Contra: Shattered Soldier
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| Contra: Shattered Soldier | |
|---|---|
 The cover art portrays the protagonists, Bill and Lucia, against a wartorn backdrop. |
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| Developer(s) | Konami |
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Designer(s) | Nobuya Nakazato |
| Release date(s) | NA October 22, 2002 JPN November 11, 2002 EU February 14, 2003 |
| Genre(s) | Run and gun |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Cooperative |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Teen CERO: 15+ ELSPA: 15+ |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 |
| Media | 1 CD-ROM |
Contra: Shattered Soldier (真魂斗羅 shin kontora?) is a video game that is part of the Contra series by Konami. It was released for the Sony PlayStation 2 in 2002. The game is the sixth title in the main storyline and marks a return to the hallmark two-dimensional gameplay style of Contra III: The Alien Wars and Contra: Hard Corps.
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[edit] Development
After working with Appaloosa Interactive for the ill-received C: The Contra Adventure and Contra: Legacy of War, Konami recruited Nobuya Nakazato (the director of Contra III and Hard Corps) to develop the next installment in the franchise. Shattered Soldier was originally meant to debut on the Nintendo 64, but Konami decided instead to create for the next generation hardware (of the time), the PlayStation 2 [citation needed].
[edit] Storyline
In A.D. 2642, Earth remains scarred from previous alien conflicts as environmental problems grow beyond humanity's control. 80% of the planet's population was completely decimated by a malfunctioning hyper-magnetic weapons grid during development. Bill Rizer, the hero of the Alien Wars, was held responsible for the incident, as well as for murdering his partner Lance Bean, who reportedly tried to stop him. He was given a sentence of 10,000 years in cryogenic prison.
However, five years later, in 2647, Earth faces another threat as the terrorist organization "Blood Falcon", led by a mysterious and superhuman commander, spreads panic over the world. The government decides to release Bill Rizer 9,995 years early, in guise of his previous successes in defending Earth, in hope of neutralizing Blood Falcon. Lucia, an advanced cyborg soldier created by Dr. Geo Mandrake before his death, and later completed by the government, is sent to accompany and assist Bill's endeavours.
[edit] Gameplay
The game achieves its goal in mimicking the gameplay that made the previous 8-bit and 16-bit titles so popular by essentially duplicating the same style boss-fights and stages. The game is known as being very difficult, more so in fact than Contra: Hard Corps. Like the Sega Mega Drive game, Shattered Soldier has multiple endings. However, the ending received now depends on player performance, rather than the path taken. The game also introduces the concept of a "hit ratio", which gauges the amount of enemies hit as a form of performance metric. Most, but not all, enemies increase this ratio. A high hit-ratio, along with the minimization of lives lost and continues used, is essential to receive the better endings, and consequently unlock the hidden extra features. Time, however, is not a factor in score.
[edit] Weapons
The major departure in Shattered Soldier is the new weapon system, which consists of three weapons and three special attacks. No weapons are acquired through the powerup 'blimps' from previous games. Unfortunately, to the plight of many Contra fans, the spread gun was not included (the outcry of this caused it to be re-included in Neo Contra).
[edit] Trivia
- There is a secret ending hidden in the game where Bill encounters Sparkster from the Rocket Knight Adventures game and its sequel Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, and the spin-off Sparkster game for the Super Nintendo. The director of those games is the same person responsible for Shattered Soldier, Nobuya Nakazato.
