Contra Operation Galuga - When the legendary soldiers finally returned to sidescroller action [ENG/ESP]
Published on HivePostify by @acstriker · Mon Jul 13 2026
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I'm suprised I didn't talk about this one before when I can tell you I have completed it with my brother last year or so, probably because around that time it must have been sandwiched between other co-op games and how I didn't record any footage to have handy for screenshots. But in any case, a shout out to Contra's return to form, even if the fanfare for it has died down since its release in 2024.
And by return to form, I mean it being a proper, side scrolling Contra game like the old ones, as the game before that, Contra Rogue Corps, seems to have been the unfortunate deviation from people's expectations, arguably not simply because it was a top down shooter (Neo Contra and some stages in old Contra games have done this) but also because it looked more like a game made for mobile rather than a full-budget Contra return people hoped for.
So on that metric, Contra Operation Galuga delivers more than what came before, but still ended up under the scrutiny of some old-school players due to certain design choices to be discussed. For what it is though, it does end up being decent fun at most, more so when it has co-op for up to 4 players, but it is reasonable to be skeptical when the base price for this is 40 dollars (at least if you're in the US - turns out this game has regional pricing for Latin America so it shows as 20 dollars on my store without a sale) when the content level-wise is still around the mark of older Contra titles that used to be sold for cheaper.
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Designed to look familiar but to play like something newer
Just like with Contra 4, the first stage you visit is a jungle with a familiar tune, down to the bridge-destroying bridges and the big laser walls from the NES Contra everyone knows. It could be seen as Contra's equivalent to Sonic's Green Hill or Star Fox's Corneria from SF64, and while I did expect the gameplay to be grounded like Contra 4 (which was WayFoward's first time doing a Contra game), this one seems to throw a few more things to make you stronger.
Unlike almost all previous Contra games, most playable characters here (yeah there's more than Bill and Lance now, although you need to play the Story Mode to unlock them, but those characters have unique weapon variants and abilities) will have access to a double jump, which ends up being quite the boost in mobility to have for what you'd expect, more so when everyone has the ability to dash as wel. You can opt to dash, jump/double jump and do another dash mid-air to keep your speed up.
As if that wasn't enough, as you play through either story mode (which saves between levels and lets you choose between them anytime), you'll be able to get credits to buy upgardes at the shop, usable in Story and even Arcade mode (classic "go through everything without saving"). Things like getting more hit points, starting with upgraded weapons, having a powerup weapon as default in one of your slots...
...Oh, yeah, there's hit points now - although you can also opt to turn them off entirely before starting a Story Mode save or an Arcade Mode run if you want to feel the danger in every bullet old school style.
The rest are the usual Contra basics: Run, shoot, jump, crouch, hanging from (specific ceilings)...the double weapon system and upgrading them also returns as well. If you've played any of the Contra games before, you'll know that the gameplay will be what you expect, only with a new coat of paint. And on the note of presentation...
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A presentation that may be hit or miss for some
If there's two things that some people have been mixed on with first impressions of this game, it would be how it looks and how it sounds. The graphics are decent (although I heard it runs at 30fps on Switch) but whether you grow up to them or feel like they stick out like "your favorite retro game remade in 3D" is up to opinion.
And while I don't have a strong opinion on that, the music is probably what feels a bit...underwhelming for expectations? It's not to say that it's poorly made or directed, but I guess its a surprise that Operation Galuga goes for something that would sound straight from an action movie with the orchestral sound, compared to the more energetic stuff in...most other Contra games overall.
There is technically a way to get something more "fitting" by buying the soundtrack options on the in-game powerup shop, but there's two issues with that: You will only be able to likely afford one or two of these after a full playthrough...and these get enabled only after you do one anyways. And on top of that, it seems they only have any effect in Arcade and Challenge Mode, so you won't be able to use your soundtrack replacement on a story mode revisit.
