The most disappointing thing about GBA contra 3 is the music. The SNES version has one of the greatest videogame soundtracks of all time with it's thumping militaristic music enhancing the drama and pushing you forward through the game. The GBA version,erm... doesn't.
Yeah, the soundtrack is a clear downgrade, but I didn't think it was too bad. It just isn't near the SNES version because of the differences in the sound systems.
@@InglebardGaming exactly, the gba doesnt have a sound processor, it uses the cpu of the gba and as seen in castlevania hod if you want better sound it takes away from graphics and vice versa. i guess u have to find the sweet spot.
@joshfacio9379 True, but the design generally called for two digital channels. On top of that it does also have the sound chip from the original gameboy which can be used in conjunction with GBA generated sound, much like the Genesis can use its FM and PSG chips simultaneously.
@Inglebard Gaming at 10:35 or so you mention how on the Hard Corps train level boss, the left side of the screen gets a black bar during part of the level. I just learned about this! It’s because of the pseudo-rotation being used on the train. That effect, sometimes called “vertical raster scrolling”, column scrolling, or “tilting”, is a cool trick, but when the Genesis does this, it creates a 16-pixel wide layer of garbage on the left side. Programmers will put a colored strip on the left side to hide it. You can see this on any game using this technique: Gunstar Heroes uses on the stage 3 boss, where the clouds and helicopter rotate. Again you can see the black bar.
I was going to suggest that was probably what it was, since it corresponded to the rotation effect but wasn't totally sure. I'm still interested in WHY it creates that strip of garbage in the left column or two of tiles, any ideas on that?
It's a bug. The thing is that not every instance of this trick creates the need for the black bars, and that's something an expert would have to explain. It doesn't seem to happen when a large object that moves around on screen does this (for example, tilting bosses in Pugsy, Batman & Robin, or Dynamite Headdy). It's usually when the whole background tilts, although there's a ton of tilting on level 1 of Gynoug/Wings of Wor and it doesn't need the black strip either.@@InglebardGaming
@InglebardGaming Also I read that some later versions of the Genesis don't have this bug, which indicates it's a hardware thing. This is all coming from a fantastic book that's all about Treasure's 16-bit output called "Legends of 16-bit Game Development". Totally worth a purchase.
@nathandaniels4823 ah, heard of that book, don't have it myself. Related: I liked Gunstar way more than Hard Corps. Aside from the cutesier graphical style, if felt more like Contra than Hard Corps and had lots of amazing effects. Also the Street Fighter-like hand to hand moves were really cool.
"This thing is so much more powerful than the Genesis" It sounds about right, but maybe there are so many poor ports to the GBA that have us think otherwise. Still, the handheld doesn't always win, being 2000+ device, even comparing to the SNES, Mega Drive and obviously the NEO GEO, it has less resolution, less buttons and its sound capabilities aren't that great, I still really enjoy the GBA's library, specially its exclusive titles, but it still feels like a handheld all the way, this notion only changed when the PSP was released. The DKC ports are interesting in the sense they didn't zoomed in the game and tried to keep it's original aspect and sprites sizes, but not only the sound effects and soundtrack suffered quite a lot, the gameplay/controls don't feel nearly as good as they're original counterparts. I still prefer the Donkey Kong Land series, at least they're more original, Nintendo should have made original DKC games for the GBA as well. Super Street Fighter II Revival is odd, but interesting, it has a few new stages and extras, SFA3 is also quite like SSF2TR in this sense. I don't know, I think the best of the GBA is indeed in its original games, Mario Kart Advance, and the few remakes it got such as Shining Force RotDD, I mean, games tailor made for the handheld, I just remembered I enjoy the first Sonic Advance a lot, too. Also, there are daring 3D games such as the Need for Speed titles and more, these are things the 16-bit consoles could hardly match.
What I was talking about with the power comment was the GBA can throw way more sprites and effects around than the SNES or Genesis, so it's really strange that some effects run either slower or at lower frame rates than the same scenes on SNES or Genesis. So when it comes to processing horsepower, the GBA far exceeds any of those systems. And there are loads of great games for it, I think there's a good mix of remakes and original titles. Aria of Sorrow is fantastic, but so is Metroid Zero Mission. Sure, ZM isnt a direct sort of port like Contra III, but Nintendo remade it from the ground up which os what Konami should have done for this.
