/vr/ - Retro Games

>>5721350
This is contraversial but I always found them dull.

>>5721350
Fun back then but today I'd rather play Dual Orb 2.

all of the “difficulty” the series is known for is cheap and lazy. feels like a relic of the nintendo hard era

/vr/ is dead.

Love the series but all my favorites aren't /vr/-friendly, besides Super C I still run through it every now and again it's just such a pure fun game. Wish it was like 10 times more difficult though. Not a fan of the 16bit games.

>>5721390
All true. Super C is fun, but probably the easiest game in the whole series.

Interestingly, I didn't know you could charge the Fire weapon in that game until recently. The charged shots are very powerful and make an easy game even easier.

>>5721350

>Contra is good but frustrating due to hard to see bullets.
>Super C is fun but not as good as 1
>Contra Force isn't Contra
>Contra 3 is a good game for the most part, but feels slow and the top down levels are awful.
>Contra Hard Corps is an undervalued classic and one of the best games on genesis.

Anything after hard corps is lesser, though Contra 4 for DS was pretty fun.

There's only one (1) good /vr/ Contra game and that's Hard Corps.

1 and Super have aged poorly, III and HC are too boss rush-y, and the rest of the games are shit.

>>5721431
>hard corps
>undervalued
It's overrated as fuck. Well maybe it's "undervalued" on modern /vr/ which is full of zoomers and jrpgfags but back in the day it was brought up all the time despite not being a particularly good game. It's more interested in ebin boss fights and set pieces than good gameplay.
>>5721515
Shit-tier opinion, 1 & 2 are as fun now as they always were, and Rebirth's a bit like III with proper lengthy stages instead of endless bosses.

Nice revisionism /shmup/.

Shit opinions itt.

>>5721554
Rebirth ducking sucked. Some awful level designs and bosses in that game. M2 should just stick to remastering games created by actually competent people.

>>5721973
There's no bad levels in Rebirth, and it still has the best final boss in the series

>>5721515
8bit 2D games dont age poorly. N64 games age poorly

>>5721350
There are no better run 'n guns. Gunstar can't compare, and the Metal Slug series can't compare.

The essential list:
Contra
Super C
Contra III
Hard Corps

>>5722012
I wish Contra had the consistency and challenge of Metal Slug desu. The series is all over the place in terms of quality, game style and difficulty while MS delivers exactly what you expect every time pretty much and some of the games are fairly challenging.

>>5721354
>I either can't spell or I like to make bad puns and I have bad taste in games, and I want you to try and figure out which is most offensive.

>>5721371
>Here's my nerdy video game referential joke to further demonstrate how bad my taste in everything is in case you weren't sure.

>>5721373
>It makes me feel like a discerning aristocrat when I brag about having worse dexterity and less patience than a crackhead with Parkinson's.

>>5722012
superC>contra>contra III>all the rest
konami>capcom>sega>snk

>>5721416
>charge shots
hold the fucking phone reary??

>>5722048

This is because Metal Slug is all made on the same hardware and by the same people.

Contra is on multiple systems and by multiple different people.

Also Metal Slug was a fairly retro style niche game from the start, giving it's fans what they like while Contra was essentially a "AAA" game of the time, changing with hardware and going after trends.

>>5722048
Metal Slug is consistently mediocre, with each successive game being the 90s equivalent of DLC, and they all share the same bad grating audio and uninteresting platforming, level design and patterns. The art is nice to look at initially but soon leaves you feeling numb as there's no particular atmosphere or interesting tone to any of it--it's just here's a bunch of crazy video game stuff to look at; isn't it crazy?

All 4 mainline Contra games from the 8 and 16-bit series are classics in the truest sense, and 3 of them feel like unique standalone entries.

