Difference between revisions of "Contra: Hard Corps"

Revision as of 13:36, 12 June 2019

n/a

Contra: Hard Corps

System(s): Sega Mega Drive

Publisher: Konami

Developer: Konami

Genre: Action

Series: Contra series

Number of players: 1-2

Official in-game languages:

日本語

English

Français

Deutsch

Release	Date	RRP	Code
JP	1994-09-15	¥9,0009,000	T-95093
US	1994-08-08		T-95106
EU	1994-11^[1]		T-95106-50
DE	1994	DM 129,95129,95^[4]
AU	1994	$109.95109.95^[3]
KR	199x		GM94017JT

ESRB

VRC

ELSPA

OFLC

This short article is in need of work. You can help Sega Retro by adding to it.

Contra: Hard Corps, known in Japan as Contra: The Hardcore (魂斗羅ザ・ハードコア) and in Europe and Australia as Probotector, is a side-scroling run and gun-style shoot-em-up for the Sega Genesis by Konami. It is the only Contra installment on the Sega console aside from Contra: Legacy of War. The game is also notable for being one of the hardest games in the Contra franchise in the west, as the hit points system from the Japanese version was removed.

The game's story takes place after Contra III: The Alien Wars (which was never released on the Sega hardware) and revolves around the theft of an alien cell. The story unfolds in a nonlinear fashion due two two crossroad points in the game. Depending on the players selection, the following stages become different. A total of 5 endings exist, one is a spoof ending found by clearing the secret arena in stage 3 (climb up the wall before going to the boss)

Gameplay

Each player can shoot with (aiming and rapid-fire work the same as with any Contra title or other Konami titles like Sunset Riders), change weapons with (as unlike other Contra games, you accumulate weapons), and jump with . + slides, which also grants full body invincibility for the duration of the slide. Pushing and simulatneously switches shooting mode between "I" and "II". "I" allows to run and fire at the same time, while "II" forces the player to stop while firing.

The functions of , and can be remapped from the default key config via the options menu. With a 6 Button Arcade Pad, , or can be used to switch between shooting modes without the need to press two buttons.

A parody of Simon Belmont, from the Castlevania series (also by Konami) is featured as an optional boss. He also has his respective theme, Simon1994RD, a remixed version of Vampire Killer.

Characters

In the game you can control one of four characters.Each character has his or her own special weapons special to them. The only shared weapons are the standard gun and smartbombs. Also, a second player can join in at any time during the action.

Ray Poward a male soldier
Sheena Etranzi a female soldier
Brad Fang a cyborg genetically-altered werewolf
Browny a tiny robot.

Stages

Levels in Contra: Hard Corps are not played in a linear order - the player is given the opportunity to choose a path at several points in the game. While the level select suggests there are 13 stages in total (many of these actually being cutscenes or bosses), the manuals only allude to 6.

	Stage 1:

	Stage 2:

	Stage 3:

	Stage 4:

	Stage 5:

	Stage 6:

History

Development

The development team called themselves "TEAM機知GUY" (Team Kichi Guy). This is actualy pun and not present in the western staff roll. The Japanese "機知"(Kichi) alone translates to "wit", but together with "GUY" is sounds like "きちがい" (Kichigai), a slang word for crazy.

Legacy

Two levels from Contra: Hard Corps would be recycled for the Game Boy Advance release of Contra Advance: The Alien Wars EX in 2002.

Versions

Like many Contra games released both before and after Hard Corps, the game differs significantly depending on region. In the Japanese version, a three point health bar exists for for each character, where getting hit removes one point and grants a short timeframe of invincibility. Continues are also unlimited, and there are also various cheat codes that were disabled in the other versions such as a stage select and a 70-lives code.

Conversely, the North American release removed the health bar system, meaning a single hit results in death (which is consistent with most games in the series). Continues here are limited to four retries.

