Daisuke Ishiwatari, Animation Department: Hard Corps: Uprising. Daisuke Ishiwatari was born on August 14, 1973 in Johannesburg, South Africa. He is known for his work on Hard Corps: Uprising (2011), Guilty Gear 2: Overture (2007) and BlazBlue: Continuum Shift (2010). Bloody roar jenny.

This morning, Microsoft announced that Hard Corps: Uprising has been added to Xbox One Backward Compatibility. First released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2011, this run-and-gunner was met with equal parts enthusiasm and confusion. And it is, in fairness, quite an odd duck. For one thing..that's Contra, right? Two-player co-op, spread gun, jungle stage.. It's even published by Konami, so you know it's not just some knock-off. It reprises the anime aesthetic of 1994's Contra: Hard Corps (courtesy of Guilty Gear developer Arc System Works) and even directly recalls that title—just not, you know, the 'Contra' part.

It seems that in an early example of the inexplicable corporate decisions that have come to define them, Konami insisted on disassociating this game from the time-honored series for which it was clearly created. Not that they were fooling anyone—reps struggled to hold the company line when the press grilled them with the obvious questions at trade shows. But the game certainly attracted much less attention than it might have had it borne the familiar brand.

In addition to its art style, Contra: Hard Corps distinguished itself from the rest of the series with a colorful cast of playable characters, each with their own unique weapons. The move set expanded with a slide move, allowing the player to escape damage if they found themselves cornered, and one character could even perform a double-jump. By far, though, the greatest departure from series convention was the three-hit life gauge, such that it only featured in the game's Japanese version. Subsequent Contra titles shied away from all this ambitious complexity, but after seventeen years, Hard Corps: Uprising not only went back to the well but jumped in feet-first.

You'll notice right away that the life gauge is back. Characters generally differ by their agility and the length of their gauges while sharing weapons and abilities, but some offer entirely unique play styles. Leviathan can moonsault across the screen while pelting everything below with bombs, and Sayuri eschews guns in favor of a katana that lacks range but deals unparalleled damage if she can close the distance. Every character has access to a staggering array of acrobatic moves, including a double-jump, an air dash, and a slick maneuver where you slip past an enemy with an opportunity to immediately shoot them in the back. You can vault over obstacles close to the ground, send pieces of the environment flying into enemies, and even reflect bullets.

The breadth of options is downright overwhelming at first, especially compounded with all the over-the-top chaos unfolding in any standard Contra stage. But just as true to form, Uprising is designed to be played again and again. As your skills improve and you grow more accustomed to your surroundings, you can begin to identify the best places to employ each move, until you find yourself speed-running stages with the grace of a ninja commando. If that seems like a bridge too far, replay value also abounds in Rising Mode, where you can upgrade your mobility, weapons, and life gauge to ridiculous excess. Is being able to take three hits not enough? How about eight? Not loving that double-jump? How about a triple-jump?

Despite its ambiguous title, Hard Corps: Uprising is without a doubt a bold evolution of the Contra series, more than worthy of the name. A PlayStation 4 port is probably too much to hope for, so if you own an Xbox One, don't miss this opportunity to give it a go—whether it's your first time or you're still saving up for that seven-way spread gun.

Hard Corps: Uprising is a run and gunvideo game developed by Arc System Works and published by Konami for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. The game was released digitally on Xbox Live Arcade on February 16, 2011 and on the PlayStation Network on March 15, 2011.^[2] In Hard Corps: Uprising, the player assumes the role of Colonel Bahamut, along with other main characters. Konami has added three additional player characters (Sayuri, Harley Daniels, and Leviathan) via downloadable content.