@robanderson19 Konami had earlier titles with much better music, like Circle if the Moon. They learned a lot about what they could do visually with Harmony, but man was that music awful. Also, the castle(s) were just poorly designed. And yeah, agree Gradius Advance was way too slow with subpar music. I'm pretty sure Konami's mobile phone division made that one. Konami had a weird GBA track record.
GBA got that 3:2 aspect, which cutoff some vertical resolution. The game needed some major adjustment for this alone. You didn't mention the dual weapon pose + attack on SNES when you hold both shoulder buttons, then press shoot, which fires both weapons while jump flipping. I always just struck the pose like Vogue 🗿👍.... excellent video and analysis, per usual. Thanks Inglebard 🖐
Yeah, the aspect ratio difference alone really demanded a redesign of the game. The lazier ports that ignored that always suffered for it. While I didn't mention the dual weapon attack, I did SHOW it in the clip from level 2 at the beginning of the video 😁 Glad you liked the video and appreciate the comments!
I love Contra 3, it's one of the best 16bit running guns imo. Altrough Hard Corps has more content (the cart is double the size of Contra 3), I'm not a big fan of it. It's just a boss gauntlet, like you said. And Contra Advance is just a lazy done port/mix.
Thanks, glad you liked it! Yeah, it's a real shame that the GB version was good for it's platform and that Konami dropped the ball so hard with this one.
Corps is pronounced core, so I am saying the name of the game properly. Proof: www.google.com/search?q=how+to+pronounce+corps&oq=how+to+pronounce+corps&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyCQgAEEUYORiABDIHCAEQABiABDIHCAIQABiABDIHCAMQABiABDIHCAQQABiABDIHCAUQABiABDIHCAYQABiABDIHCAcQABiABDIHCAgQABiABDIHCAkQABiABDIHCAoQABiABDIHCAsQABiABDIICAwQABgWGB4yCAgNEAAYFhgeMggIDhAAGBYYHtIBCDkyMzZqMGoxqAIAsAIA&client=ms-android-mpcs-us-revc&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8
The title is a pun between hard corps, which means tough squad, and hardcore. You just ruin that pun if you pronounce corps like "corpse" (cadaver/dead body) .
@kathleendelcourt8136 plus there's the whole issue of pronouncing it "corpse" just being wrong, lol. Other good examples are that the Marin Corps is not the "marine corpse" is the "marine core" and the "Army Corps of Engineers" is not the "army corpse" it's the "army core."
Hard Corps was a pitiful attempt to fix what wasn't broken. 3 things Contra DOES NOT NEED: Characters with unique abilities, branching paths, story progression. Just give a Rambo analogue a gun and let him shoot things.
I would have rather seen something like that. Arcade Super Contra has been my favorite in the series since it came out, with the US NES version a close second.
Given how popular Hard Corps has become I'd say that the "pitiful attempt" found its mark. 😂 Most of the recent Contra retro inspired run and gun indie games are using Hard Corps as their reference rather than the other entries in the series.
![fellow fellow - PROUD feat. INK WARUNTORN [STRING QUARTET]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/BQrVkMPTdHE/mqdefault.jpg)
![Contra III: The Alien Wars speedrun [14:42] hard difficulty no deaths](/img/n.gif)
The most disappointing thing about GBA contra 3 is the music. The SNES version has one of the greatest videogame soundtracks of all time with it's thumping militaristic music enhancing the drama and pushing you forward through the game. The GBA version,erm... doesn't.
Yeah, the soundtrack is a clear downgrade, but I didn't think it was too bad. It just isn't near the SNES version because of the differences in the sound systems.
@@InglebardGaming exactly, the gba doesnt have a sound processor, it uses the cpu of the gba and as seen in castlevania hod if you want better sound it takes away from graphics and vice versa. i guess u have to find the sweet spot.