In Europe the game was reskinned as Probotector (not to be confused with the original Probotector on the NES - a reskinned version of the first Contra game), replacing living humans and an anthropomorphic animal with robots or aliens, and consequently replacing Ray, Sheena, and Fang with CX-1, CX-2, and CX-3, respectively. Browny was simply renamed to CX-4. The story was rewritten to remove elements of human betrayal and the alien cell was replaced with the mechanical X-Drive. This version also lacks the health bar and the number of continues have been reduced to three retries.

Aside from the aforementioned changes and an added langauge select option (which was uncommon for the era), Probotector is the same game as the North American release of Hard Corps. This extends to the game's performance, with no optimisations put in place for PAL systems, resulting in a slower game that only runs at the correct speed on 60Hz systems.

Localised names

Also known as
Language	Localised Name	English Translation
English	Probotector	Probotector
English (US)	Contra: Hard Corps	Contra: Hard Corps
Japanese	魂斗羅ザ・ハードコア	Contra: The Hardcore

Production credits

Director, Scenario Writer, Graphic Supervisor: N.Nakazato
Programmers:
- Main Program: Miyaoka♪Kenji
- Enemy Program: Takeda☆Takashi, Hamada Hidemi, K.Karasawa
- Help Man: Kenichiro Horio
Design Works:
- Nice Guy: S.Shimamura
- Bike Man: K.Suzuki
Sound Works: H.Devi Kobayashi, Akiropito, Miyaoka♪Kenji, Chiru2 Yamane, Gajokai, Nitachigu
Package Design: S.Kumasaka
Special Thanks: Yutaka Haruki and all Konami staff
Producer: Tomikazu Kirita

Source:

In-game credits (English)

Uncredited

Translation, voice direction: Jeremy Blaustein^[5]

Magazine articles

Main article: Contra: Hard Corps/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1994-08: "August 1994" (1994-07-08)

Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1994-10: "October 1994" (1994-09-08)

Print advert in GamePro (US) #64: "November 1994" (1994-xx-xx)
also published in:

GamePro (US) #66: "January 1995" (199x-xx-xx)^[6]

Print advert in Joypad (FR) #36: "Novembre 1994" (1994-1x-xx)

Print advert in GamePro (DE) #1994-12: "Dezember 1994" (1994-11-25)
also published in:

MAN!AC (DE) #1995-02: "02/95" (1995-01-11)^[4]

Print advert in Velikiy Drakon (RU) #60: "xxxx xxxx" (2002-09-05)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average

Publication

Version

Score

1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)

NTSC-U

80

^[17]

1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)

PAL

50

^[18]

Beep! MegaDrive (JP)

NTSC-J

78

^[19]

CD Consoles (FR)

PAL

60

^[20]

Cool Gamer (RU)

80

^[21]

Computer & Video Games (UK)

PAL

92

^[2]

Electronic Games (1992-1995) (US)

NTSC-U

75

^[22]

Electronic Gaming Monthly (US)

NTSC-U

73

^[23]

Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU)

80

^[24]

Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 3 (RU)

60

^[25]

Famitsu (JP)

NTSC-J

60

^[26]

Game Players (US)

NTSC-U

92

^[27]

Game Players (US)

92

^[28]

GamePro (US)

NTSC-U

90

^[29]

GamePro (DE)

PAL

80

^[30]

GamesMaster (UK)

PAL

93

^[31]

Games World: The Magazine (UK)

PAL

89

^[32]

Game Informer (US)

NTSC-U

81

^[33]

Hobby Consolas (ES)

PAL

90

^[34]

Joypad (FR)

PAL

88

^[35]

Mega (UK)

PAL

88

^[36]

Mega Fun (DE)

PAL

87

^[37]

Mean Machines Sega (UK)

PAL

94

^[38]

Next Generation (US)

NTSC-U

50

^[39]

Player One (FR)

89

^[40]

Play Time (DE)

PAL

87

^[41]

Sega Power (UK)

PAL

74

^[42]

Sega Pro (UK)

PAL

74

^[43]

Sega Mega Drive Review (RU)