Hard Corps: Uprising is the thirteenth installment in the Contra series and serves as a spin-off to Contra: Hard Corps as well as the prequel to the original Contra. Kenji Yamamoto, the producer, has said that the intention is to make the Hard Corps series into a new franchise.^[3]

Gameplay[edit]

Hard Corps: Uprising features two main game modes, Rising and Arcade. In Rising Mode, players can collect points throughout levels which are then used to purchase various upgrades and customization for weapons, armor and character abilities. Rising Mode also features a health bar, similar to the Japanese version of Contra: Hard Corps, allowing the player to take more than one hit before losing a life. Arcade Mode is a more difficult game mode in which the power-up shops are removed.

Many new moves have been added. The character can dash, dash in mid-air, double-jump and deflect enemy projectiles by bouncing them back. Additional moves can also be purchased in Rising Mode.

Weapons include the standard rifle, the machine gun, the spread shot, the crash gun (shoots arcing grenades), the ripple gun (acts like a force field when sprinting), the heat gun (shoots large blasts of fire), the chain laser (homes in on enemy targets) and the Katana (unleashes a wide arc of energy onto the targets). As in Contra III: The Alien Wars, the player can carry two weapons and switch between them at any time. Ancient quest of saqqarah saqpacks. By collecting the same weapon several times the player will improve its firing rate and power. Other weapon upgrades are available in Rising Mode as well.

Plot[edit]

In 2613, twenty years before the events of the original Contra, the world is ruled by an empire known as the Commonwealth, under the reign of Tiberius. Neighboring nations have suffered under the Commonwealth's oppression and resistance forces rise across the land. However, so many resistance fighters have fallen to the overwhelming might of the empire, that their strength is now severely diminished. A group of elite soldiers rise through the ranks of the resistance and band together to execute a desperate plan. The leader of this group is the war hero Bahamut.

Development and release[edit]

Audio[edit]

The game's soundtrack is composed by Daisuke Ishiwatari.

Reception[edit]

Hard Corps: Uprising was generally well received. Daemon Hatfield of IGN gave the game an 8.5/10 saying 'If you've ever been into Contra or Metal Slug or action movies, Hard Corps: Uprising is for you'.^[6] He criticized Arcade Mode for being too punishing but praised Rising Mode for its upgrade system which decreased difficulty for players. He also praised the detail and art direction of the game, enjoying the anime feel of the game and the many things happening in the background (like the giant snake boss moving in the background in Level 1). Nathan Meunier of GameSpot gave the game a 7/10 saying 'If the unmistakable opening prog-metal guitar riff and the frenzy of bullets that erupt from the get-go aren't a dead giveaway, the game's sadistic difficulty should be enough to jog your memory'.^[7] His main issue was the brutal gameplay and multiple cheap shots encountered during the game. He advises players that they should not go solo unless they are hard core players. He too praised the art style, saying 'The beautiful hand-drawn art style has a pleasant anime vibe that updates the otherwise classic run-and-gun gameplay. Not only does each stage offer a stark visual contrast from the previous one, but they also throw in new and unexpected twists that break up the flow.' Contra Central said it's highly creative game that changes constantly and keeps you wake. They also pointed that hand-drawn art style, which has a pleasant anime vibe, gives new life to classic run-and-gun gameplay. ^[8]

References[edit]

1. ^'Xbox LIVE Arcade House Party details and dates'. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
2. ^Daemon Hatfield (2010-06-03). 'E3 2010: (Contra) Hard Corps Preview - PlayStation 3 Preview at IGN'. Ps3.ign.com. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
3. ^Spencer . August 26, 2010. 2:39pm (2010-08-26). 'Hard Corps: Uprising Interview On Game Balance And The Arc System Works Connection // Siliconera'. Siliconera.com. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
4. ^'Hard Corps: Uprising for Xbox 360 Reviews'. Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
5. ^'Hard Corps: Uprising for PlayStation 3 Reviews'. Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
6. ^Hatfield, Daemon (16 March 2011). 'Hard Corps: Uprising Review'.
7. ^http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/hard-corps-uprising-review/1900-6298912/
8. ^https://contracentral.com/hard-corps-uprising/

External links[edit]

• Hard Corps: Uprising at MobyGames