Contra: Legacy of War (PS) (1996)
Developer: Appaloosa

Review by Faididi and Co.

Leaving a very wrong legacy

Story: Average

Ray Poward is ready to take on more invading alien bastards, although he has to do so with different friends this time around. The Hard Corps just isn't what it has used to be, because the story is generic junk, and the numerous endings are no more.

Gameplay: Poor

Appaloosa's Contra: Legacy of War is an attempt to push the 2-Player action shooter series into the three-dimensional realm. Following Konami's Contra: The Hard Corps (Mega Probotector), it holds onto the setup of four playable characters with unique special weapons, but it's always played from an overhead view, featuring mostly 2D-rendered characters in fully 3D environments.

Unfortunately, the rest of the game clearly hasn't caught up with the changes needed to make such 3D action work. The strictly 2D controls are absolutely rotten for dealing with bad guys who can now move laterally as well as vertically from any side or angle, and trying to hit high enemies with weapons that normally fire only straight forward across the ground is simply not fun.

Neither are the level and enemy designs any better off. Sure, the river platform scene and the wacky planetoid scene may have something creative going for them, but the bulk of the stages is a dragged-out bore consisting of repetitive backdrops and forgettable monsters. Not helping is the difficulty of gauging the exact positions of the flatly-drawn 2D characters within the 3D environments, which makes clearing crucial jumps, among other things, a huge pain in the ass.

Controls: Poor

As mentioned already, the traditional 2D controls don't work for the complexities of the 3D environments. Although the heroes can now lock their direction of aim while moving in the eight cardinal directions along the ground, that hardly helps them hit high targets or anything else at odd angles.

Graphics: Poor

Legacy of War doesn't even look respectable for a first-generation 32-bit game. The colors are drab, and the environments are drawn with mediocre levels of detail. Worst of all is the awkward display of the 2D characters, who regularly appear skewed due to their rendering style. The "3D" display mode that's meant to be played with a pair of red-and-blue glasses (included with the game) sucks, too, unless you enjoy having a hard time telling apart objects on a hazy screen.

Audio: Below Average

The gunfire and the death groans are barely decent, while the tepid music is far from memorable. It's not a good sign when the handheld versions of the previous Contra installments sound more impressive.

Overall: Poor

Contra: Legacy of War rushes to be a 3D action shooter but forgets to include the necessary 3D controls and character graphics. As important as the shift toward three dimensions may be, especially for a series that has more or less reached its limits in the 2D realm, such a move means a hell lot more than merely slapping a Z axis onto the old X and Y axes. Legacy of War's wretchedly lacking controls and other serious flaws leave it a barely playable mess and a terrible 3D debut for the Contra name.