Mute the volume and turn on Metallica 😂❤
@joshfacio9379 True, but the design generally called for two digital channels. On top of that it does also have the sound chip from the original gameboy which can be used in conjunction with GBA generated sound, much like the Genesis can use its FM and PSG chips simultaneously.
@@MichaelBurrow I'd definitely much rather listen to crappy downgraded GBA versions of game music than ever resort to listening to Metallica!🤦🏼♀️😅
@Inglebard Gaming at 10:35 or so you mention how on the Hard Corps train level boss, the left side of the screen gets a black bar during part of the level.
I just learned about this! It’s because of the pseudo-rotation being used on the train. That effect, sometimes called “vertical raster scrolling”, column scrolling, or “tilting”, is a cool trick, but when the Genesis does this, it creates a 16-pixel wide layer of garbage on the left side. Programmers will put a colored strip on the left side to hide it.
You can see this on any game using this technique: Gunstar Heroes uses on the stage 3 boss, where the clouds and helicopter rotate. Again you can see the black bar.
I was going to suggest that was probably what it was, since it corresponded to the rotation effect but wasn't totally sure. I'm still interested in WHY it creates that strip of garbage in the left column or two of tiles, any ideas on that?
It's a bug. The thing is that not every instance of this trick creates the need for the black bars, and that's something an expert would have to explain. It doesn't seem to happen when a large object that moves around on screen does this (for example, tilting bosses in Pugsy, Batman & Robin, or Dynamite Headdy). It's usually when the whole background tilts, although there's a ton of tilting on level 1 of Gynoug/Wings of Wor and it doesn't need the black strip either.@@InglebardGaming
@InglebardGaming Also I read that some later versions of the Genesis don't have this bug, which indicates it's a hardware thing. This is all coming from a fantastic book that's all about Treasure's 16-bit output called "Legends of 16-bit Game Development". Totally worth a purchase.
@nathandaniels4823 ah, heard of that book, don't have it myself. Related: I liked Gunstar way more than Hard Corps. Aside from the cutesier graphical style, if felt more like Contra than Hard Corps and had lots of amazing effects. Also the Street Fighter-like hand to hand moves were really cool.
"This thing is so much more powerful than the Genesis" It sounds about right, but maybe there are so many poor ports to the GBA that have us think otherwise. Still, the handheld doesn't always win, being 2000+ device, even comparing to the SNES, Mega Drive and obviously the NEO GEO, it has less resolution, less buttons and its sound capabilities aren't that great, I still really enjoy the GBA's library, specially its exclusive titles, but it still feels like a handheld all the way, this notion only changed when the PSP was released.
The DKC ports are interesting in the sense they didn't zoomed in the game and tried to keep it's original aspect and sprites sizes, but not only the sound effects and soundtrack suffered quite a lot, the gameplay/controls don't feel nearly as good as they're original counterparts. I still prefer the Donkey Kong Land series, at least they're more original, Nintendo should have made original DKC games for the GBA as well. Super Street Fighter II Revival is odd, but interesting, it has a few new stages and extras, SFA3 is also quite like SSF2TR in this sense. I don't know, I think the best of the GBA is indeed in its original games, Mario Kart Advance, and the few remakes it got such as Shining Force RotDD, I mean, games tailor made for the handheld, I just remembered I enjoy the first Sonic Advance a lot, too. Also, there are daring 3D games such as the Need for Speed titles and more, these are things the 16-bit consoles could hardly match.
What I was talking about with the power comment was the GBA can throw way more sprites and effects around than the SNES or Genesis, so it's really strange that some effects run either slower or at lower frame rates than the same scenes on SNES or Genesis.
So when it comes to processing horsepower, the GBA far exceeds any of those systems. And there are loads of great games for it, I think there's a good mix of remakes and original titles. Aria of Sorrow is fantastic, but so is Metroid Zero Mission. Sure, ZM isnt a direct sort of port like Contra III, but Nintendo remade it from the ground up which os what Konami should have done for this.
@robanderson19 Konami had earlier titles with much better music, like Circle if the Moon. They learned a lot about what they could do visually with Harmony, but man was that music awful. Also, the castle(s) were just poorly designed.
