JoshF wrote:Here's my list, out of the games I've played.
1. Hard Corps: Uprising
2. Shin Contra
3. Neo Contra
4. Contra Spirits
5. Contra: The Hard Corps
6. Contra (FC)
7. Super Contra (FC)
8. Super Contra (AC)
9. Contra (AC)
10. Contra (GB)
11: Contra Force
Contra 4 will probably always be unplayable for me. It could very well be awesome, but the screen gap nullifies any interest I'd have in playing it. I feel similarly about the Rockman Zero series, which from what I've seen would be the best Rockman games if not for the pitiful GBA resolution.
Note that the hare-brained suggestion that 4 might be the best Contra comes from Macaw, not Josh. Josh's comment does not imply he thinks there might be a chance Macaw is right -- it's just a figure of speech that's meant to underline what a deal-breaking thing the screen gap is for him. Personally, I don't find it anywhere near as deal-breaking, and if a game is awesome in all other respects, it'd hardly be much less awesome because of it for me, on top of the fact that there's a chance it might get solved via emulation eventually.
At any rate, this is where I think 4 stands in the above ranking, going by my 10 minutes with the game and what I've heard about it since:
http://www.gamengai.com/forum/viewtopic ... 854#p26854
citcelaid wrote:Contra 4 doesn't suck, but it's incredibly mediocre. It's was basically only made to cater to the Contra III nostalgia crowd and leaves out all the improvements in controls, variation and pacing that came after III — by which I mean Hard Corps (the best Contra) and to a lesser extent SS — for no good reason at all.
The graphics are pretty nice though.
Obviously I don't think that Hard Corps is the best Contra.