>Original Arcade game did not age well and is pretty easy to exploit and break
>Console port is a much better game, especially the Famicom Disk System version with enhanced graphics
>Both arcade and Super Contras are awesome
>Gameboy Contra (Operation C) is cool too, very similar to nes/famicom titles
>Contra III is superb, but if you are emulating, you should play the JAP (Spirits) version as it does not have the stupid condition where you have to play on hard to fight the last boss' final form
>Contra Hard Corps is one of the best games of the era... multiple characters, weapons, branching paths, awesome set pieces, bosses... even has a really cool story that would translate nicely into an old school action anime. The Japanese version is not hard at all, as it includes a life bar

Shattered Soldier is like blend of III and HC, with 3d graphics (it's great) and Neo and Uprising look cool too, but haven't played them enough, unfortunately.

Genereally, the 3 titles directed by Nobuya nakazato are the best, IMO (III, HC and Shattered Soldier)

>Original Arcade game did not age well and is pretty easy to exploit and break
>Console port is a much better game, especially the Famicom Disk System version with enhanced graphics
>Both arcade and NES Super Contras are awesome
>Gameboy Contra (Operation C) is cool too, very similar to nes/famicom titles
>Contra III is superb, but if you are emulating, you should play the JAP (Spirits) version as it does not have the stupid condition where you have to play on hard to fight the last boss' final form
>Contra Hard Corps is one of the best games of the era... multiple characters, weapons, branching paths, awesome set pieces, bosses... even has a really cool story that would translate nicely into an old school action anime. The Japanese version is not hard at all, as it includes a life bar

Shattered Soldier is like blend of III and HC, with 3d graphics (it's great) and Neo and Uprising look cool too, but haven't played them enough, unfortunately.

Genereally, the 3 titles directed by Nobuya nakazato are the best, IMO (III, HC and Shattered Soldier)

>>5722076
Alright I love Contra but you're just talking shit. How the FUCK can you criticize Metal Slug's level design compared to Contra? It's one of the series' biggest strengths, the levels have everything. Fast paced running and gunning sections, more deliberate set piece type of encounters where you have to memorize and prioritize enemy kills, sections with random enemy movement so you have to react, it has all kinds of enemy types from basic popcorns to tanks that take punishment to very mobile enemies with medium hp and constantly combines them in different ways. Absolute bollocks it's like you haven't even played MS

>>5722137
I noticed that you didn't mention platforming.

>>5721354
i enjoyed this post

>>5722151
You would.

>>5722141
Metal Slug has its fair share of platforming too, see the entire second level of X and even the boss fight. I didn't mention it because platforming's not a strong point of either series.

They have neither the interesting platforming of Castlevania nor the interesting shooting of Gradius.

Easily Konami's worst "classic" IP.

5722164
More shit opinions

>>5722162
I think Contra does it well. I can't remember the second level of X. Talking about Metal Slug's put me in the mood for playing it again, so I'll check it out.

>>5722076
Metal Slug's the kind of game that makes a great first impression and then gets worse the more you play it, and Contra's the kind that gets better.

Shinobi + Shadow Dancer, Makaimura + Dai, and Rolling Thunder are the only good horizontal run 'n gun games.

>>5722206
No, Metal Slug has plenty of style and substance. The biggest problem with those games is the hardware, it can't run them smooth but the developers don't care. Atleast you can remove slowdown, but the 30 FPS still feels shitty compared to Contra's smooth controls.

>>5722247
Style isn't atmosphere. Art can look striking while not evocative or atmospheric. Metal Slug looks impressive, but that's an effect that wears off quickly and is ultimately unsatisfying.

>>5722263
It doesn't just look impressive, it has a lot of charm and can be genuinely funny. I still sometimes chuckle when I see one of the mooks climb onto my slug. It's not meant to be "atmospheric", it's a comedic over the top game with lots of awesome, memorable moments and it accomplishes that perfectly. Besides that who cares, it's a fucking GAME, play any arcade style game for 20+ hours and the aesthetics will fade into the distant background leaving you with the quality of gameplay alone which is good in MS.

