Alien Wars is hard as hell...

[3rdStrongestMole | 447]

I'm not the best gamer out there,  but I can hold my own. This game is really destroying my confidence,  and I'm just playing on normal difficulty.  Not to mention I made it to the sand level (near the end, hopefully?) and it's got worse seizure vibes than Battletoads' bike levels. 

Anyways, I just wanted to bitch a little about it. Please agree with me even if you dominate speed runs on this thing. I'm demoralized enough as it is. 

On a positive note: the game is fun. Anyone know if Contra Hard Corps on Sega is equally entertaining / difficult?

[Andy_Bogomil | 881]

Definitely a tough game casually and with a lack of good weapons you can really get messed up. Knowing boss patterns and keeping your weapon(s) is key. The sand level is the 2nd last level, but the last level can chew up a number of lives and ends with a boss rush.

I only played through Hard Corps a few times recently with the collection released on Switch. It's tough for me to judge difficulty as I am very familiar with Contra III, but Hard Corps definitely destroyed me the first few times through the game. I'd say it would be similar in difficulty. Similarly, once you know the boss patterns and can hang on to your weapons a bit longer it goes a long way. I found the controls for Hard Corp not to be the greatest with weapon swapping etc. and it took away from the game for me.

 

[mbd39 | 2,131]

The 16-bit Contra games are a big step up in difficulty from the NES games. You even have to beat Contra III on hard to get the real ending.

 

[3rdStrongestMole | 447]

4 hours ago, mbd39 said:

The 16-bit Contra games are a big step up in difficulty from the NES games. You even have to beat Contra III on hard to get the real ending.

 

Damn... I was hoping that wouldn't be the case.  Still,  it's fun enough to keep playing even though I keep dying on the last level. Everytime I stack up 5-6 bombs I get killed and drop back to 1. I feel like I need those a lot at the end... that and a flame thrower or the bad ass missile gun

[Andy_Bogomil | 881]

1 hour ago, 3rdStrongestMole said:

Damn... I was hoping that wouldn't be the case.  Still,  it's fun enough to keep playing even though I keep dying on the last level. Everytime I stack up 5-6 bombs I get killed and drop back to 1. I feel like I need those a lot at the end... that and a flame thrower or the bad ass missile gun

Bombs are a good thing to have a few of for the first part of the last level as the aliens can pretty much spawn right on top of you. Great to let one go just before jumps so you don't get dinged in mid-air.

 

A few tips... While you're holding the fire button, you can spam the 'weapon swap' button and you can essentially shoot both your guns at once. The animations limit fire rate, but quickly alternating between both will pretty much eliminate that. Very good tech for bosses, especially with double C. Doesn't work so well with Flame as it's a unique weapon with a non-stop firing rate.

Also, on the top down levels, if you double tap L or R and then hold, you rotate faster. Almost essential for Hard mode dessert level.

I'd hate to break it to ya, but Hard is significantly harder in my opinion. The game moves faster (bosses, bullets, enemies) and you can sink a lot of lives very fast once you lose your weapons. Very satisfying game to beat though on any difficulty even if the true ending is only achieved through the hardest difficulty.

 

 

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,126]

The difficulty is ridiculous, especially on hard. I can no death the NES games without any problem, but to this day I have trouble with Contra III. Contra: Hard Corps isn't as difficult IMO, but it's still pretty tough.

[cj_robot | 559]

The Gameboy version is pretty easy, even on Hard. Pop it in your Super GameBoy and you can legit tell everyone that you beat Contra: The Alien Wars on your Super NES.

[3rdStrongestMole | 447]

18 hours ago, Andy_Bogomil said:

A few tips... While you're holding the fire button, you can spam the 'weapon swap' button and you can essentially shoot both your guns at once. The animations limit fire rate, but quickly alternating between both will pretty much eliminate that. Very good tech for bosses, especially with double C. Doesn't work so well with Flame as it's a unique weapon with a non-stop firing rate.

