Contra 4 & Hardcore Gaming

[Strafe Mcgee]

I'm currently in the midst of a love-hate relationship with Contra 4. Having recently bought my import copy from G-Force (Hope St, Glasgow. Independent gaming shops rock,) the pain of dying so many times is tempered by the sweet sweet flavour of (rare) victory. Having said that I've only gotten to level four so far.

Anyway, I love hardcore games like this that mercilessly beat the crap out of you until you manage to master the game. I play Guitar Hero on expert, have nearly beaten I Wanna Be The Guy, adore Ninja Gaiden, thoroughly enjoy DMC3 and am currently obsessed with The Impossible Quiz (http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/365143). Anyway, my question is this: does anyone know of any hardcore games for current generation consoles or that will work on a slightly old PC (Athlon 2200+, 2GB Ram, On-board graphics)?

 

[Strafe Mcgee]

Come on... there must be someone else out there that loves hardcore games?

 

[Strafe Mcgee]

I love Abuse, one of my favorite underdog games of all time

 

[Neverhoodian]

My take on hardcore games all depends on the mood I'm in. If I'm feeling irritable, playing punishing games only exacerbates my mood. It's also highly dependant on the genre. Punishing RTS and fighting games are a total turn-off for me, but 2-D, arcade-style button mashing ones can be a blast to play. I've never actually sat down and played any Contra game (shocking, I know!), but I know its gameplay is very similar to that of other shoot-'em ups I enjoy, such as the Metal Slug series and Alien Hominid.

Speaking of which, I would recommend the Metal Slug Anthology that came out as a Wii launch title. It's a collection of all the major games in the series (six in all), and it's nonstop run-and-gun action. With customizable difficulty settings and the option of having limited or unlimited continues, you can make it much easier or harder than the already blistering difficulty the original arcade units were known for. If you have a Wii, get it; you should be able to find one at a used game store for pretty cheap. My only recommendation is that you try to get a Gamecube controller to play it; the wiimote configurations suck.

 

[Saskwach]

My take on hardcore games all depends on the mood I'm in. If I'm feeling irritable, playing punishing games only exacerbates my mood. It's also highly dependant on the genre. Punishing RTS and fighting games are a total turn-off for me, but 2-D, arcade-style button mashing ones can be a blast to play. I've never actually sat down and played any Contra game (shocking, I know!), but I know its gameplay is very similar to that of other shoot-'em ups I enjoy, such as the Metal Slug series and Alien Hominid.

Speaking of which, I would recommend the Metal Slug Anthology that came out as a Wii launch title. It's a collection of all the major games in the series (six in all), and it's nonstop run-and-gun action. With customizable difficulty settings and the option of having limited or unlimited continues, you can make it much easier or harder than the already blistering difficulty the original arcade units were known for. If you have a Wii, get it; you should be able to find one at a used game store for pretty cheap. My only recommendation is that you try to get a Gamecube controller to play it; the wiimote configurations suck.

This is about my view. Also, I will never play games that make sure the player knows they're playing a hardcore game. The ones that punish you for no other reason than "it has to be hard or it's not challenging". Yeah? Well I find it challenging not to find the developer's address, fly over there and curbstomp every pseudocool dickhole that made this game. Should we make a game about that too?
I have nothing against challenge per se; I'm currently banging my head against the last part of Chernobyl in CoD 4. But when a game only punishes you without returning some small feeling of achievement or pleasure for getting *that tiny bit further* and then makes you tread several minutes to repeat the same horrible death then it can collect dust for all I care.

 

[CyberAkuma]

Playing Far Cry on Realistic Mode is pretty hardcore...

In Contra 4, it is all about managing your weapons correctly, playing the game on Normal/Hard will allow you to upgrade them enhancing their usage both throughout the ap and on boss battles.
I usually stock up on two different types of weapon, one for clearing big parts of the maps (Homing Missiles/Spray Gun/Machine Gun) and another weapon for clearing out bosses quickly. (Crush Rocket/Laser)

Keep them upgraded at all times, and if you finally do have to take a hit, let the weapon you use for map disappear, because the boss battles are singlehandedly the biggest moment where you're going to lose lives FAST if you don't have a upgraded weapon for them.

