Review #810: Blazing Chrome

 Part Contra, part Metal Slug, all metal.

 Believe it or not, I actually kinda like Contra, even though the only games I owned were Contra Force(I know), Alien Wars on the Gameboy and Shattered Soldier. That said, I'm always up for some Metal Slug. Blazing Chrome borrows a little from Metal Slug and a lot from Contra to produce an original 2-D shooter for a modern audience ironically borrowing very '80s aesthetics.

 At the beginning of the game you can only pick between Doyle, a robot punk, and Mavra, a human soldier, who must then go through 6 stages to fight the invading aliens. The first four stages can be played in any order, while the last two must be played one after the other. The game took me little less than an hour to complete on the Easy setting, which is a bit short but is just fine for a game like this, lasts just enough not to get boring. Beating the game unlocks a Boss Rush(Who plays those anymore?), Mirror mode(Move left to right instead of right to left) and Raijin and Suhaila as playable characters, which is a fair amount of extras. If you are braver and better than me, you can finish the game on Normal an unlock Hardcore difficulty.  It's a nice assortment of extras, and the fact that there's an easy mode so that terribads like me can brute force their way through the game is pretty nice. The game can also be played with another player in tow.

 Doyle and Mavra play exactly like you'd expect, being able to jump and shoot their infinite ammo assault rifles, as well as lay down into a prone position and roll from it(By pressing Jump while crouching). Tapping the shoot button next to an enemy will produce a melee attack, just like in Metal Slug. Lastly, you can hold down the R button to root yourself where you stand so that you can aim anywhere without moving. One touch is one death in this game, so learning how to deal with the enemies coming your way is paramount to your victory. To help you achieve that you can arm both heroes with more powerful weaponry: The Laser whip that deals a constant amount of damage as it hits enemies, a Grenade gun that's very slow but deals a ton of damage and the Laser gun that can be charged for more powerful shots. Once you get a weapon its yours to keep and switch between the others, but if you die while you have one of these optional weapons equipped...it's gone until you find it again. You'll also lose your weapons when you use a Continue. There's another type of power up: The bot. They are little assist drones that either speed you up, grant you two extra hits or grant you more speed.

 That's all fine and dandy... until you unlock Raijin and Suhaila, because these two offer a completely different playstyle. Instead of a basic, unlimited assault rifle they get short range sword/arm slices, and they can't equip other weapons.... but they can charge up their basic attack into a powerful, piercing wave that goes through every enemy in its path. They also get an aerial dash. They have their own benefits and drawbacks when compared to the original two characters, but having characters that play so unlike the others is a pretty great bonus.

 The stages themselves offer a nice amount of variety. Besides the usual run and gun you also get Contra inspired bike segments, as well as the occasional armored mechs you can pilot, which are a bit more Megaman X than Metal Slug to be honest. A few times I wished the game tried being a bit more original with the things it did, but at least what it did it did well, and considering the official Contra game we received was so lackluster.... I'll gladly take a great homage.

 Blazing Chrome is a great option for anyone that enjoys these 2-D run and gun games. It lasts as long as it should and the extras are a nice cherry on top. The Switch version of the game is lacking a few effects, like the bullet casings dropping from your gun, but it plays quite well. I read that the fifth stage had some slowdown but either I didn't notice it or it got fixed for the limited physical release. Regardless, I'm sure a little slowdown isn't enough to dampen this fantastic game.
 8.0 out of 10