Contra: Operation Galuga (Demo)

The Floofer Zone #17 | February 25th, 2024

From playing through Super C on a cheap bootleg Famiclone I got from a flea market when I was like 8, to pulling my hair out trying to 1CC Contra Rebirth on any difficulty above Easy, I’ve been a fan of Contra for… pretty much forever, now that I think about it. And in the Nintendo Direct that aired the morning of the day I’m writing this, the newest entry in the iconic long-running run-and-gun series, Contra: Operation Galuga, was given its release date, and a free demo went up the very same day

You’d think I’d be a little more excited, but frankly, there hasn’t been a good Contra game since 2011... and Konami’s last attempt at reviving the franchise was, to put it lightly, kinda ass

boowomp

But of course, nostalgia sells, so here’s Konami back at it again with yet another attempt at bringing back Contra. This time, with— drum roll, please— a remake of Contra 1. Daring today, aren’t we?

Contra Operation Galuga... Contra OG. very funny konami

Jokes aside, Konami isn’t the one responsible for developing this game. That task was handed off to WayForward, a studio which, aside from having a reputation of actually making good games, has some prior experience with the Contra series. Contra 4 on the DS was good, but not my favorite, and I think I’ve come to the same conclusion about Operation Galuga after playing the demo a couple of times on my Switch (and once on my PC)

I’ll get what I don’t like out of the way first:

  1. The graphics, at least on the Switch version are... not great. The resolution is too low for the game to look good, and it’s very noticeable

  2. The framerate on the Switch version is also low and occasionally inconsistent. There’s a point after the first boss where the game will hang for a second to load the next area, and it's a little jarring

  3. The level design leaves something to be desired. Maybe it’s bc the only level available in the demo is the first level of the game, but even on Hard mode, the only parts of the level I could actually describe as “hard” were the bosses. It’s a little too easy to just casually stroll through most of the level with the spread gun and never feel threatened

  4. Finally, and probably my biggest complaint, is that the controls are just sluggish enough to be a little annoying. I don’t think it’s input lag, I think it’s the animations— for some reason, when u tap down, ur character doesn’t crouch instantly like in other Contra games. It takes like half a second for the crouching animation to play before ur actually in the crouching position. Similarly, there’s an ever-so-slight delay when u tap the jump button before ur character actually jumps. I have to stress that I did get used to this eventually, and I don’t think it ruins the game, but Contra really isn’t the kind of game where u should sacrifice responsiveness for smooth animations :(

I guess u could argue that the poor resolution and framerate aren't the game's fault, but the hardware's fault— this is far from the only multiplatform game that runs the worst on Switch, after all, and the game looks and performs much better on the PC version. But, this game was in a Nintendo Direct, and I think it's on the developer to make sure their game is optimized for the hardware that its gonna be running on, y'know? If the Switch version wasn't a priority, then I think I'm allowed to say "hey, maybe avoid the Switch version if u can"

Other than that… I mean, it’s just Contra. It’s fun! I like Contra. There are some differences, like optional perks and unique characters, but WayForward knows how to make Contra and this game is just more of that. The waves of enemies, the tricky platforming, the tough bosses, the iconic arsenal of weapons... it's all here. They even took some inspiration from Hard Corps Uprising by offering the player 3 hits before they die instead of one (which I personally think is an objective improvement over 1-hit deaths, but u can enable that if u want), and increased mobility thanks to a double jump and air dash. Both of these inclusions are appreciated, though I wish the strafe feature from Hard Corps Uprising was here as well

The biggest thing that sets Operation Galuga apart from its older siblings is the fact that you can aim in 360 degrees with the joystick. You can turn this off in the settings and play with good ‘ol 8-way controls instead, but I wouldn’t recommend it— the enemies can also fire in 360 degrees. The game feels designed around this, and it is pretty neat, but it’s also the only thing in this game that feels substantially different from other entries in the Contra series. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing is entirely up to the individual. Like I said, it’s just more Contra, but personally I would sooner replay Contra Rebirth for a classic Contra experience than spend 40 bones on this