>>5722287
I realize that it's not meant to be atmospheric. The fact that it was never an intention doesn't alleviate the deficiency. If I intended to write a bad book I could simultaneously be successful in achieving my goal and produce something bad (not implying that Metal Slug is bad).

Great atmospheric aural and visual aesthetics fade into the background in a way that induces strong feelings throughout play.

Imagine liking the Sega one just for spite. You people need to end this facade and like good games for being good and not for getting the most (you)s

>>5722327

It's the best one though.

>>5722327
The Sega one is the best one.

>b-b-but too many bosses
Deal with it, fag.

>>5721350
BUM BUM BA DUM DUM
BUM BUM BA DUM DUM
DHUM DHUM DHUM DHUM
DHUM DHUM DHUM DHUM
BUM BUM BA DUM DUM
BUM BUM BA DUM DUM

>>5722263
I agree with ya on the sequels, but the first one had some great atmosphere.

>>5722318
But that's entirely the point, you're using some random set of criteria to judge the quality of a work and call it a deficiency when it's not really. Plenty of atmospheric works are completely humorless (partly why many of them ARE atmospheric in the first place) but to hold it against them would be dumb since that's not what they aim for, or what you engage with them for. And no, they really don't. Even absolute masterpieces like RayForce start feeling like any other game after a dozen or a couple of dozen of hours, the only relevant aspects of presentation in the long term are game feel related ones, and Metal Slug has that down besides the low framerate.

>>5722332
Noone said anything about bosses you mouth breathing retard. Read the post next time

>>5722332
Fuck off furfag

>>5722231
>>5722164
more shit opinions

>>5722424
There's a shitposter that goes around Contra threads proclaiming III and HC are bad games because they're "boss rushes" and that the not-retro ones are better.

>>5722332
reads post
"Imagine liking the Sega one just for spite"
hmm wot does just for spite mean ?
hmm oh it means too many boss fights

>>5722430
>shitposter
You not liking my opinion doesn't make it shitposting you retarded mouth breathing faggot. Boss rush games can be fine, HC and III aren't good though the bosses are too slow paced, simple, easy and don't have enough overlapping patterns/randomness. HC is extra shit because it has an ugly incoherent art style, pure 90's cancer.

>>5722430
I mean I guess that makes some better sense with context but still saying like games that you like isnt really hinting about bosses

>>5722435
okay

>>5722435
>You not liking my opinion doesn't make it shitposting you retarded mouth breathing faggot.
Yes it does, because you're full of shit when you post your shitty opinion that you try passing off as fact.

>HC and III aren't good though the bosses are too slow paced, simple, easy and don't have enough overlapping patterns/randomness.
Where's your 1cc of either game? Bonus points if your runs were on a harder difficulty than default.

>HC is extra shit because it has an ugly incoherent art style, pure 90's cancer.
Just say you don't like comic book style. Anyway, there's nothing objectively wrong with HC's art direction.

>>5722454
>Yes it does, because you're full of shit when you post your shitty opinion that you try passing off as fact.
I always give proper full reasoning and examples to back up my opinions, all you can do is act mad and have nothing to come back to, case in point
>Where's your 1cc of either game?
Should I upload my Hard Corps Ray/Sheena 1cc for you? Sure I'll do it np after you record yourself 1cc'ing 4 hard, HCU or Rebirth hard mode + 2 min starting lives, take your pick.
>Just say you don't like comic book style.
Yeah, trashy comic book style since not all 90's comics were hodge podges of random "cool" elements and zany shit.

>>5722056
>hurr durr absolutely no one is allowed to disagree with my shit tastes in games.

Fucking kill yourself

>>5721350
Play first one, Hard cops and fourth one. They aren't necessarily on the same plateau of greatness, but they are only ones who are devoid of apparent flaws (top down levels in 3, lack of difficulty in Super C) and aren't too different from each other (Contra Force)

not liking the contra games is zoomer behavior.

