I finally got the chance to give Contra 4 for the Nintendo DS a go today and I hafta say, I’m even more wound up about it then before. All the classic Contra goodness is in there. The game really feels like a successor to Contra III:Alien Wars (the biggest difference being the dual screen thing.) Utilizing both DS screens remind me of the classic vertical monitors that the arcade version of the original Contra used.

The addition of the grappling hook isn’t as cool as I had wished it to be. After playing Konami’s Ninja 5-O a couple years ago, I was really hoping that Bill or Lance would be swinging all over the place when I heard that they’d be getting a grappling hook, too. This isn’t the case though. The grappling hook is mostly used as an, uh, elevator of sorts to move between the screens. Probably it’s good that they didn’t go the Ninja 5-O route as it might have changed the gameplay too much. I dunno.

The biggest surprise for me was that they didn’t force you to do some stupid Nintendo DS gimmick during the game. What I’m referring to is that you don’t hafta use your stylus to break away walls or do a spirograph impression on the boss monster in order to destroy ‘im. This is just your standard run with the d-pad and shoot with the buttons Contra. These developers really know what the fans want, which makes me all the more excited for this game.

I only played a little of Contra 4, but I’d go out on a limb and say that this might be the best version of Contra, yet. It just goes to show that maybe it’s best to not mess with a good thing sometimes. Can’t wait to pick up my very own copy of Contra 4 later this year.