On the note of soundtrack replacements, there's a NES Contra music mode (of course), a Castlevania music mode, a brand new Retro Remix mode which remixes past Contra songs for the game (which could have been nice to have as a starting option or at least unlock without spending credits on completion), and my favorite due to personal bias, the Contra 4 music mode (dubbed "WayFoward music" in this game because that was also by WayFoward).
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Some high highs, some low lows
There's two autoscroller stages that go on for quite a while that can be understandably a nuisance to have to play through start to end in every playthrough when one of them (Stage 2) doesn't switch up enviroments that much as you keep playing through it. While some Contra games might have had "autoscroller" sections where you are playing against waves until the stage lets you progress, the fact that the second stage's is so long feels like its padding the runtime a notch while not offering the variety some alternate gameplay stages in Contra games did, like the base stages of Contra 1/4 and the top down stages of Super C and Contra 3.
At least there's something fairly nice that WayFoward kept from Contra 4: Challenges. Speedrun challenges are getting to the end without dying under the time limit as you'd expect, but here they have a bit more sauce considering your new dash ability. Pacifist challenges are what it sounds like, and just like in Contra 4, they will take advantage of your lack of firepower to throw you some annoying enemies to dodge without the ability to take them out.
And as mentioned earlier, it is rife for co-op shenianigans, even for a casual group of players thanks to the power-up slots and hit points, although if you fancy doing a two-man old-school excursion against the entire game NES Contra style, then you can do that without usin the perk slots in arcade mode. Although you'd still need a previous story mode run to open up the extra characters, music options, powerup perks, and most notably of all, people to play with locally or through Steam Remote Play/Parsec, as it includes no native online functionality.
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Conclusion
Despite being a Contra game available in modern platforms and released some years ago, it might be a bit telling of the unfortunate passage of time that it only seems to be really highlighted by players who are already familiar with Contra games - being much more well received than Rogue Corps but still far away from the years of legendary reputation the franchise had in the 90s. But I'd say its still very much worth a shot if you find this game on sale if you enjoyed other Contra games.
And I say on sale because honestly 40 dollars for what is still roughly around an hour or so of gameplay on a single (succesful) run content-wise is tough to justify, more so now that it isn't "fresh out of the oven" like it was at launch.
It's still a shame that titles like Contra 4 (stuck on DS), Contra Rebirth (stuck on Wii's closed virtual shop) and Hard Corps Uprising (stuck on PS3/X360 - only one you can still buy if you have a Xbox One or Series X) haven't seen re-releases, but at least it is nice that this game exists to fill the gap for the moment, even if it ends up being the last Contra game for the foreseaable future.
Even if it might not seem like it reaches the peaks of older games to some players, at worst it is decently serviceable and with ways for casual players to ease in, while at best it is honest good ol' Contra action as some have hoped for years and is still a great time in co-op, as I can attest from that first playthrough last year in co-op being a blast - although I'm curious how an Arcade Mode run would go if we tried it again for real.
Thanks for reading, and see you next time.
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Spanish translation with [DeepL](https://www.deepl.com/translator). All screenshots were captured by myself.
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Español
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Me sorprende no haber hablado de este juego antes, cuando te puedo decir que lo terminé con mi hermano hace más o menos un año; probablemente porque en esa época debió de quedar entre otros juegos cooperativos y porque no grabé ningún video para tener imágenes a la mano. Pero, en cualquier caso, quiero felicitar el regreso de Contra a su mejor forma, aunque el revuelo en torno a él se haya apagado desde su lanzamiento en 2024.
Y por “regreso a su mejor forma” me refiero a que es un juego de Contra de desplazamiento lateral como los de antes, ya que el título anterior, Contra Rogue Corps, parece haber sido una desafortunada desviación de las expectativas de la gente; podría decirse que no solo porque era un shooter con vista desde arriba (Neo Contra y algunas etapas de los viejos juegos de Contra ya lo habían hecho), sino también porque se veía más como un juego hecho para dispositivos móviles que como el regreso de Contra con un presupuesto completo que la gente esperaba.