Also, on the top down levels, if you double tap L or R and then hold, you rotate faster. Almost essential for Hard mode dessert level.

 

Holy shit I had no idea about either of these... great tips!! I was trying not to look anything up online,  as that's been a rule that my brother and I put into place when we were like, 10  and the internet first was a thing. But I don't think this counts

[LaC | 105]

30 minutes ago, 3rdStrongestMole said:

Holy shit I had no idea about either of these... great tips!! I was trying not to look anything up online,  as that's been a rule that my brother and I put into place when we were like, 10  and the internet first was a thing. But I don't think this counts

Maybe change your rule to "look it up in Nintendo Power".  Those of us that could beat games like this back in the day did it with a lot of practice and knowing tricks from video game mags or friends. 

Just watch a speed run of it for each level and you will know all the tricks in no time.

It really is my favorite Contra.  But yes very hard.  No way can I beat it on hard. 

The Japanese version has the 30 lives Konami code.   They decided to torture us for the North American version.

 

 

 

[Sumez | 3,205]

On 6/12/2021 at 3:53 PM, 3rdStrongestMole said:

On a positive note: the game is fun. Anyone know if Contra Hard Corps on Sega is equally entertaining / difficult?

Hard Corps is large based on simple boss fights with easily repeatable patterns and safespots. It takes a while to learn the whole game, but once you do the most difficult part is literally the first stage. It's a lot easier than Contra III IMO. But it will feel tough at first.

Edited June 13, 2021 by Sumez

[mbd39 | 2,131]

22 minutes ago, Sumez said:

Hard Corps is large based on simple boss fights with easily repeatable patterns and safespots. It takes a while to learn the whole game, but once you do the most difficult part is literally the first stage. It's a lot easier than Contra III IMO. But it will feel tough at first.

Here's a critic giving Hard Corps a C- for being too hard, while giving Alien Wars an A-. I think they're both very hard.

https://videogamecritic.com/gencc.htm?e=84013#rev1196

https://videogamecritic.com/snescc.htm?e=84013#rev3159

[Sumez | 3,205]

Yes, people often tend to think Hard Corps is a lot harder than it is, and honest I can easily see why you would. But I'd wager most people could work up a 1CC of HC in a much shorter time than C3.

You can also easily find like a hundred lists on the Internet citing the NES version of Contra 1 as the hardest game ever made  

[Andy_Bogomil | 881]

1 hour ago, 3rdStrongestMole said:

Holy shit I had no idea about either of these... great tips!! I was trying not to look anything up online,  as that's been a rule that my brother and I put into place when we were like, 10  and the internet first was a thing. But I don't think this counts

Yeah, always a little hesitant to give tips or hints to people online as I know some really don't like it or think of it as being a spoiler. I'm not sure why they never mention or tell you about the faster spin though as it's pretty imperative on Hard mode as the level hazards move faster (i.e. you can't spin as fast as the sand pits/boss without the double tap). I don't think it's in the manual but it really should be. 

A 'no-death' run for Contra III on Hard is definitely one of my finer gaming achievements. Even when you know everything about the game there always seemed to be a random death or two throughout the run.

Edited June 13, 2021 by Andy_Bogomil

[Reed Rothchild | 10,011]

1 hour ago, LaC said:

The Japanese version has the 30 lives Konami code.   They decided to torture us for the North American version.

Lives can be farmed in C3.  That's kinda like a defacto lives code.

[3rdStrongestMole | 447]

27 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Lives can be farmed in C3.  That's kinda like a defacto lives code.

