The first series of 3D consoles was an interesting time in video game history. Developers wanted to modernize their franchises by adding a third dimension into the gameplay. The results were a mixed bag at best. On the great end you have Super Mario 64. On the shittier end you have Castlevania 64 (from what I've heard. I plan to play it down the road). I would place this Contra game in the middle. Very mediocre but has some interesting concepts (even if half-baked).

This is a combination of a 2.5D scroller and third person shooter/action game. The third person sections (which take up most of the game) are janky AF. It controls kind of similar to Doom, but the level design doesn't seem well suited to the control scheme unlike Doom. There is a lot of vertical space and platforming, which makes sense given those elements are in the first two Contra games. Unfortunately though, the control scheme is horrid for this style of gameplay and unlike Mario 64, the camera angle isn't conducive to giving you depth of field which makes accurate platforming even more challenging. A small decision to add a circular shadow to Mario drastically improved it's platforming. The lack of one in this game certainly doesn't help.

Aiming is mostly automatic, again like Doom. You are able to aim up and down using L1 and L2 which is as awkward as it sounds. Honestly, if this game supported dual-stick control, like what eventually became the standard for all FPS for good reason, I think more people would have appreciated it for what it was. I respect the amount of departure and attempt at innovation for this game, though it mostly misses the mark.

The graphics don't help it's cause. While I expect pretty shitty graphics from any PS1 game, there are plenty of examples of games that still look good and embrace a style over realism. A great example would be SOTN. Here the environments boil down to metallic industrial designs or generic underground tunnels. The lack of environmental variety and lack of music really bring the experience down.

While the game is challenging, the moment to moment gameplay is mostly tough but fair. You can avoid all damage, but realistically you won't. A baffling decision made by the designers was to cause game over to push you back to the title screen, thus erasing all your progress and forcing you to start over. There is a cheat code for unlimited lives which I recommend using for the harsh game over punishment and the absurdly long early levels. I really have no idea why they made the first level as long as they did.

If I were to speculate, I think the reason why most contemporaneous reviewers for the game destroyed it (in terms of ratings), is probably because they never beat the first level. While I don't think any individual section of the first level is unfair, it becomes unfair with the fact that you have to beat the entire gauntlet without getting a game over. Then you are stuck with however many lives you have left to beat the rest of the game... which feels unfair. There are "one-up" power ups but they are pretty rare.

I actually like most of the bosses in the game. None are great but most are pretty decent and interesting. The final bosses are pretty disappointing though. They pale in comparison to the final level in Contra 1 which is a damn shame.

Overall, I don't think this game is as terrible as reviews make it out to be, but it certainly mediocre at best. Some of the bosses and concepts are interesting even if half-baked at best. The number of lives and what happens when you get a game over feels unfair and probably led plenty of people to being stuck on the first level. Can't say you are missing out. The lack of variety in levels and music also significantly bring the experience down. I don't regret beating the game, but I doubt I will ever play it again.