90

^[44]

Sega Saturn Magazine (JP)

NTSC-J

84

^[45]

Todo Sega (ES)

89

^[46]

Tricks 16 bit (RU)

NTSC-U

78

^[47]

Tricks 16 bit (RU)

PAL

74

^[48]

Video Games (DE)

PAL

82

^[49]

VideoGames (US)

NTSC-U

90

^[16]

	80
Based on 35 reviews

Contra: Hard Corps

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, US (Classics)

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, KR
Cover
Cart

Technical information

ROM dump status

System

Hash

Size

Build Date

Source

Comments

✔

CRC32	c579f45e
MD5	2bd30479556da5c310d8f2a1fe66e8fa
SHA-1	68ea84146105bda91f6056932ff4fb42aa3eb4a7

2MB

1994-09

Cartridge (US)

✔

CRC32	bc597d48
MD5	22289fe42b00a5fe5df3299747480fc0
SHA-1	69d905751ffa6a921586767263e45ddeb73333c2

2MB

1994-10

Cartridge (EU)

✔

CRC32	2ab26380
MD5	3d94f57af4258416e65197a9da854219
SHA-1	0a9d263490497c85d7010979765c48f98d9927bd

2MB

1994-09

Cartridge (JP)

References

↑ File:SegaMagazine UK 11.pdf, page 76
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Computer & Video Games, "November 1994" (UK; 1994-10-15), page 94
↑ Sega Megazone, "December 1994" (AU; 1994-1x-xx), page 36
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 MAN!AC, "02/95" (DE; 1995-01-11), page 15
↑ @JeremyBlaustein on Twitter
↑ GamePro, "January 1995" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 52
↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "October 1994" (JP; 1994-09-08), page 18 (20)
↑ File:SSM_JP_19950901_1995-09.pdf, page 85
↑ CD Consoles, "Décembre 1994" (FR; 1994-xx-xx), page 140-143 (140)
↑ Computer & Video Games, "November 1994" (UK; 1994-10-15), page 94-95 (94)
↑ GamesMaster, "November 1994" (UK; 1994-10-20), page 40-42 (40)
↑ Joypad, "Novembre 1994" (FR; 1994-1x-xx), page 122/123 (122)
↑ Mean Machines Sega, "November 1994" (UK; 1994-09-30), page 60-64 (60)
↑ Next Generation, "Premiere Issue 1995" (US; 1994-12-08), page 99 (105)
↑ Player One, "Novembre 1994" (FR; 1994-1x-xx), page 128/129 (124)
↑ ^16.0 ^16.1 VideoGames, "November 1994" (US; 1994-1x-xx), page 83
↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 50
↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 181
↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "October 1994" (JP; 1994-09-08), page 20
↑ CD Consoles, "Décembre 1994" (FR; 1994-xx-xx), page 140
↑ Cool Gamer, "9" (RU; 2002-10-13), page 55
↑ Electronic Games (1992-1995), "October 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 88
↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "October 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 34
↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 302
↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 3, "" (RU; 2000-xx-xx), page 28
↑ Famitsu, "1994-09-30" (JP; 1994-09-16), page 41
↑ Game Players, "Vol. 7 No. 10 October 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 92
↑ Game Players, "Vol. 7 No. 12 December 1994" (US; 1994-1x-xx), page 51
↑ GamePro, "November 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 78
↑ GamePro, "Oktober 1994" (DE; 1994-09-30), page 40
↑ GamesMaster, "November 1994" (UK; 1994-10-20), page 40
↑ Games World: The Magazine, "December 1994" (UK; 1994-10-28), page 15
↑ Game Informer, "November 1994" (US; 1994-1x-xx), page 28
↑ Hobby Consolas, "Diciembre 1994" (ES; 1994-xx-xx), page 110
↑ Joypad, "Novembre 1994" (FR; 1994-1x-xx), page 122
↑ Mega, "November 1994" (UK; 1994-10-27), page 42
↑ Mega Fun, "11/94" (DE; 1994-10-19), page 63
↑ Mean Machines Sega, "November 1994" (UK; 1994-09-30), page 60
↑ Next Generation, "Premiere Issue 1995" (US; 1994-12-08), page 105
↑ Player One, "Novembre 1994" (FR; 1994-1x-xx), page 128
↑ Play Time, "12/94" (DE; 1994-11-09), page 102
↑ Sega Power, "November 1994" (UK; 1994-09-29), page 53
↑ Sega Pro, "December 1994" (UK; 1994-11-03), page 70
↑ Sega Mega Drive Review, "1" (RU; 1995-04-03), page 33
↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 85
↑ Todo Sega, "Enero 1995" (ES; 199x-xx-xx), page 40
↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 11
↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 201
↑ Video Games, "10/94" (DE; 1994-09-28), page 96

