Difference between revisions of "Super C"

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(Game Commentary)
(Game Commentary)
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| Area 3 || This is one of my favorite areas, and the first level that was really difficult for me when I was younger. The jungle theme is reminiscent of the first Contra, and the music is very fitting for the level. The ground turrets are a nice change up, requiring the player to duck to hit them, but also needing to jump the bullets it shoots and the random cyan soldiers from the sides and trees. The mortar turret is a lot of fun, but, if you have a decent gun, no the shitty laser, you can basically walk past it. The highly populated water is a new element which offers safety while ducking, but you can sometimes inadvertently duck in a very dangerous place with lots of bullets and soldiers coming at regular intervals. The Babalu Destructoid Mechanism is a fantastic mini boss which I find to be even more difficult than the actual boss; it takes awhile to figure out a safe strategy against him. The earthquake section is a lot of fun, and the shaking screen really adds to the effect, but I don't like the couple traps where you have to memorize where the next pit will open or die. I also don't like that you're given an invisibility barrier in a section where you're unlikely to need it. The boss is just a big wall with moving turrets. I find it easier to just focus on the target and just avoid the bullets because it dies so quickly. I would prefer they either required you to kill the turrets first, or gave the target more hit points. Great level over all, it has different tile sets and a lot of environmental interaction.
 
| Area 3 || This is one of my favorite areas, and the first level that was really difficult for me when I was younger. The jungle theme is reminiscent of the first Contra, and the music is very fitting for the level. The ground turrets are a nice change up, requiring the player to duck to hit them, but also needing to jump the bullets it shoots and the random cyan soldiers from the sides and trees. The mortar turret is a lot of fun, but, if you have a decent gun, no the shitty laser, you can basically walk past it. The highly populated water is a new element which offers safety while ducking, but you can sometimes inadvertently duck in a very dangerous place with lots of bullets and soldiers coming at regular intervals. The Babalu Destructoid Mechanism is a fantastic mini boss which I find to be even more difficult than the actual boss; it takes awhile to figure out a safe strategy against him. The earthquake section is a lot of fun, and the shaking screen really adds to the effect, but I don't like the couple traps where you have to memorize where the next pit will open or die. I also don't like that you're given an invisibility barrier in a section where you're unlikely to need it. The boss is just a big wall with moving turrets. I find it easier to just focus on the target and just avoid the bullets because it dies so quickly. I would prefer they either required you to kill the turrets first, or gave the target more hit points. Great level over all, it has different tile sets and a lot of environmental interaction.
 
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| Area 4 || This is another pretty touch level. I would have liked to see a bit more variety in the background, but it has a lot going on, so it's forgivable. The bubble generators are kind of lame because you can just jump and shoot from a distance until they run out. Something should have been done to make them more interesting. I do like the occasional rifleman who take a pop shot at you from behind. The crumbling ceiling  
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| Area 4 || This is another pretty tough level. I would have liked to see a bit more variety in the background, but I do like the greenish cyan color, and it does have a lot of enemy variety, so it's forgivable. The bubble generators are kind of lame because you can just jump and shoot from a distance until they run out. Something should have been done to make them more interesting. I do like the occasional rifleman who take a pop shot at you from behind. The crumbling ceiling is a great hazard, and it still gets me from time to time. It won't fall until you shoot it, and you often miss the riflemen causing it to fall prematurely. The winged soldiers are reminiscent of the first Contra. The four-way turrets look kind of stupid, but they make for an interesting foe.
 
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|}
  

Revision as of 17:45, 24 November 2017

North American box art.

Super C is a run-and-gun action shooter from Konami and sequel to Contra. It was originally an arcade cabinet released in 1988, but was later ported to many different platforms.

I first played this game at my cousin's who was borrowing it from a friend. Already knowing about Contra, I knew what to expect when I played it, and sure enough, I died a lot early on. My brother found out the code that lets you start with 10 lives, not as helpful as the 30 from Contra, but it also made the game less trivial to beat.

Status

I have beat the American and Japanese versions of this game (they're nearly identical) without cheating or farming lives. At my peak, I was able to beat it without dying.

Review

  • Overall: 6/10
  • Best Version: NES

Good

  • The controls are really responsive and intuitive.
  • The graphics are really impressive, and using the theme of Alien (and, by proxy, Giger's art style) was a great idea.
  • The game has a really good soundtrack.
  • Each stage is pretty unique with new enemies, scenery, and music. The designers also did a good job of adjusting the level layout. Some levels scroll up, some down, some right, some at an angle.
  • The game is challenging enough that even after playing for years, you'll still have difficulty beating it.

Bad

  • The game is painfully difficult. Had I encountered this game later in life, I wouldn't have the patience for it. Thankfully there is a 10-lives cheat code which makes victory more possible for an amateur.
  • While they repaired the terrible flame thrower weapon from the first game, the laser gun is just as awful as ever, to the point where I prefer the starting rifle.
  • The manual has several flaws.
    • The backstory is utterly ridiculous.
    • I don't like the idea of killing brainwashed US soldiers.
    • It doesn't properly explain the flame thrower or rapid fire.
    • It only lists a couple enemies, and one is incorrectly labeled.
    • The drawings are pretty amateur.

