Contra: Operation Galuga Review – Old-School Frenzy

Among the classic KONAMI franchises the Japanese publisher neglected the most in the past few years is the Contra series. Among the originators of the run-‘n’-gun genre, over the years, the series failed to achieve the massive success of the original arcade game released back in the late 80s, and the many twists of the original formula featured in the sequels were not enough to make Contra a household name in shooter games among a younger generation of gamers.

As KONAMI, which is now bringing back many of its core franchises, must have finally realized that Contra is at its best when it is a pure run-‘n’-gun game, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Contra: Operation Galuga, a modern reimagining of the very first entry in the series developed by WayForward, is exactly that: a classic platform game with plenty of enemies to shoot down, and very little else. The simple nature of the game is, at the same time, its greatest strength and its biggest weakness, as it doesn’t feature anything that may appeal to someone who is not a fan of the series already.

As already mentioned, Contra: Operation Galuga is a reimagining of the first entry in the series and thus features the same setting and plot. In the distant future, the Red Falcon terrorist group has taken over the Galuga Islands off the coast of New Zealand and is working on something nefarious that threatens the entire world. Elite Contra commandos Bill Rizer and Lance Bean are sent to the islands to stop the terrorists and save the world, coming to learn what exactly the terrorists were planning and how it will affect humanity as well, even after the threat has been neutralized.

Unlike the original, which did not feature much story content in the game, Contra: Operation Galuga features plenty of simple cutscenes and fully-voiced dialogues during the 8 stages-long campaign. It is, obviously, nothing to write home about, but the writing and voice acting makes characters a little more personable and not simple functions with different abilities.

As expected, the story shouldn’t be the reason for anyone to play Contra: Operation Galuga. The gameplay should, and in this regard, the game fully delivers, offering a solid run-‘n’-gun experience that takes the basics of the formula and elevates them with excellent level and enemy design and some interesting twists to the classic mechanics.

Alongside Bill Rizer and Lance Bean, a few other characters are available in the game. Some are unlocked by playing through the Story Mode, while others can be unlocked after completing the main campaign and purchasing them in the game’s Perk Shop. While the two Contra commandos have the same abilities and can run, aiming in all directions while keeping their position, double jumping, and dashing, the other characters have unique abilities that change how the player should approach each stage. Ariana, for example, cannot dash but can slide; Lucia Drake, on the other hand, cannot double jump nor dash or slide but can grapple on platforms above her to launch herself upward; Stanley Ironside cannot double jump or dash, but he can grapple like Lucia and hover for a set amount of time, allowing the player to skip platforming altogether. Some of these characters also come with unique takes on the Contra’s classic weapons available throughout the campaign, such as Lucia’s and Stanley’s unique takes on the Spread Gun and Machine Gun weapons, respectively.

The weapon system in Contra: Operation Galuga is heavily reminiscent of the very first entry in the series, but it has a few interesting twists that add a bit more depth. All of the weapons, which include the Machine Gun, Spread Gun, Laser, Flame Thrower, Homing Gun, and Crush Gun, can be upgraded to level 2 by collecting it twice during a stage or by equipping a specific Perk, part of a new upgrade system that allows each character to equip two special augments purchaseable with Credits. All weapons also come with an Overload function that destroys them but unleashes special attacks or grants some beneficial effects that add some risk-reward element to the game. Most of the time, however, you will want to keep the upgraded weapons instead of overloading them, as they are considerably more powerful than their basic versions. However, they are lost once the character is hit once, whether in Health Meter or 1-Hit Kill mode, so perfect play is required to bring them to the fight against end-stage bosses.

Saying that perfect play is required to make it to the Contra: Operation Galuga eight end-stage bosses is no exaggeration, as the level design and enemy placements make the game extremely challenging, even at Easy difficulty. As already mentioned, the level design is quite good and, most of all, varied, as it pits the Contra commandos in many different situations. Each of the eight stages, except the very first one, has some gimmick that sets it apart from the rest, making for an exciting experience that, alongside the different enemy types, forces players to adapt. The high difficulty, however, never gets frustrating as it did in the original arcade game, as it is very easy to get additional lives with high scores. In addition, the Perk system can grant more health and lives, and the continue system makes it so that very little progress is lost in case of defeat. Not that it would take that long to recover any lost progress, as Contra: Operation Galuga is a rather short game. Each stage takes between 5 and 10 minutes to complete, and an entire run through can take less than an hour for experienced players. My first playthrough took 1 hour and 23 minutes at Normal difficulty, while the first run through Arcade Mode, which features the same stages but rewards players with additional Credits for consecutive stage clears, at the same difficulty took a little over one hour.

Being the reimagining of a run-‘n’-gun game from the late 80s, the short length of Contra: Operation Galuga was expected, but it is still disappointing, considering the game’s price tag of $40, €40. Sure, there’s additional content to purchase from the Perk Shop that costs a lot of Credits, such as the aforementioned additional characters, Speedrun Mode, and some BGM packs, which include music from other entries in the Contra series, Castlevania and WayForward tracks, and a Challenge mode which offers bite-sized challenges set in the main stages with unique conditions, but the player will essentially go through the same eight stages over and over again, and it will inevitably get old fast, even with multiple playable characters. In addition, some Perk and Weapon combinations, such as the Level 2 Cannon Gun and protection against losing a Level 2 weapon on hit, are extremely overpowered and can make short work of anything, even at the hardest difficulty setting. 2-player co-op for Story Mode and 4-player co-op for Arcade Mode do spice things up a bit, but the lack of online multiplayer feels like a major oversight, as it would have given the game considerably more staying power.

Contra: Operation Galuga definitely delivers when it comes to visuals, with lushous, colorful 3D environments and nicely detailed and animated 2D sprites that, while not really suited to the grittiness of the series, do look great. The PC port is a little barebones in terms of settings, essentially only allowing the user to choose resolution and frame rate, but it runs great with no issues whatsoever. The specs of the system used for the test (i7-13700F, RTX 4080, 32 GB RAM) are way above the recommended, so it had no trouble whatsoever running the game at 4K resolution, locked 120 frames per second, but I expect this is going to be the case for most relatively modern systems. The catchy soundtrack and the goofy yet well-done voice acting are just the icing on a cake that brings the player back to a time when games did not need to be overly complex or have huge production values to be fun.

As a fan of the genre, I have enjoyed my time with Contra: Operation Galuga quite a bit, but its simplicity, short length, and general lack of content will make it a hard sell at release. Despite its undeniable quality, paying $40, or even the reduced launch price of $35,99, for a game that can be completed in a little over an hour is something I feel most players won’t be able to justify. Fans of the series and the genre as a whole, however, will find plenty to like in it, granted they keep their expectations in check regarding game length and post-campaign content.

PC version tested. Review code provided by the publisher.

Contra: Operation Galuga

With its excellent level design, challenging gameplay, and twists on the classic formula, Contra: Operation Galuga offers a compelling reimagining of one of the most beloved arcade games ever made. However, despite its strengths, the game’s short campaign length, limited amount of content and lack of online multiplayer may deter some players, especially considering its price. While the inclusion of extra characters and a Challenge Mode adds some variety, they fail to provide a good reason to continue playing the game after having gone through the eight stages multiple times.