C) games. If your a fan you have to play it. All the memorys of yelling and getting into fights with your friends about "stop taking my lifes, your dead" might return all over again. Be warned this game is REALLY HARD but is well worth it. When you finally beat that one mission you have had a hard time getting past the classic Contra Theme at the end of the stage will make it all worth it. The one hit your dead and 3 continues is back...now is the KONAMI code working? up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, A, B, start :)

I played this game till my eyes bled!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 16 / 16
Date: October 28, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game rocks. Plain and simple. Who cares if it is ridiculously hard? I'm sick of simple games. Trust me, after a couple of hours, you will roll through the first couple of levels. After that? Who knows?

Great graphics, no overhead viewpoint, awesome sound effects that get your adrenaline pumping, and the best game soundtrack ever. Buy it. It's worth it.

I got lucky to play it before the release date, because the video store has them ready to go out on the street date, but when you know who works there you get to take the games on a test run. Way better than Hitman 2 or Headhunter.

Konami took a gamble by going back to the 2D side-scrolling roots of Contra, but it turned out to be one of the top 2 or 3 games I have ever played.

Now, only if they follow up with a great Castlevania.

Contra is back!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: October 29, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game is great, the graphics are outstanding and the bosses are out of this world. This is an example of what a multiplayer game is indeed. buy it!!

Ah, My Bleeding Thumbs!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 18 / 19
Date: October 30, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Finally, someone listened. What with all the 3D hoopla and the console wars, someone out there hasn't forgotten the pleasures of 2D gaming. Thank you, Konami, for Contra: Shattered Soldier.

After two horrendous outings on the original PlayStation, one of the most beloved franchises in gaming history has returned with a vengeance...and yes, it's in 2D! Old-schoolers rejoice - you've now got a reason to bring those long-forgotten razor-sharp reflexes out of the closet. Contra: SS takes a few liberties with the old formula, but the result is a gorgeous, difficult throwback that will bring back all those memories. Contra is back in a big way. If you played, and enjoyed, any of the previous Contra games, you'll fall for Shattered Soldier big time. Everything's here, and then some.

For those too young to remember: prepare yourself for a gaming experience unlike any other. Contra: Shattered Soldier is a side-scrolling action shooter in which you must survive by destroying everything in sight - in fact, you're actually GRADED by how much you destroy via a readout called Hit Rate %. You control master criminal Bill Rizer (released from a cryosleep prison sentence for killing 80% of the world's population - how's that for over-the-top, eh?) or his female android companion Lucia, sent to save post-apocalyptic Earth from swarms of some of the most disgusting yet glorious aliens to ever grace a console. The set-up is simple: move left to right and fire away at approaching enemies. You can fire your three weapons in any of eight directions, ducking or jumping as the situation demands. You'll hang from ledges, crawl up walls, and be slung airborne underneath a guided missile. You'll ride a hoverbike and ski down a snowy mountain. You'll be attacked by everything from gigantic water-skiing mechs to mechanized turrets to hideous mutant fish to screen-filling monstrosities that almost defy description. The game fits its Shattered Soldier name all too well: touch an enemy - you're dead. Get hit by explosive vomit - you're dead. Get nailed by a bullet, rocket, laser, or explosion - you're dead. Get carried away by giant insects - you're dead. There are lots of ways to die in Contra: SS, and by the time you're done, you'll lose count, it'll happen so often. Play alone or with a friend for some co-op action - you'll need the help. Choose at any time from a machine gun, flame thrower, or grenade launcher (each equipped with a chargeable special attack), and don't worry about running out of ammo - you won't. The name of the game is run n gun. If you're lucky and good enough to make it through all the levels alive, unlockables await. You see, this is how gaming used to be - trial and error, rock-hard challenge, pattern memorization. You'll progress slowly, but each time you'll make it a little farther and be presented with another disgusting alien just begging to be blown to slimy bits. Eventually, with practice, you'll emerge victorious, and wonder why more games these days don't feel like Contra: Shattered Soldier. It's one of the most intense rides you can take on the PS2 - enjoy it, for it may be one of the last.

Enthusiastically recommended - Konami has created one of the best games of the year, and one not to be missed by anyone who craves a masterfully executed, adrenaline-pumping thrill ride. Here's hoping more developers follow their lead!

This game is so BAD

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 29
Date: October 31, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game was one of the worst I've ever played. The graphics are decent, but they just can't match the old Contra from the NES. The day that they realize this, and stop making stupid games like this one, the better.

The BEST, HARDEST Contra game I've ever played

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 13
Date: November 03, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Being a more traditional video game lover, I tuned out when every game since '95 went 3D.

Thank God (or should I say, Konami) for Contra Shattered Soldier- I feel twelve years old again and it's great! With few exceptions, the Contra games have been my favorites to play. The only drawback being after a couple days, I'd beat those Contra games and soon after beat them continuously with my eyes closed.

It took more than a couple days with this one. In twenty years of game play, this is the HARDEST game I've played- Be prepared to die many times and play levels many times before improving.

You have three weapons at your disposal, as well as directional-lock control for running and shooting. All of these must be used at various times if victory is to be achieved. There are four initial levels to play in any order you choose (long levels with middle, as well as end bosses), with three further levels to be unlocked later.

It takes about an hour to go through the game on 'normal' mode, which is the only mode you can get to the end of the game on. Moreover, you are assigned a letter grade at the end of each level depending upon your performace, (with a cumulitive grade for all levels beaten) and can only get to the end of the game with a cumulitive grade of 'A'. You're penalized for losing lives, using 'continues' and not getting a 100% hit rate (in other words: for not killing everything, including every vulnerable part on the bosses).

You're given rewards every time you finish each of the bonus levels and the game with an 'A' grade, rewards like more lives when you play again and the ability to chose those bonus levels in practice mode. Be sure to save your progress on a memory card!!!

And if you think you're an expert after clearing the entire game with an 'A' rating, try going through it and getting an overall 'S' rating (which is given ONLY with PERFECT PERFORMANCE: every level must be cleared perfectly with no lives lost and a 100% hit rate). Only tight-rope walking is more challenging.

My only complaint is that there is no real reward given if you beat the game with an 'S' rating. I guess they figure that's an impossible task.

Excellent graphics and sound, excellent integration of all the PS2 control buttons.....this is a refreshing and still totally hip throwback to 2D gaming. It's about time this genre was revitilized with new life, and Konami couldn't have done it better. If only other classics would follow suit.

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