Oh, and wait until you get to Mission Mode on Contra 4, now *THAT* shit is frustratingly hardcore. Try beating an entire level with VERY limited ammo, or boss battle with limited ammo. Or beating big part of maps without *ANY* ammo at all

 

[Arbre]

I'm currently in the midst of a love-hate relationship with Contra 4. Having recently bought my import copy from G-Force (Hope St, Glasgow. Independent gaming shops rock,) the pain of dying so many times is tempered by the sweet sweet flavour of (rare) victory. Having said that I've only gotten to level four so far.

Anyway, I love hardcore games like this that mercilessly beat the crap out of you until you manage to master the game. I play Guitar Hero on expert, have nearly beaten I Wanna Be The Guy, adore Ninja Gaiden, thoroughly enjoy DMC3 and am currently obsessed with The Impossible Quiz (http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/365143). Anyway, my question is this: does anyone know of any hardcore games for current generation consoles or that will work on a slightly old PC (Athlon 2200+, 2GB Ram, On-board graphics)?

DMC3 on hardcore is downright stupid.
The most basic mobs have super shields and kill you in no time flat. There's just too much pain to appreciate the fun, especially since Dante seems to have a fine time in his cutscenes.

Contra 4 is weird. It doesn't feel like they tried to make anything new at all. I mean, come on, I'd rather play that Superprobotector once more.

 

[PhoenixFlame]

I adore Ninja Gaiden

Which Ninja Gaiden? The new one that is pretty much a decent game but which is extremely forgiving, or the masochist-fest on the NES that embodied the unforgiving side-scrolling platformers at the time? I'd agree with you if it was the latter.

If, like me, you have nearly torn your hair out in frustration over trying to get past the one part with an enemy on a platform just slightly wider than him without being knocked to your death, then I hear you. Otherwise, I'd have to disagree.

 

[Strafe Mcgee]

Which Ninja Gaiden?

I'm referring to the Xbox version. It is pretty forgiving once you've mastered the fighting system, but the first time I played it I was unused to Bosses that could (and would) take off 75% of your health with throws. It doesn't seem nearly as difficult now. But then again, I've never tried getting past any difficulty level further than normal...

I did want to play the remakes, but I missed one of the golden scarabs and couldn't find it later on in the game. Pissed me off something rotten. Metal Slug is pure awesome, as is Alien Hominid. Viewtiful Joe is another one that comes to mind actually.

 

[Neverhoodian]

Oh yeah, Viewtiful Joe is awesome! I love its old school feel and wacky humor. I even imported the soundtrack for the first two games from Japan. I usually play on "Kids" difficulty, though.

Upon further reflection, I guess there are certain types of "hardcore" that appeal to me more than others. For example, I generally dislike games where you die constantly until you memorize every enemy spawn area (again, games like Metal Slug and Alien Hominid are exceptions). I also don't like games that require you to memorize needlessly complex combos or a certain strategy every time to overcome the odds. Instead, I prefer difficult games where the controls are relatively straightforward and you're able to beat a stage without dying, but the outcome was in serious doubt. I get a rush from beating a stage with only two millimeters of health left.

 

[propertyofcobra]

Yup. People here have it right. Wanna find real hardcore gaming, it's all in the platformers.
VJ is Hardcore-ish. The first one more so than the second, and VERY much more so when playing as Sylvia.
Metal Slug can often be downright psychopathic and I think I've only ever a few times completed the first game without continues. I don't think I ever DID complete 3 or 4 without them...
Contra is hard of course, yes. The hardest one in my opinion is Hard Corps for the Genesis (AKA Mega Drive), as long as you don't play as the girl, that is.
Original Ninja Gaiden Trilogy is evil. Very evil. (Also, the name never made sense to me. "Ninja Side Story"? That implies that it's actually a set of games that are an unimportant unofficial side-plot to the REAL series, titled only "Ninja".)