Download Contra: Hard Corps Enhancement Hack ROM Hack

Don’t think this is gonna be a 100% Gold Remake, it’ll have its differences. Extra battles (some’ll be optionals, tough but rewarding), Hoenn Pokemon (in every area, and hard to find) New areas, Remapped some dungeons (so your old guides wont work) , Extra recurring characters (some’ll hate you, some’ll help you)

Note that the hack is incomplete but feel free to enjoy the hack as-is.

Contra: Hard Corps Enhancement Hack History ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 080924 Initial release 120527 Special Champion Edition release Overview ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a patch for the Genesis game "Contra: Hard Corps" which makes numerous minor enhancements. It started out as a simple hack to permit the user to skip the mission briefings, which get annoying when one has played the game dozens of times. Since that hack was implemented by manipulating the text-printing state machine, it eventually led to a full script replacement to enhance and correct the original. Quite a few other minor fixes/enhancements were added as well. See the complete list of changes in this file for details. As far as the script corrections go, this patch should take care of the agreement-in-number problems and also improves the phrasing here and there. Some minor errors were also fixed, such as the misspelling of "Noiman". Applying the Patch ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hopefully included with this document is a patch file in the IPS format. You can use any program that supports that file format to apply this patch to your ROM file. Remember to use the USA version of the game; other editions will not work. Playing the Game ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once you've patched the ROM file, simply load it up in your favorite Genesis / Mega Drive emulator, console copier, or flash cartridge. You can perform a soft reset by pressing A, B, C, and Start any time after the game has finished initializing (once it starts displaying graphics). Holding down B & C will allow you to skip through text faster. You can toggle the in-game font by holding down A & C for at least one full second any time after the game has initialized. This won't take effect until the next time the font is loaded, so you won't see an immediate difference if you enter this code while text is printing. Enter the code again to switch back to the other font. A sound effect will play whenever the swap occurs. Another new feature is the ability to select the same character in two-player games. This changes the gameplay and destroys an element of realism, which Konami probably would not have approved of. Therefore it must be activated at the title screen by entering a code: the already overused Konami Code. (*) You will hear a sound effect if you entered it correctly. Note that the above assumes you are using the default button configuration. Another caveat is that soft reset doesn't work as well in some emulators. As a result, it may end up doing a full reset, wasting several seconds of your life. Soft reset works properly on a real Genesis. (*) Konami Code: Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A Q & A ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: This patch doesn't work! What do I do? A: Make sure that your ROM file is not in an interleaved format. It's also possible that you are using the wrong version of the game, or that your copy is corrupt. Q: It doesn't work with my copier / flash cartridge! Why not? This was tested on a real Genesis so you shouldn't have any problems in that respect. The most likely reason is that something went wrong during the patching process. See the previous question and try it in an emulator to see if that works. Another possibility is that you are using a PAL Mega Drive. This game was designed for NTSC systems and I didn't make any changes in that respect. It should still run (probably at the wrong speed), but you never know... Q: How do I activate the new "Special Champion Edition" feature? A: Enter the Konami Code at the title screen. Either controller will work. Both players will then be able to select the same character. Q: What is the Konami Code? A: Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A. Q: Is this game subtitled "Hardcorps" or "Hard Corps"? A: Well, first let's look at some data: USA credits: HARD / CORPS USA ROM header: ZA*HAADOKOA & HARDCORPS USA music test: THE HARD CORPS (2x) USA title screen: HARD / CORPS USA copyright screen: HARDCORPS USA cartridge label (top): Hard Corps Japanese credits: HARD / CORPS (no 'the') Japanese ROM header: ZA*HAADOKOA & HARDCORPS Japanese music test: THE HARD CORPS (2x) Japanese title screen: ZA*HAADOKOA Japanese copyright screen: THE HARDCORPS The Japanese authors didn't sort this out properly, but they seemed to have intended the two-word version. The copyright screen and ROM header can be excused since typical Japanese rarely marks the separation in compound words/phrases derived from Western languages. Despite the copyright screen, the evidence strongly suggests "Hard Corps" is the proper way to write it, and so I recommend using "Hard Corps" for the American version and "The Hard Corps" for the Japanese version. This patch adjusts the copyright screen to reflect that. The ROM header hasn't been changed because it's not meant to be seen by the user and I frown on the practice of editing the title part of headers; there are too many worthless hacked versions of ROMs floating around because of it. Q: What's with the subtitle anyway? Is it some kind of play on words? A: For those not familiar with the word, 'corps' is pronounced like 'core'. Technically, "hard core" is a noun, while hard-core (or hardcore) is an adjective. Therefore "Contra: Hardcorps" would have made more sense for the American version, at least from a grammatical standpoint. On the other hand, "The Hard Corps" works just fine for the Japanese version. Q: How do you pronounce "Neumann"? A: Written phonetically, it's "Noiman" or "Noyman". Same sound as 'oyster'. Q: Why is the font a bit hard to read? A: If you're playing on a real Genesis, you may find the game's default font difficult to read because it is so thin. See the relevant section above for information on how to switch the font during play. The default font is a modified version of the font that the game uses normally, which is why it is used by default, even though I don't like it. Q: Why is this game so hard? A: Because it's "hard-core". But in case _you_ aren't, you can now increase the starting number of lives in the options menu. Aside from training/practice sessions, you should stick with the default of 3 lives. The Japanese version, on the other hand, is decidedly NOT hard-core, with unlimited continues and 3 hits per life. The life bars alone are roughly equivalent to tripling the number of lives you start with in the USA version. This is compounded every time you gain extra lives from points (normally this happens for the first time after beating the giant robot in the first stage). The fact that you only lose your weapon every third time you are hit makes it even EASIER. What's so hard-core about a game that can be easily beaten with extremely sloppy play? Where's the rush when you can only lose if you give up and quit playing? List of Changes ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Soft reset added. Copyright screen edited slightly. Copyright screen can now be skipped by pressing the start button. Minor rewording in options menus. Maximum number of lives in options menu increased to 5 (default is still 3). Got rid of the annoying "press start to exit" feature in some menus. Start button can now be used to confirm some options. Start button can now be used to select your character. Entering a code permits the same character to be selected by both players. Mission briefings can now be skipped by pressing the start button. You can now hold buttons B & C to skip through text faster. The hide-pause-banner feature now requires a certain debugging mode. In-game font fixed such that lower-case characters are now usable. Added an alternate font (activated with a code). Added 'e accent aigu' to font for 'coup d'?tat'. Script corrected, edited, and optimized. Fixed a display bug if your bomb stock exceeds 99.