While I don't outrightly farm for lives,  I do take the long way sometimes,  just for the few extra kills... how many points for extra life? It seems like a weird number, like 85,000 or something

Or maybe that's just when I see the extra life come through when the points are loading at level's end

Edited June 13, 2021 by 3rdStrongestMole

[Andy_Bogomil | 881]

6 hours ago, 3rdStrongestMole said:

While I don't outrightly farm for lives,  I do take the long way sometimes,  just for the few extra kills... how many points for extra life? It seems like a weird number, like 85,000 or something

Or maybe that's just when I see the extra life come through when the points are loading at level's end

I'm not sure about point totals but the biker enemies at the very start of level 4 give you like 2 or 3 lives if you kill them all. Must be worth a lot. 

[peg | 386]

Heh this is timely since I just recently did a no death on hard of Contra III.

If you aren't going no-death then the game is pretty broken in that you can just farm lives on the first stage if you just want to cheese the game.  I remember doing this back when I first played the game in the early 90s because I was desperate to see the ending on hard.

 

The hardest parts for me were the stage 4 boss and those fucking aliens rushing you in the final stage.  It's better to just bomb the living shit out of them if you can.

Edited June 14, 2021 by peg

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

9 hours ago, 3rdStrongestMole said:

Holy shit I had no idea about either of these... great tips!! I was trying not to look anything up online,  as that's been a rule that my brother and I put into place when we were like, 10  and the internet first was a thing. But I don't think this counts

I try to stick to that rule for most of my playthroughs as well, but if advice comes about organically through discussions on a forum like this, I say roll with it. It's really not that different than hearing about a secret area from your buddy at school or during a conversation at the bar. Times have changed and so have games.

[fox | 1,798]

The Contra collection has the Japan version if you want to do the 30 lives code (you can also get the ending on normal)

You can also farm lives on any version.

Short of that get ready for a world of hurt, but it is a great game.

[3rdStrongestMole | 447]

Got to last level without dying, then died about 10 ten times and used all my continues the good news is, I got to what I'm assuming is the final boss (the dude with the heads on his arms??) I think tomorrow it's going to happen. I've really been avoiding the life farming, though I did get a shit load of lives from the bikers like @Andy_Bogomil was saying. Still wasn't enough... yet

[Andy_Bogomil | 881]

12 hours ago, peg said:

 

If you aren't going no-death then the game is pretty broken in that you can just farm lives on the first stage if you just want to cheese the game.  I remember doing this back when I first played the game in the early 90s because I was desperate to see the ending on hard.

 

 

[Sumez | 3,205]

Konami code and farming lives, if you're doing this what's the point in terms of personal achievement? Might as well just use continues and credit feed your way to the end. You'll get the ending regardless if that's what you're after  

Like  @peg's getting at, it all comes down to how many times you die, IMO. Though I don't agree a no-death run should be the end goal. It's a great way to challenge yourself, but save it for when you want to push the game further. Extra lives are there to give you some leeway for mistakes along the way, but the default amount of lives you're given on a straight run through the game with no farming is well balanced for the amount of effort you need to put into learning the game well enough for a victory to be well earned. To tell the truth, I've never even considered farming for lives in Contra as a thing.

Personally, I'll take a really tough game with a lot of leeway for mistakes over a generally easy game with almost no room for failure. That's another reason I generally prefer Contra over Metal Slug.

Edited June 15, 2021 by Sumez

[3rdStrongestMole | 447]

Finally beat it!! I used 1 continue. So there's still work to be done, but idgaf. It was so damn hard . No life farming, nothing like that, so at least it was pure. Once I figured out the final bosses worm mode I had him handled (still don't understand the bouncing blue balls... yeah... but I'm sure there's a trick there too). 

And all it tells me is I'm not good enough...

Edited July 13, 2021 by 3rdStrongestMole

[Andy_Bogomil | 881]

Good job! 1 continue is solid. You'll no continue it soon enough. I do my best to avoid both of those last boss moves. 

[3rdStrongestMole | 447]

41 minutes ago, Andy_Bogomil said:

Good job! 1 continue is solid. You'll no continue it soon enough. I do my best to avoid both of those last boss moves. 

When you shoot them when they're circling the brain, does it select them? I guess I hadn't thought of that...