Hands On Hard Corps: Uprising

Contra with Guilty Gear art is the easiest way to describe Hard Corps: Uprising. Konami hired Arc System Works to develop this downloadable game, which feels just like anime Contra, even though it doesn’t have Contra in the title.

Two characters were selectable during the demo Christer and Bahamut, the villain from Contra: Hard Corps. I went with Bahamut and blasted through the first stage. In typical Contra fashion, alien ran towards my character as soon as he jumped out of a helicopter. I fired back and ran towards them. Saucers hovered overhead carrying power ups like the spread shot and a rapid fire laser. Unlike other Contra games, you don’t die when you get hit by a bullet. The penalty is one notch of your life bar and special weapon. Traps like quicksand can kill you if you don’t jump out of it in time.

One of the most interesting additions in Hard Corps: Uprising is bullet reflecting. Bahamut can toss a bullet back at an enemy if you press a button right before he gets hit. The bullet homes in on its target, which makes it easy to counter-kill enemies attacking on different vertical levels. Bullet reflecting has slow recovery time, so you can’t mash the bullet reflecting button. That’s an easy way to get killed.

What you can’t see in the screenshots is how smooth Hard Corps: Uprising looks in motion. Hard Corps: Uprising is eye candy, especially if you dig anime-style graphics. While I only got to see two characters, Konami plans on having a larger roster. Three characters will be available as downloadable content.