Come to NA soon please

By -K-

Honestly, I use that sprite more than any other in Contra 4. I was just curious, especially because I've heard of games being delayed for things as minor as a sprite change. I have to agree, I would prefer a character like Kunio rather than Alex. Hell, I'm bothered by stuff like the fact that Lezard's purpley pentagram was changed in the PS1 US version of Valkyrie Profile, and then changed back for the PSP version.

By Big=Sexy

Millions Corporation owns all the Technos licenses. They released a bunch of Kunio compilations for the GBA a couple years ago.

Speaking of which, with all the complaints about games being changed for Europe, how come I'm not seeing a single complaint about how the awesomely designed Kunio got changed into that lame, generic Alex guy?
"This is the way I remember the game from my childhood, so it's the way it should be. PS: Poor Europeans, why did they get those silly Probotector robots instead of the cool Rambo guys from Contra?"

By Adamant

@Big=Sexy

Well, it's known that Germany has very strict laws concerning blood and violence in videogames (google germany and videogames), especially in regards to its "Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Schriften" index. This has meant that some games have suffered changes in the past to allow them to follow these laws and not to end up being banned there, unfortunately in the case of some past games – contra – this modified version is also what the rest of Europe gets (regardless of the fact that our - the rest of Europe - laws are less strict).

Note that this is different and separate from Nintendo’s own censorship of certain games in order to promote their "family friendly" image back in the Eighties and early Nineties.

By starlac

By Viral

By Airola

I always thought it was really weird for Konami to go out of their way to change the sprites of the player characters completely just for Contra/Probotector, too. I mean, it was common to see that in the '80s, but Konami kept it up during the 16bit era - Alien Wars, Hard Corps and so on. What compelled them to do that, I wonder? At any rate, at least they had the common sense to know that making brand new 3d models for the PS2 version would just be bad for everyone involved.

It saddens me to hear that Technos died, but at least the rights to their games was bought by people who previously worked at Technos. Kinda similar to the whole SNK deal, right? I mean, with less crappy pachinko games.

By Big=Sexy

Maybe so, but really, very few Europeans who don't know Street Gangs and RCR are the same know RCR by anything other than the name. Unless they downloaded the rom, that is, but eh - Europeans who don't know that Street Gangs = RCR don't strike me as willing to download "RCR" on the VC either.

"@Starwolf - the NES Contra was called Gryzor in the UK, wasn't it?"

Nope. It was always Probotector.

By Adamant

By The_Indigo_Effect

By MaxK

By gardawg62

By Serpent

Psychosis is meh. I don't understand why, out of all the amazing shmups the TG16 had, they had to add this one. If it's the one I'm thinking of, the only thing noteworthy about it was that it had a "tv snow" screen transition. I'm still waiting for my Aero Blasters.

By Big=Sexy

By Bass X0

By Boredom v2.2

It's sad that game didn't make it to Europe, but if I had to take a guess it'd be because it sold so poorly in the US. Sad, too, because it has a substantial amount of improvements to it - like getting flunkies and an improved & extended moveset.

@Starwolf - the NES Contra was called Gryzor in the UK, wasn't it? It also didn't have the over-the-top name changes like the US did (hay guys, this dude Bill? He's MAD DOG NAO AWESUM) If I recall, it wasn't called Probotector until some of the later iterations, and then was later renamed to Contra for the PS2 outings.

But anywho, anyone knows who currently holds the license for RCR/SG? I know Atlus published the GBA version, but I believe Technos still owns the rights to it - assuming they still exist. It'd be nice to see this game get a console update as opposed to it being released to VC and then never heard from again.

Edit - Also, this is my first post. HI EVERYBODY!

By Big=Sexy

Kirby 64™: The Crystal Shards: (Nintendo 64®, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone, 1,000 Wii Points): Kirby’s first 3-D adventure is also his Nintendo 64 debut, and it finds the always-versatile hero battling a new enemy called Dark Matter. Dark Matter is after a distant land’s powerful crystal, but a young fairy named Ribbon attempts to save it by escaping with the gem to Dream Land. Now the crystal has been broken, and it’s scattered around the world. Take control of Kirby and help him journey across six worlds, battling a wide variety of enemies and challenging bosses, as he tries to collect all 100 pieces of the shattered crystal. Along the way, you’ll use Kirby’s trademark copying ability to use enemies’ strengths against them. Not only that, but try combining any two abilities to create a brand-new one that is usually stronger than the original. Throw in three exciting multiplayer minigames, and you’ve got a package of which even King Dedede would be proud. Fans of Kirby and action games with bright, colorful graphics should vacuum this one up.

Psychosis: (TurboGrafx16, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone – Mild Fantasy Violence, 600 Wii Points): This is a side-scrolling shooter played in a world created from the mind of a twisted demon. Your soul has suddenly wandered into that evil world that exists in every person’s heart. The only way out is to blast your way past the grotesque creatures that block your path in five “causes” (stages). You must face the dangers of this psychedelic world by making full use of three shot types and the satellite option. With power-ups, you can change your shots to a wide-coverage beam, a satellite-generated laser and more. Each shot type can be powered up to three levels. You can also block enemy fire by rotating the satellites to a desired position. How you use these features will be the key to successfully escaping this strange and surreal world.

By Bass X0

By Bass X0

Its kind of like these days when people talk about emulating Contra I go, Euorpe never got Contra we got Probotector and they look at you with a blank stare.

By Starwolf_UK

By que