{"id":150059,"date":"2019-07-18T01:13:17","date_gmt":"2019-07-17T17:13:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.geek.com\/featured\/-1796121\/"},"modified":"2019-07-18T01:13:17","modified_gmt":"2019-07-17T17:13:17","slug":"review-blazing-chrome-is-the-best-contra-game-in-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/test\/wordpress\/2019\/07\/18\/review-blazing-chrome-is-the-best-contra-game-in-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: \u2018Blazing Chrome\u2019 Is the Best \u2018Contra\u2019 Game in Years"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Blazing Chrome<\/em> doesn\u2019t hide what it is: A love letter to Contra<\/em>. The game is essentially a spiritual sequel to the class<\/a>ic Contra III: The Alien Wars<\/em>. You can see this as a positive or a negative. If you love class<\/a>ic side-scrolling shoot \u2018em ups then you\u2019ll appreciate a title that pays homage to the genre. Conversely, if you\u2019ve played these games to death back in the day, you may not desire to retread old ground. No matter one\u2019s opinion on retro-style titles, it is difficult to deny Blazing Chrome<\/em> captures the spirit of the games it emulates. And to me, it\u2019s also really freakin\u2019 cool.<\/p>\n

In true \u201990s fashion, Blazing Chrome<\/em> takes place in a post-apocalyptic future dominated by killer robots. You play as one of two heroes who blast their way through a gauntlet of enemy-infested levels. Like Contra<\/em>, you\u2019ll find power-ups that give your weapons different attributes. Shock beams, flame throwers, and grenade launchers do a nice job of dispersing the murderous hordes. Some power-ups give you shields, which come in handy given Blazing Chrome<\/em>\u2019s high difficulty. This is a title that puts your reflexes to the test, especially if you play on Hardcore difficulty.<\/p>\n

Blazing Chrome<\/em> is challenging yet merciful. Each level has checkpoints. If you run out of lives and continues, you\u2019ll return to the previous checkpoint. Even if you die on a boss, you\u2019ll only have to redo the section directly before it. This is perfect for players who may love old-school games but don\u2019t have the patience to restart entire levels every time they die. But if you want a pure retro experience, you can always play on Hardcore where you only get 3 lives and have to restart from the beginning when you run out.<\/p>\n

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From the start, you can select one of four stages. Each one presents its own challenges. Some focus on platforming while others on environmental hazards. The most unique stage has you riding across the land on a hoverbike. Think of the speeder bike section of Battletoads<\/em>, only far more forgiving. You unlock two extra levels upon completing the four main ones. These final stages provide the biggest challenges and end Blazing Chrome<\/em> in glorious fashion.<\/p>\n

Completing the game also unlocks two characters. Unlike the two main characters, these warriors use melee weapons exclusively and have the ability to air-dash. Their method of attack radically changes how you play Blazing Chrome<\/em>. It feels a lot like another class<\/a>ic \u201890s game: Strider<\/em>. Melee weapons force you to confront enemies directly. This is dangerous considering how quickly they can kill you. With that said, the challenge of using these two characters is enticing and adds variety to combat.<\/p>\n

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Besides the new characters, you unlock mirror mode after completing the campaign. As the name suggests, you play a mirror version of each level. This is perfect for those who memorized the main levels and want to squeeze a little more out of the game.<\/p>\n

Blazing Chrome<\/em>\u2019s presentation is as retro as its gameplay. The graphics, music, and sound effects evoke the 16-bit era. Well, almost. Despite the pixelated nature of the graphics, they are far more advanced than anything the Super Nintendo could produce. But they look retro enough to fool anyone into thinking this is a long-lost SNES game. A number of filter options make the graphics look more era-appropriate. Blazing Chrome<\/em>\u2019s default graphical setting is great, but the CRT filters make it feel like you\u2019re playing it on an arcade or TV screen. You can even smooth out the graphics if you desire. I\u2019m on the side of the fence that prefers CRT filters in pixel games so I appreciated this option.<\/p>\n