Así que, en ese sentido, Contra Operation Galuga ofrece más que lo que vino antes, pero aun así terminó bajo el escrutinio de algunos jugadores de la vieja escuela debido a ciertas decisiones de diseño que se discutirán más adelante. Sin embargo, por lo que es, termina siendo, como mucho, bastante divertido, más aún cuando cuenta con modo cooperativo para hasta 4 jugadores, pero es razonable mostrarse escéptico cuando el precio base es de 40 dólares (al menos si estás en EE. UU.; resulta que este juego tiene precios regionales para América Latina, por lo que en mi tienda aparece a 20 dólares sin estar en oferta) cuando, en cuanto al contenido, sigue estando al nivel de títulos más antiguos de Contra que solían venderse por menos.
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Diseñado para verse familiar, pero para jugarse como algo más nuevo
Al igual que en Contra 4, el primer nivel al que llegas es una selva con una melodía familiar, incluyendo los puentes que se destruyen y las grandes paredes de láser del Contra de NES que todos conocen. Podría considerarse el equivalente en Contra a Green Hill de Sonic o a Corneria de Star Fox en SF64, y aunque esperaba que la jugabilidad fuera tan sencilla como en Contra 4 (que fue la primera vez que WayForward desarrolló un juego de Contra), este parece ofrecer algunas cosas más para hacerte más fuerte.
A diferencia de casi todos los juegos anteriores de Contra, la mayoría de los personajes jugables aquí (sí, ahora hay más que Bill y Lance, aunque debes jugar el modo Historia para desbloquearlos; sin embargo, esos personajes tienen variantes de armas y habilidades únicas) tendrán acceso a un doble salto, lo cual termina siendo un gran impulso a la movilidad, más de lo que cabría esperar, sobre todo cuando todos tienen la capacidad de correr rápidamente también. Puedes optar por correr, saltar o dar un doble salto y volver a correr en el aire para mantener tu velocidad.
Por si eso no fuera suficiente, a medida que avanzas en cualquiera de los modos de historia (que guardan entre niveles y te permiten elegir entre ellos en cualquier momento), podrás obtener créditos para comprar mejoras en la tienda, que se pueden usar tanto en el modo Historia como en el modo Arcade (el clásico «atravesar todo sin guardar»). Cosas como obtener más puntos de vida, comenzar con armas mejoradas, tener un arma potenciada como predeterminada en una de tus ranuras...
...Ah, sí, ahora hay puntos de vida, aunque también puedes optar por desactivarlos por completo antes de comenzar una partida guardada en el modo Historia o una partida en el modo Arcade si quieres sentir el peligro de cada bala al estilo de la vieja escuela.
El resto son los elementos básicos habituales de Contra: correr, disparar, saltar, agacharse, colgarse de (techos específicos)... También regresa el sistema de armas dobles y sus mejoras. Si ya has jugado alguno de los juegos de Contra, sabrás que la jugabilidad será la que esperas, solo que con un nuevo aspecto. Y hablando de la presentación...
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Una presentación que puede gustar o no a algunos
Si hay dos cosas sobre las que algunas personas han tenido opiniones encontradas en sus primeras impresiones de este juego, serían su aspecto y su sonido. Los gráficos son decentes (aunque he oído que corre a 30 fps en Switch), pero si te acostumbras a ellos o sientes que se notan demasiado, como si fuera «tu juego retro favorito rehecho en 3D», depende de cada uno.
Y aunque no tengo una opinión muy definida al respecto, la música es probablemente lo que resulta un poco... ¿decepcionante para lo que uno espera? No es que esté mal hecha o dirigida, pero supongo que sorprende que Operation Galuga opte por algo que suena como sacado directamente de una película de acción con sonido orquestal, en comparación con las melodías más enérgicas de... la mayoría de los otros juegos de Contra en general.
Tags: #gaming#hivegc#contra#operationgaluga#steam#wayfoward#spanish#platformer