>>5722409
The first is definitely best in that regard. It's actually a really good game and it's only when I compare it with Contra, playing them in close proximity to each other, that it doesn't seem so hot.

>>5721350
In the 8-bit and 16-bit eras it was one of the best series ever.

>>5722465
Someone's feelings are hurt.

I love Contra, but I honestly like top-down run 'n guns a lot more than sidescrollers. I wish there were more good ones.

>>5722546
What are your favourites? I don't like them as much as side-on run 'n guns, but they're fun too, especially with an arcade stick.

>>5722550
Commando, Shock Troopers... uhh I really can't name many more lol. Commando is one of my favorite games for nostalgia reasons - it was one of the first NES games I beat as a kid.

>>5722557
Cool. I like Jackal, Mercs, Guerrilla War, and Gun.Smoke

>>5722546
Top-down ones are even worse, because they lack the platforming elements that the horizontally scrolling kind possess.

But really run 'n gun in general is a shit genre. Play superior shoot 'n scoots instead.

>>5722557
Try OutZone, FixEight, Gundhara, Ninja Princess, KiKi Kaikai/Pocky and Rocky and Mamorukun Curse, all range from good to excellent. Merc's a sequel to Commando btw, try out the Genesis' version's original mode for an even closer experience to the original.

>>5722570
The sidescrollers always have very underwhelming platforming though and gravity limits movement a lot. Top down ones combine the free movement of shumps with manual scrolling so they're almost like the best of both worlds, except that they're cheesy as fuck if you take them slow.

>>5722572
>FixEight
Holy SHIT thank you for recommending this. This game is fucking awesome! It checks all the boxes of what I look for in a video game:
>character selection
>instant action
>destruction
It's like a shmup without autoscrolling

>>5722663
Posting some more because I want to.
I always felt Mercs was inferior to Commando - I dislike the singular bosses with health rather than the "swarm of enemies" bosses in Commando - but holy shit Out Zone. Now THAT is a game

>>5721554
>BOSS FIGHT BAD
yo why don't you write an article for kotaku rather then shit on hard corps you little shit!

>>5722570
What the fuck are shoot 'n scoots?

>>5721390
>aren't /vr/-friendly,

what do you mean

>>5722745
You do play zap n zooms, don't you?

>>5722794
He's the retarded Uprisingfag.

>>5722715
Boss fights aren't inherently bad they can be good ways to finish off a stage when done right. Hard Corps bosses though...those suck. They're so passive and poorly paced, you're mostly standing around in one spot and shooting with the occasional dodge or reposition. There are entire fights that last for minutes and barely involve dodging and movement. Even some of the NES bosses had better gameplay since they moved around and you had to move to aim for them as well as dodging especially without the spread gun, if they weren't so easy they'd be straight up better than most of HC's shitty fights.
>>5722794
4, Rebirth and Uprising
>>5722821
Dilate

>>5722663
>>5722705
Toaplan is awesome they really brought all that shmup experience when making their run and guns, shame they only made 2 and they're doomed to obscurity due to no home releases.

>>5722797
Of course. What self-respecting zoomer doesn't.

>>5723585
>4, Rebirth and Uprising
Hey, you like all the worst ones.

>>5722056
> I like to make bad puns

Contra is fine but run n guns make me sleepy

>>5724854
owned lol

>>5721350

Contra > Metal slug

Metal Slug>Contra

>Absolute best aesthetic
>Has a cute girl
>Multiple playable character that are different from each other
>High replay value
>Challenging but fair bosses that are fun
>Amazing music
>Cyber Punk setting like Bubble Gum Crisis

Hard Corps is the best entry in the entire fucking series. Shame they've yet to top it.

>>5725173
Shattered Soldier came pretty damn close though.

>>5725180
I get that a lot of ps2 era games kinda suffered from this problem but Shattered Soldier had no right to be lacking in color, it's got a cool aesthetic and all but it just looks too drab. It's got cool art though and certainly has a way better more consistent art style than whatever the fuck "Rogue Corps" is suppose to be though.

