Back in the 'Old-Is-Cool' game of March I talked about Sunset Riders, the Old-West-Contra released by Konami for the SNES. Now I'll talk about a real Contra game that for some reason didn't become the official 3rd episode in the series (but it should): Operation C for the Game Boy.

. .

Operation C is a great game simply because it runs smooth.

I say that because there was a known problem on GB: the system couldn't handle big sprites very well. So the games that run faster have tiny, hard-to-see sprites (look at older games, like Super Mario Land or Batman); but games with big sprites run slower (look at one of my favorite GB games, Gargoyle's Quest or the first two games in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series).

Konami has realized that and started looking for balance in the sprites' size. The problem is perfectly solved in TMNT III (1993), but Operation C (1991) works pretty fine already.

The game itself is a little bit easier than other installments of the series especially because of the "H" Gun's advent, which bullets seek the enemies - you'll stay alive the much you can survive with this weapon in your hands. And fights with whole-screen-bosses are still there and kicking.

. .

Operation C is a game that remains a little bit obscure maybe because people can't associate its name to the Contra series. Some may say that it isn't even called Contra to be counted in; but it follows Super C for the NES, that is considered the 2nd episode. Aside that all that alien stuff we saw later in Contra III - Alien Wars for the SNES starts here. So I really don't get why this is not the 3rd episode in the series.

GAME OF THE MONTH: OPERATION C (GAME BOY, 1991)

As a musician I was always influenced by game music. Mario, Zelda, Castlevania, Ninja Gaiden, Megaman, ActRaiser, and many other series made me learn a lot and I felt from the beginning that real music was there, not only beep-beep-beeps (the games used to sound this way at the time).

Now I'm working a little with soundtracks composition, and I started wandering 'why not to make some game music'. And I did a little piece in tribute to James Banana (Kinuyo Y. for real), who was the composer of the astounding first Castlevania's soundtrack, back in 1986. And I sent it to her at Japan. And she liked it! And she gave me some encouragement.

Maybe I'll try to get at job at Ubisoft since they just opened an office in Sao Paulo...

Listen to the pieces here.

Licensed soundtracks are a common feature in the modern games and even Gamespot's annual "Best of" gives a technical prize for good selections. But 15 years ago it was really, really rare since the games couldn't handle voices' recordings very well.

Because of this I've picked on a game for this month that was the first one I've played with a licensed soundtrack on it; and it did really well avoiding the technical problems at that time.

It was Rock 'N Roll Racing, for the SNES.

The game sends you into an interplanetary racing competition where you must not only run fast but also destroy your enemies with missiles, mines or even by hammering them against the circuits' borders. The environments get harsher as you move from planet to planet in each season, but you'll be able to buy tougher cars with tougher equipment as you advance.

Interplay (a former PC game producer) has developed RRR based upon theirs 2-year-older RPM Racing (a terrible game IMO) by using its biased camera angle, and it brought a good amount of personality to it; and is funny to see some traces left by that old experience they had in PC games, as the secret playable character Olaf (from the old-school PC's The Lost Vikings) or in the use of a screensaver in the game - never saw it before in consoles.

But talking about the most important thing here - the soundtrack - I can say it's amazing. The selection is short, but well made: Paranoid (Black Sabbath) Bad to the Bone (George Thorogood), Born to be Wild (Steppenwolf), the astounding Highway Star (Deep Purple) and another 70's I can't remember the name now (sorry).

It's interesting that the solution found was to make instrumental versions of the songs (but with guitars and drums really sounding as they should) and to fulfill the void with the excellent voice of Larry, the speaker.

In the end the entire thing works pretty fine and the game is a must-play for rock 'n roll fans and for those who like to see explosions in the screen.

GAME OF THE MONTH: ROCK 'N ROLL RACING (SNES, 1993)