Contra: Shattered Soldier

[Starshot]

Being the Contra fanatic that I am, I saw this at the local Gamestop and didn't hesitate to buy it. At $15 dollars, it was a downright steal.

After beating the game in around 2 hours (On Normal, mind you), I sat back and simply thought to myself, "Finally, a Contra game that beat out the glory of #3". The game returns Contra to it's good 'ol sidescrolling roots, and does a damn good job of it.

My only complaint about this game is the lack of Weapons. Normally, in other Contra games, you have the good old "Shoot the blimp and grab the powerup" style of upgrades. In SS, you have three standard Weapons that you keep throughout the game. I've noticed that playing this way actually takes more skill then it does the play with the standard blaster, as each gun has it's own strengths and weaknesses.

In short, if you're a fan of hard arcade shooters, do yourself a favor and pick up this game.