First of all I thank Nobuya Nakazato (producer of the contra series) for joining hands once again with Konami to create another Contra sequel...and as a result...the best Contra game ever made. For me, Contra: Shattered Soldier was the game of the year for the 2002. The classic action-arcade game reborn with better graphics, heavy metal theme-sound, and the classic awesome gameplay. The game is very Hard but NOT IMPOSSIBLE. Once you master the patterns of the gameplay in each level you'll be just fine. Once I've started playing contra, I just couldn't stop. Once again I thank Nobuya and Konami for making another excellent Contra game.