>>5724854
Get some tastes pleb

>>5721375
/thread

>>5721431
Hard Corps is shit, suddenly this past week I've seen a million anons post how it's the GOAT game after nobody ever talked about it (for good reason - the awful janky level design, explosions obscuring everything on screen, putrid color scheme, main character who moves faster than sonic in tiny spaces with no momentum, horrific platforming segments, etc.)

Did some eceleb make a video about it recently? All of a sudden everybody is calling this piece of garbage that nobody ever cared about some ultra classic.

>>5725232
kys

>>5725232
It wows people whose whole experience with Contra is doing credit feeding runs because of its emphasis on style over substance and quantity over quality in the form of the many big ebin bosses none of which are particularly fleshed out and many of which are gated behind different routes for no real reason other than to force replays.

Dilate uprising tranny.

>>5725269
>gets btfo'd every time
>resorts to passive aggressive pot shot like a female brained cuck
the state of "muh soul" brainlets

contra threads are as shit as castlevania threads now

>>5725232
>Hard Corps is shit
this

Imagine having hard corps living in your head rent free. Go back to /v/ with your non retro contras.

hard corps is based. only nintendildos still butthurt that it's a sega exclusive hate on it.

>>5725361
Now this is brand worshipping goy cope

Haha im boomer guys look at me im a boomer fuck hard corps i love shitrising.

>>5722410
Dude, just don't discuss with somebody that don't want to open his mind. He is probably a zoomer that thinks he need to "win" arguments. Ignore and live on.

>>5725379
Don't project your insecurity and need for identity on me faggot. Self described "boomers" are more often than not cancer who are attached to their pathetic oldschool gaymer identity and use games like they're fashion articles to affirm said identity. Also they typically tend to shun younger players who just want to enjoy games and aren't personally invested in preserving some idiotic unearned sense of elitism. This board's "boomerism" has done nothing but decrease its quality while encouraging balding fat 30's retards to think they own the place.

REEEEEEEEEEEEE FUCK YOURSELF HARD CORPS IS NOT SHIT REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

>>5722012

operation c is essential too

>>5721350
but WHO is Contra?

>>5726265
not really. handhelds are for homos

>>5726496

it should be right up your alley then

>>5726265
>>5726517
nice reddit-spacing, handheldfag

>>5726526
cope

>>5725232
>>5725267
No body made any video about Hard Corps being amazing, also tons of people have praised the game for a very long time, you guys are literally just jaded assholes.

Uprising loving zoomers should leave.

Rebirth is literally the only good outsourced Contra game.

Rogue Corps looks great.

>>5726926
Yeah I know it's been a meme since the early days of /v/, but hey whatever floats your boat FAG
>>5726971
>mission/objective based
>massive health bar
>ASSFAGGOTS style abilities on cooldowns
>upgradeable guns
>random crits
>that ugly art style and those early PSN tier models/textures
Not even remotely, looks like a cheap chinese knockoff. Nobuya Hackazato can do better

>>5726329
Me

>>5721350
One hit kill games are super gay.

>>5728447
Get good

>>5722056
>dying in one hit from bullshit you cant even see sometimes is acceptable
In contra hardcorps for Genesis all those fucking explosions hide the enemies bullets and I end up dying from getting shot from behind in the intro and losing all my weapons.
Metal Slug was much better regarding to at least being able to see what killed you and being able to react to it with a more reasonable amount of practice.

>>5728850
See my post here >>5729096
One hit kill is cringe but there are much better ways of doing them.

>>5729096
That's just the intro and nothing else though and as long as you keep moving it's a non issue. Metal Slug has its fair share of bullshit too where the screen gets so busy it becomes hard to notice some projectiles like the mortar shells, it also has only 2 extra lives with no extends so each one of those moments stands out more.

