Neo Contra (PS2) - S-Rank No Death Run (100% Hit Rate)

Full 100% Hit Rate (S-Rank) No Death Run of Neo Contra (ネオコントラ, Neo Kontora), by Konami. This was played on a real Playstation 2 with the original disc, no emulators, cheats or hacks were used.

Stage Listing:
00:00 - Intro
03:53 - Game Start
04:04 - Mission 2
08:56 - Mission 3
13:54 - Mission 4
18:56 - Mission 1
24:05 - Mission 5
31:35 - Mission 6
35:02 - Mission 7 / Final Boss
36:45 - Ending + Credits
41:22 - S-Rank Special Ending
43:26 - Image Gallery

Neo Contra is the sequel to Contra: Shattered Soldier, and also marks the end of the series from a chronological standpoint, as the events in this game take place thousands of years after the previous games.

The story involves an insane AI called MASTER CONTRA, created in the likeness of the original Bill Rizer, trying to destroy the world. The Bill Rizer you play as is actually a clone of the original, who also somehow shows up as an old man in this game? Yeah, the plot is absolutely ridiculous and makes no sense but this isn't about story, it's about the gameplay, and on that front, Neo Contra delivers.

This time around we are taken into the 3rd dimension for the first time since the dreadful (?) PS1 games, but unlike those supposed disasters, this game actually looks and plays very well. Instead of playing on a 2D plane with 3D graphics, you now can move and attack fully in 3 directions, although only at certain angles. The game also prohibits you from changing the camera perspective, so Neo Contra is still not "true 3d".

You can select to play from multiple characters including Bill Rizer, Jaguar the samurai, and also a secret character (Lucia from Shattered Soldier). Each character can select between multiple weapon sets to use for the missions. The default weapon sets (A, B, C) are fairly well balanced and all offer interesting playstyles. The secret weapon sets (D, E, F), which are only unlocked after beating the game (or perhaps other criteria, I'm not really sure), are all extremely overpowered and basically turn the game into a joke. For that reason, I stick to using one of the default types (Type A).

Each weapon set has 2 switchable weapons and a 3rd "lock on" weapon which allows you to hit certain targets that are out of reach. You also have the ability to avoid attacks (temporary invincibility) with a spin move and also have a dash move that allows you to quickly roll away from enemies (although you can still be hurt).

Like in Shattered Soldier, which this game is clearly structured after, you can play any of the first 4 missions in any order, then you move onto mission 5 and 6 and 7 depending on your hit rate (ranking) in the previous missions. Also similar to Shattered Soldier, you receive a ranking for each mission based on the enemies destroyed and the number of times you've died or continued.

Fortunately for this game, the S-Rank (highest) has heavily relaxed requirements compared to Shattered Soldier, and now you only need a 98% hit rate instead of 100%. This translates to allowing you 2 deaths a mission (if you kill all the enemies) and you can still get the best ending.

I decided to go for a strict 100% hit rate with no deaths, which proved to be a lot more challenging than I was expecting based on this game's reputation. I'd argue it's harder to 100% this game than Shattered Soldier as long as you don't use type D or F, which are comically overpowered.

Neo Contra is a great entry in the series and does good on the promise to finally bring the game into 3D the proper way.