Contra: Hard Corps
	Main page \| Comparisons \| Maps \| Hidden content \| Magazine articles \| Video coverage \| Reception \| Region coding \| Technical information \| Bootlegs No results

Contra games for Sega systems
	Contra: Hard Corps (1994)
	Contra: Legacy of War (1997)

[:File:SegaMagazine_UK_11.pdf_p76-1] File:SegaMagazine UK 11.pdf, page 76

[:File:CVG_UK_156.pdf_p94-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Computer & Video Games, "November 1994" (UK; 1994-10-15), page 94

[:File:Megazone_AU_46.pdf_p36-3] Sega Megazone, "December 1994" (AU; 1994-1x-xx), page 36

[:File:MAN.21AC_DE_1995-02.pdf_p15-4] 4.0 ^4.1 MAN!AC, "02/95" (DE; 1995-01-11), page 15

[https:.2F.2Ftwitter.com.2FJeremyBlaustein.2Fstatus.2F894007224514691073-5] @JeremyBlaustein on Twitter

[:File:GamePro_US_066.pdf_p52-6] GamePro, "January 1995" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 52

[:File:BeepMD_JP_1994-10.pdf_p20_.2818.29-7] Beep! MegaDrive, "October 1994" (JP; 1994-09-08), page 18 (20)

[:File:SSM_JP_19950901_1995-09.pdf_p85-8] File:SSM_JP_19950901_1995-09.pdf, page 85

[:File:CDConsoles_FR_02.pdf_p140_.28140-143.29-9] CD Consoles, "Décembre 1994" (FR; 1994-xx-xx), page 140-143 (140)

[:File:CVG_UK_156.pdf_p94_.2894-95.29-10] Computer & Video Games, "November 1994" (UK; 1994-10-15), page 94-95 (94)

[:File:GamesMaster_UK_023.pdf_p40_.2840-42.29-11] GamesMaster, "November 1994" (UK; 1994-10-20), page 40-42 (40)

[:File:Joypad_FR_036.pdf_p122_.28122.2F123.29-12] Joypad, "Novembre 1994" (FR; 1994-1x-xx), page 122/123 (122)

[:File:MeanMachinesSega25UK.pdf_p60_.2860-64.29-13] Mean Machines Sega, "November 1994" (UK; 1994-09-30), page 60-64 (60)

[:File:NextGeneration_US_01.pdf_p105_.2899.29-14] Next Generation, "Premiere Issue 1995" (US; 1994-12-08), page 99 (105)

[:File:PlayerOne_FR_047.pdf_p124_.28128.2F129.29-15] Player One, "Novembre 1994" (FR; 1994-1x-xx), page 128/129 (124)

[:File:VideoGames_US_70.pdf_p83-16] 16.0 ^16.1 VideoGames, "November 1994" (US; 1994-1x-xx), page 83

[17] 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 50

[18] 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 181

[:File:BeepMD_JP_1994-10.pdf_p20-19] Beep! MegaDrive, "October 1994" (JP; 1994-09-08), page 20

[:File:CDConsoles_FR_02.pdf_p140-20] CD Consoles, "Décembre 1994" (FR; 1994-xx-xx), page 140

