Created by a small dev team and published by Drageus Games, Super Cyborg doesn’t just have Contra inspiration, this is basically a brand new 8-bit style Contra game from how closely the gameplay and visual style mimics Konami’s classic shooter.

From the summersault flip jumps and one-hit kills, to the spread gun and large bosses, to the challenging difficulty and limited lives, this IS a new Contra game. So much so that I am sort of surprised that Konami didn’t submit some type of a cease and desist letter.  This is fine by me because who doesn’t like a good Contra or Contra-clone anyway?

Playing as a cyborg, it is your job to reach the other side of the level, shooting bad guys that come your way, avoid hazards and pitfalls, and take down challenging bosses that require pattern recognition. Keeping action at the forefront, you’ll need to stay vigilant if you want to survive the moment-to-moment gameplay.  Three lives are all you get to complete each stage otherwise you’ll need to do it all over again. Thankfully, there is a save system so you can continue at the last level instead of restarting at the very beginning of the game. Local co-op is also available if you wanted to tackle the campaign together.  The other player can even steal a life from the remaining player if there is an extra in stock in true late 80s fashion. 

If you watch my stream embedded here, you’ll quickly take note of the challenging difficulty.  Sometimes there are moment of cheese, like when an enemy will just fall on your head without warning, but it isn’t anything a little tenacity and trial-and-error cannot fix.  With each death, I knew I could play better and it is only a matter of time before the end credit roll.  Taking it one step ahead of Contra, the player is given the ability to alter the color of your playable robot soldier.  Sure, it is only cosmetic but I made my dude look like a leaner Master Chief, outfitted with green armor, which is a nice little touch.

Simply put, if you enjoy classic Contra, you’ll enjoy Super Cyborg.  Watching my stream is a good demonstration of gameplay but playing it for yourself can momentarily warp you to an alternate 1988, where you have memories of playing the original NES Contra in your cousin’s basement during that one birthday party. 

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By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com

Twitter: @ZackGaz

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