Konami and WayForward Technologies' Contra 4 brings so little to the Contra formula, now 20-years long in the tooth, that the game plays like a Super Nintendo-era release. And that's a good thing. I played through the first level of the Nintendo DS game at Konami's E3 2007 bungalow, running and gunning my way through the jungle themed throwback to the NES/Arcade original. How does it play? It's Contra. Pure, unfiltered, high-test Contra.

The addition of a grappling hook won't add much in the way of icky strategy to the successful formula, but it will keep things interesting. You'll want to keep high ground, paying attention to grapple opportunities. You'll need a keen eye and fast reflexes to dodge enemy fire and take advantage of the elevation. Raining spread beam fire or a double machine gun stream down upon hordes of robo-chumps makes your one-man assault a breeze compared to when down in the trenches.

While the first level wasn't on par difficulty-wise with something like Contra: Hard Corps or Contra: Shattered Soldier, few will accuse it of being too simple. It took me six attempts to learn the first levels patterns and play through with the appropriate level of dexterity and control familiarity, but I suspect actually finishing the whole thing will be for hardcore fans only.

Visually, the game looks solid, but at times a bit dry. It's still early and has no release date yet, but I'm hoping that the team at WayForward will find the time to add in some additional, series-appropriate visual effects.

As I said earlier, only the first side scrolling level was available for play at E3, but beyond those six standard run and gun segments, three behind-the back tunnel levels are promised.

At the point, Contra 4 seems to be coming along swimmingly. Control is tight, graphics are sharp and hardcore fan expectations are mostly met. Some odd collision detection curiosities aside and a lack of in-game music, Contra 4 is shaping up to be a surprisingly well-thought answer to Contra fans' years long questions.

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