Ugly

  • Nothing.

Box Art

Documentation

Maps

Game Commentary

This is a running commentary on the game broken out by area.

Area Commentary
Intro The game doesn't have much of an intro, which is kind of a shame, there is a lot of backstory to cover, and it would be nice to see it incorporated into the game. Instead, we just get a fairly dull title screen.
Area 1 To begin with, fantastic helicopter and sunset art, it distracts from the fact that the players just jumped five stories to the pavement without so much as a sprained ankle. The players are eased into plain enemy soldiers, snipers, jumping, and weapon capsules. Good choice giving the machine gun and rapid fire as starting weapons. It teaches how to get them, but doesn't give the best gun too early. Great tile set, and good palette choice for the whole area. The angular scrolling is technically impressive and requires the player to learn to shoot at an angle. The bomb here helps clear the spawner door and eliminate the prone gunner. Next, the flame thrower is introduced. This is a huge improvement over the one from Contra and has the ability to charge up (though this ability should have been made more clearly in the game or the manual). The bombs being tossed from the towers on the ramp just causes a single player to slow down, but with two players, it requires players to communicate when they're going to avoid trapping each other. Next we get another machine gun and a spray gun, I think the machine gun should have been switched to the laser to cover every weapon in the first level, but then, I hate the laser, so it's okay. The hidden turrets are a nice way to keep the players on their toes. Upon reaching the boss, there is a sniper in the trench, which was a great move, he requires a new approach to kill. The boss is a giant cargo helicopter with gun turrets. If you're an experienced player, you can destroy it before it even drops soldiers on you (which I don't really like, it should get at least one drop). Other than that, it's a nice boss. This is a technical marvel because it features a huge scrolling enemy in front of a stationary ground, not something that could be done with the original NES hardware. Overall, this is a great introductory level. It introduces you to the majority of the game's elements and is challenging without being impossible. Fantastic music, also.
Area 2 I don't much care for the perspective used in this format because it varies for each object, and the lack of jumping or ducking makes me dislike it more. Still, the art is well-drawn, and the blue and gray palette is nice; too bad it turns sickly brown a third of the way in. The triple-turret tanks are pretty cool, but since they don't move, it's pretty easy to find place where you can stand still and fire from safety. It's made only slightly harder by spawning random cyan solders from the sides of the screen. Putting riflemen on either side of bottle-necks throughout the level was a nice design as they are harder to avoid (unless you have the spray gun!). The rotating turrets are a nice change of pace because they're not as easy to safely shoot from a distance, and since the random soldiers are now red riflemen, it makes things even harder. The bomb just before the two riflemen around the corner is a sight for sore eyes. The bridge gets a little more tricky, with lots of bullets from riflemen and the twin turrets on the other side. The wall is a nice way to force you to deal with the riflemen first rather than just running past them. The huge tank boss seems pretty difficult at first, but the fact that you can walk behind him negates the majority of his attacks. This probably should have been prevented.
Area 3 This is one of my favorite areas, and the first level that was really difficult for me when I was younger. The jungle theme is reminiscent of the first Contra, and the music is very fitting for the level. The ground turrets are a nice change up, requiring the player to duck to hit them, but also needing to jump the bullets it shoots and the random cyan soldiers from the sides and trees. The mortar turret is a lot of fun, but, if you have a decent gun, no the shitty laser, you can basically walk past it. The highly populated water is a new element which offers safety while ducking, but you can sometimes inadvertently duck in a very dangerous place with lots of bullets and soldiers coming at regular intervals. The Babalu Destructoid Mechanism is a fantastic mini boss which I find to be even more difficult than the actual boss; it takes awhile to figure out a safe strategy against him. The earthquake section is a lot of fun, and the shaking screen really adds to the effect, but I don't like the couple traps where you have to memorize where the next pit will open or die. I also don't like that you're given an invisibility barrier in a section where you're unlikely to need it. The boss is just a big wall with moving turrets. I find it easier to just focus on the target and just avoid the bullets because it dies so quickly. I would prefer they either required you to kill the turrets first, or gave the target more hit points. Great level over all, it has different tile sets and a lot of environmental interaction.
Area 4 This is another pretty tough level. I would have liked to see a bit more variety in the background, but I do like the greenish cyan color, and it does have a lot of enemy variety, so it's forgivable. The bubble generators are kind of lame because you can just jump and shoot from a distance until they run out. Something should have been done to make them more interesting. I do like the occasional rifleman who take a pop shot at you from behind. The crumbling ceiling is a great hazard, and it still gets me from time to time. It won't fall until you shoot it, and you often miss the riflemen causing it to fall prematurely. The winged soldiers are reminiscent of the first Contra. The four-way turrets look kind of stupid, but they make for an interesting foe.

Links