And yeah, agree Gradius Advance was way too slow with subpar music. I'm pretty sure Konami's mobile phone division made that one. Konami had a weird GBA track record.
GBA got that 3:2 aspect, which cutoff some vertical resolution. The game needed some major adjustment for this alone. You didn't mention the dual weapon pose + attack on SNES when you hold both shoulder buttons, then press shoot, which fires both weapons while jump flipping. I always just struck the pose like Vogue 🗿👍.... excellent video and analysis, per usual. Thanks Inglebard 🖐
Yeah, the aspect ratio difference alone really demanded a redesign of the game. The lazier ports that ignored that always suffered for it.
While I didn't mention the dual weapon attack, I did SHOW it in the clip from level 2 at the beginning of the video 😁
Glad you liked the video and appreciate the comments!
I love Contra 3, it's one of the best 16bit running guns imo. Altrough Hard Corps has more content (the cart is double the size of Contra 3), I'm not a big fan of it. It's just a boss gauntlet, like you said. And Contra Advance is just a lazy done port/mix.
Wow, I don't think they're even using the GBA's sprite rotation/scaling capabilities for those jointed bosses. That's just absurd.
...in fact just watching more, they're missing opportunities to use native rotation all over. What the hell. This isn't just lazy, it's stupid.
Yeah, there was a lot of laziness in this port, it's one of those releases where you can tell there really wasn't any passion behind it.
BOTH ARE GREAT IS WHAT I MEANT TO SAY.👍
What a downdgrade it was indeed..make u appreciate the GB port a lot more..lol thanks for the informative and concise video btw!
Thanks, glad you liked it! Yeah, it's a real shame that the GB version was good for it's platform and that Konami dropped the ball so hard with this one.
BOTH 16BIT CONTRA VIDEO GAMES 🎮 🕹 FOR BOTH 16BIT SNES and 16BIT GENESIS PERIOD.💪
The name is Contra HARD CORPS, not Hardcore.
Corps is pronounced core, so I am saying the name of the game properly.
Proof: www.google.com/search?q=how+to+pronounce+corps&oq=how+to+pronounce+corps&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyCQgAEEUYORiABDIHCAEQABiABDIHCAIQABiABDIHCAMQABiABDIHCAQQABiABDIHCAUQABiABDIHCAYQABiABDIHCAcQABiABDIHCAgQABiABDIHCAkQABiABDIHCAoQABiABDIHCAsQABiABDIICAwQABgWGB4yCAgNEAAYFhgeMggIDhAAGBYYHtIBCDkyMzZqMGoxqAIAsAIA&client=ms-android-mpcs-us-revc&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8
The title is a pun between hard corps, which means tough squad, and hardcore. You just ruin that pun if you pronounce corps like "corpse" (cadaver/dead body) .
@kathleendelcourt8136 plus there's the whole issue of pronouncing it "corpse" just being wrong, lol. Other good examples are that the Marin Corps is not the "marine corpse" is the "marine core" and the "Army Corps of Engineers" is not the "army corpse" it's the "army core."
@@InglebardGaming Yeah but since you already explained that in the first comment I tried another approach. 😅
Hard Corps was a pitiful attempt to fix what wasn't broken. 3 things Contra DOES NOT NEED: Characters with unique abilities, branching paths, story progression. Just give a Rambo analogue a gun and let him shoot things.
I would have rather seen something like that. Arcade Super Contra has been my favorite in the series since it came out, with the US NES version a close second.
Given how popular Hard Corps has become I'd say that the "pitiful attempt" found its mark. 😂
Most of the recent Contra retro inspired run and gun indie games are using Hard Corps as their reference rather than the other entries in the series.
Bullshit
Contra 3 was also a pitiful attempt to be different, those top down levels are trash, and ruined the game.
Man, this GBA port is such a frickin' travesty. Konami should've just hired Factor 5 again to handle the conversion process
Yeah, it was a HUGE letdown at the time it came out.
@@InglebardGaming The original Gameboy had an extremely competent port of Contra 3
@Haywood-Jablomie I know, I did a video on that one, too!
@@InglebardGaming Yeah, I was dumb and didn't check before posting my comment. I found it after. lol