Desert Storm, also known as Desert Storm: Nightmare Snaps Soul, is a Contra clone similar to Super Contra 7, made by Waixing in 1996. It was originally released for the NES/Famicom as a single cart, but it would also later be featured on some Subor famiclones[citation needed].
Overview[]
_(Unl)-1.png){kind=link}
The gameplay is quite similar to other Contra games. The player controls a man who must shoot their way past enemies and bosses. The game has 4 stages that are each divided into 2 sections, with levels 1, 2 and 4 having a boss fight in-between. The game also features an options menu letting the player adjust the difficulty and the number of lives they start with (if the player selects 0, they will automatically get a Game Over). Notably, the progress screen features a menu for continuing the game, but the player automatically continues on their last stage when starting another game. Some graphics are lifted from Super Contra 7, and possibly from other Contra games, as well as from another Konami game, Rush 'n Attack.
Weapons and powerups[]
The game features four different powerups: Machine Gun (L), Laser Gun (F), Barrier (B) and Spread Gun (S), which is the default gun. Of note is that the letters for the Machine Gun and the Laser Gun are incorrectly assigned in the game. Every weapon has unique characteristics: the Machine Gun functions virtually the same as in Contra or Super C, the Spread Gun is much less powerful but is semi-automatic, whereas the Laser Gun works more alike to the Machine Gun, with small bundles of lasers firing in succession but having a much shorter range than the Machine Gun. In return, it has the highest damage output of all weapons.
Stages[]
As mentioned before, the game features four stages with certain gimmicks unique to this bootleg. Each stage is split into two distinctive parts.
- Stage 1 is set on a moving train transposed on a mountainous background. The player faces off against soldiers, both running on foot and standing back, some are situated in-between the carriages and throw grenades. Attack planes appear at times. The first part of the level ends with the train entering a tunnel, whereafter the player face the mid-boss, a tank. The second portion of the level is shorter and introduces grabbing onto ledges, in a similar fashion to Contra III - to hold on a ledge, hold the fire button while jumping towards it. After climbing up a few chains, the player will be met by the main boss of the level, a robotic pterodactyls.
- Stage 2 is set in a sunset setting on a bridge, where except for soldiers the player will be met by alien spacecraft and small flying aliens (which oddly resemble Pac-Man) emerging from pits. From here on, the game tends to slow down due to an immense amount of sprites displayed. Halfway through this section, the player will battle a mid-boss, a huge alien spaceship alike to the first boss of Super Contra 7. After dealing with it, the player will be able to traverse a section in the clouds, requiring the player to do some parkour-esque jumps, until having to jump into a planet. The main boss of the level is a big purple eye that drops purple acid drops on the player.
- Stage 3 appears to be a desolated, industrious city, filled with enemy soldiers and machinery. Most of the enemies are the same as in the first stage. Curiously enough, there is only one boss in this level, being a large skull that throws various devilish fiery creatures at the player.
- Stage 4 is an alien lair filled with skulls, acid drops and purple versions of regular foot soldiers. Halfway through this section the player will encounter red mosquitos as well. The midway boss is a skull alike to the prior Stage 3 boss, this time positioned underneath the player's reach and dispatching mosquitos. The next section is more demanding, requiring the player to either jump from chain to chain, or control a turtle-esque creature that constantly moves through the lava at the bottom. It can be slowed down by shooting it. Upon reaching the end of this section and jumping into the pit, the player will encounter the final boss of the game - a horrifying alien creature that secretes small snakes from its belly button. Additionally, its two hands detach as the player fight the boss and attempt to kill the player. Upon defeating this boss, the player will be finally awarded with the credits.
Trivia[]
- The original NES/Famicom version of this game has an intro screen with Waixing's Chinese company name featuring an early variant of their "milky way" logo. This would be removed in subsequent versions.
- In the initial version, the trains featured swastika symbols on a red background, but in later versions it was replaced with a sun-like symbol.
- This game was rereleased on several plug and plays, along with a VT03 version of the game.
- The copyright number on the post-1996 releases reads "960419". This means it was possibly released after Super Fight I, which has a copyright number of "960418".
- The first miniboss of the second stage resembles Super Contra 7's first boss. There are also minor enemies flying around the level that resemble small variants of these bosses.
Gallery[]