[21] Cool Gamer, "9" (RU; 2002-10-13), page 55

[:File:ElectronicGames2_US_25.pdf_p88-22] Electronic Games (1992-1995), "October 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 88

[:File:EGM_US_063.pdf_p34-23] Electronic Gaming Monthly, "October 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 34

[24] Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 302

[25] Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 3, "" (RU; 2000-xx-xx), page 28

[26] Famitsu, "1994-09-30" (JP; 1994-09-16), page 41

[:File:GamePlayers_US_0710.pdf_p92-27] Game Players, "Vol. 7 No. 10 October 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 92

[:File:GamePlayers_US_0712.pdf_p51-28] Game Players, "Vol. 7 No. 12 December 1994" (US; 1994-1x-xx), page 51

[:File:GamePro_US_064.pdf_p78-29] GamePro, "November 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 78

[:File:GamePro_DE_1994-10.pdf_p40-30] GamePro, "Oktober 1994" (DE; 1994-09-30), page 40

[:File:GamesMaster_UK_023.pdf_p40-31] GamesMaster, "November 1994" (UK; 1994-10-20), page 40

[:File:Games_World_The_Magazine_UK_06.pdf_p15-32] Games World: The Magazine, "December 1994" (UK; 1994-10-28), page 15

[:File:GameInformer_US_019.pdf_p28-33] Game Informer, "November 1994" (US; 1994-1x-xx), page 28

[:File:HobbyConsolas_ES_039.pdf_p110-34] Hobby Consolas, "Diciembre 1994" (ES; 1994-xx-xx), page 110

[:File:Joypad_FR_036.pdf_p122-35] Joypad, "Novembre 1994" (FR; 1994-1x-xx), page 122

[:File:Mega_UK_26.pdf_p42-36] Mega, "November 1994" (UK; 1994-10-27), page 42

[:File:MegaFun_DE_1994-11.pdf_p63-37] Mega Fun, "11/94" (DE; 1994-10-19), page 63

[:File:MeanMachinesSega25UK.pdf_p60-38] Mean Machines Sega, "November 1994" (UK; 1994-09-30), page 60

[:File:NextGeneration_US_01.pdf_p105-39] Next Generation, "Premiere Issue 1995" (US; 1994-12-08), page 105

[:File:PlayerOne_FR_047.pdf_p128-40] Player One, "Novembre 1994" (FR; 1994-1x-xx), page 128

[:File:PlayTime_DE_1994-12.pdf_p102-41] Play Time, "12/94" (DE; 1994-11-09), page 102

[:File:SegaPower_UK_60.pdf_p53-42] Sega Power, "November 1994" (UK; 1994-09-29), page 53

[:File:SegaPro_UK_39.pdf_p70-43] Sega Pro, "December 1994" (UK; 1994-11-03), page 70

[44] Sega Mega Drive Review, "1" (RU; 1995-04-03), page 33

[:File:SSM_JP_19950901_1995-09.pdf_p85-45] Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 85

[:File:TodoSega_ES_22.pdf_p40-46] Todo Sega, "Enero 1995" (ES; 199x-xx-xx), page 40

[47] Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 11

[48] Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 201

[:File:VideoGames_DE_1994-10.pdf_p96-49] Video Games, "10/94" (DE; 1994-09-28), page 96

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@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 | md_code_kr=GM94017JT
 | md_date_de=1994
-| md_rrp_de=129,95{{fileref|MAN!AC DE 1995-02.pdf|page=15}}
+| md_rrp_de=129,95{{magref|maniac|1995-02|15}}
 }}
 | esrb=t

Difference between revisions of "Contra: Hard Corps"

From Sega Retro

Revision as of 13:36, 12 June 2019

Contents

Gameplay

Characters

Stages

History

Development

Legacy

Versions

Localised names

Production credits

Uncredited

Magazine articles

Promotional material

Physical scans

Technical information

ROM dump status

References