>>5729097
There's nothing wrong with one hit kills, it's just a style of gameplay that also has benefits in that it forces developers to properly balance their games instead of letting cheap hits slide because the player can just recover HP.

So what's the verdict, /vr/min?

>>5729097
One hit kills are superior, almost always.

>>5730653
I'm enjoying it a lot, so here's a bump

>>5721350
Overrated games. Especially the 8bit ones.
Play the ones that don't change your perspective to top down.

>>5721350
For young men such as myself, I think it is too hard desu.

Nes Contra is best Contra. Still Salty that Contra 3 is on SNES mini instead of other gems.

>>5730653
I haven't played it long enough to have a strong opinion. So far all I'm really sure of is that it isn't as good as the good Contra games.

>>5730653
Does it have actual level design and isn't just a retarded boss gauntlet?

you are an embarrassment /vr/.

>>5731674
stay triggered schizo /v/ spammer.

>>5730653
First impressions are really good, everything feels really nice and it's an actual pure arcade-style game not mission based modern cancer with RPG elements.
>>5731641
The former, it has a shitton of midbosses but the levels aren't flat planes with random enemies and actually have well designed varied challenges.

>>5731641
>retarded boss gauntlet

go back to mascot platformers anti-hardcorps shitposter

Contra might be the best NES game.

>>5721431
Played Hard Corps for the first time recently and was blown away by how incredibly fun the game is. That autoscroller boss can go suck a big one though.

>>5730653
Actually fucking good. Feels like Contra with Metal Slug's more attentive level design, but also more platforming challenges and variety. Bosses are really good, mechs are enjoyable to use, weapons are all useful, movement and shooting feels good, graphics are fantastic, pacing is mostly on point (40 minute 1cc run but feels much shorter), the unlockable characters are cool and make the game feel like Strider, etc. Biggest flaws are that it's extremely easy since it dishes out extra lives like candy (can hit the cap by stage 2), and some boring autoscroller sections.

>>5721350
I like the NES games (or at least the first one; it's been a long time since I've played Super C). I've played III and like how it feels, but the game focuses too much on enemy-spam and certain things (like the hanging/climbing) just muddy shit up to me. I feel the same way about Contra 4. I don't think I've ever gotten more than halfway through either of those two. I'm sure there are people that like it given Contra III is considered the best one by many, but I just find the game irritating more than fun even if I can appreciate a lot of what's in it. I haven't played Hard Corps or ReBirth.

I think what I like about the original is the bigger emphasis on platforming. Enemies are abundant and tricky but not so much that the game feels overwhelming or too hectic.

>>5721350
I think the first game is a masterpiece (one player) but the rest of the games wee just ok.

Hard Corps > Shattered Soldier > 3 > 1 > Super C > Operation C > ReBirth > 4

>>5730653
Just tried it out and I like it a lot. Smooth, fast and cool. Great visual style, more Terminator than Contra's Aliens. Most importantly, I'm glad they remembered that action games should have scoring systems (looking at you, The Messenger and Katana Zero). It even prevents suiciding and grinding by having life and time bonuses.

It's also nice that it's straight-up science fiction action instead of another winking synthwave goof.

Speaking of contra, is blazing chrome worth picking up?

>>5735510
Please try harder next time.

>>5735495
>I'm glad they remembered that action games should have scoring systems (looking at you, The Messenger and Katana Zero).
Why should they? I ignore every single scoring system in a game other than the earliest arcade stuff like DK and Pac-man, or something like Tetris where it's clearly the point.

>>5735510
I guess if you've already played the shit out of Contra 1, C, III, and Hard Corps. It's alright, and better than something like the Turrican games.

>>5735632
sounds like your just a brainlet

>>5735632
Why shouldn't they? If you don't care about score, what detriment does it have on the game? Just ignore it.

I don't like games that don't offer a new challenge or reason to play them more than once. Speedrunning doesn't satisfy this because it's just about moving fast, not a complete performance evaluation.

>>5735654
Good grasp of language to accusation ratio.