History VideoGame / HardCorpsUprising

* DoomedByCanon: [[spoiler:Bahamut is the BigBad in ''VideoGame/ContraHardCorps''. [[WordOfGod The producers, however, have stated that]] [[NamesTheSame he could be someone else entirely (including Bill Rizer as a possibility), only sharing the same name]]. Doctor Mandrake as well since he also appears as an antagonist and dies in that game, though again, it could be someone else with the same name. However, Mandrake was also mentioned as one of the people responsible for the development of Lucia before the events of ''VideoGame/ContraShatteredSoldier''. If Leviathan being Lance Bean is an indication, then he is KilledOffForReal as a TragicMonster during the events of ''Shattered Soldier''.]]

* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler: Leviathan, possibly, if you are playing as him. He is the only character to not have an ending cutscene showing his future and all evidence from the loading screens point to Stage 8 being a dream sequence, having finally realized why Bahamut rose up against the Commonwealth before finally dying from his injuries sustained in the Knight Lunata battle. Subverted if one interprets him as a young Lance Bean and actually NotQuiteDead, but then there comes UnexplainedRecovery in the events of the original ''Contra''...]]

* DoomedByCanon: [[spoiler:Bahamut is the BigBad in ''VideoGame/ContraHardCorps''. [[WordOfGod The producers, however, have stated that]] [[NamesTheSame he could be someone else entirely, only sharing the same name]]. Doctor Mandrake as well since he also appears as an antagonist and dies in that game, though again, it could be someone else with the same name. However, Mandrake was also mentioned as one of the people responsible for the development of Lucia before the events of ''VideoGame/ContraShatteredSoldier''.If Leviathan being Lance Bean is an indication, then he is KilledOffForReal as a TragicMonster during the events of ''Shattered Soldier''.]]

* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler: Leviathan, possibly, if you are playing as him. He is the only character to not have an ending cutscene showing his future and all evidence from the loading screens point to Stage 8 being a dream sequence, having finally realized why Bahamut rose up against the Commonwealth before finally dying from his injuries sustained in the Knight Lunata battle. Subverted if one interprets him as a young Lance Bean, but then there comes UnexplainedRecovery in the events of the original ''Contra''...]]

* DoomedByCanon: [[spoiler:Bahamut is the BigBad in ''VideoGame/ContraHardCorps''. [[WordOfGod The producers, however, have stated that]] [[NamesTheSame he could be someone else entirely, only sharing the same name]]. Doctor Mandrake as well since he also appears as an antagonist and dies in that game, though again, it could be someone else with the same name. However, Mandrake was also mentioned as one of the people responsible for the development of Lucia before the events of ''VideoGame/ContraShatteredSoldier''.]]

* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler: Leviathan, possibly, if you are playing as him. He is the only character to not have an ending cutscene showing his future and all evidence from the loading screens point to Stage 8 being a dream sequence, having finally realized why Bahamut rose up against the Commonwealth before finally dying from his injuries sustained in the Knight Lunata battle.]]

*** He is also an equivalent of [[WellIntentionedExtremist Lance Bean]], who was Bill Rizer's former friend in the old ''Contra'' titles, and now enemy in ''Shattered Soldier''. Both have accused their former friend (Bill/Bahamut) for the atrocities they have done ([[spoiler:Bill has accidentally wiped out 80% of human population and nearly killed Lance. Bahamut has betrayed Leviathan and the Commonwealth Empire.]]) before becoming enemies.

** Bahamut is one to Sol Badguy, Bill Rizer, or a gun-toting [[VideoGame/StarGladiator Hayato Kanzaki]]. Due to being a counterpart to Bill Rizer, Bahamut is also an expy of Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger as a politician.

** Appearance-wise Tiberius resembles [[VideoGame/MegaManX4 Colonel]] (his outfit), and [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/NeoContra Master Contra]]]] (his facial hair and features). Ironically, he also seems to be partialy based on [[spoiler: [[HeWhoFightsMonsters Baha]][[FallenHero mut's]] appearance and role in the original ''VideoGame/ContraHardCorps'']], up to the point they Tiberius even ''resembles'' [[spoiler: ''Contra: Hard Corps'' Bahamut]] visually, for example both having long hair and having a stache, as well as both wearing military uniforms and capes.

* InNameOnly: The Commonwealth in the game has nothing to do with the real-life Commonwealth of Nations.

* OneHitPointWonder: Leviathan starts out this way. He can also only wield one weapon at a time.

** Bahamut is one to Sol Badguy, Bill Rizer, or a gun-toting [[VideoGame/StarGladiator Hayato Kanzaki]].
*** Due to being a counterpart to Bill Rizer, Bahamut is also an expy of Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger as a politician.

** Tiberius = [[VideoGame/MegaManX Colonel]], or [[spoiler:Master Contra of ''VideoGame/NeoContra'' or Chief Salamander of ''VideoGame/ContraRebirth'']]. Ironically, he also seems to be partialy based on [[spoiler: [[HeWhoFightsMonsters Baha]][[FallenHero mut's]] appearance and role in the original ''VideoGame/ContraHardCorps'']], up to the point they Tiberius even ''resembles'' [[spoiler: ''Contra: Hard Corps'' Bahamut]] visually, for example both having long hair and having a stache, as well as both wearing military uniforms and capes..
*** [[spoiler: He may be also based off The Triumvirate from ''Shattered Soldier'', if you count the Relic of Moirai fusing with them.]]
*** [[spoiler:Tiberius Augustus = Justice, or The Triumvirate if you count the Relic of Moirai]].
*** He also resembles in this form, the first two stages of [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil2 G-Virus mutated William Birkin]], especially with both sharing the overgrown one arm, with a pulsating, giant eye.
*** [[spoiler:Tiberius Invictus = [[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy Chaos]] (or, if you prefer, Valentine from the final battle of ''Guilty Gear 2: Overture'', or the Project C of ''VideoGame/NeoContra''), and last but not least, he resembles a '''much''' more mobile Devil Emperor Gava, especially that both contain the ''"鬼"'' (demon, ogre, devil, oni) Kanji in [[DubNameChange their Japanaese names]] ]].
*** Bahamut also resembles in design, battles (starts out as a super powered human military leader in full uniform, then goes through multiple monstrous forms) the fight with [[spoiler: seeming main antagonist]] [[spoiler: Lance Bean]] in ''Contra: Shattered Soldier'', especially seeing the fact their final transformations [[spoiler: Tiberis Invictus and Emperor Demon Gava]], resemble each-other.

** Sayuri is this to [[VideoGame/GuiltyGear Baiken]] or gameplay wise, [[VideoGame/{{Strider}} Strider Hiryu]]. Also[[spoiler:a DistaffCounterpart to [[VideoGame/GetsuFumaDen Getsu Fuma]] or Genbei "Jaguar" Yagyu]].

* AnimeHair: Harley.

* {{Expy}}: Sayuri = [[VideoGame/GuiltyGear Baiken]]
** [[spoiler: A DistaffCounterpart to [[VideoGame/GetsuFumaDen Getsu Fuma]] or Genbei "Jaguar" Yagyu]].
** Bahamut = Sol Badguy, or Bill Rizer.
*** More like a gun-toting [[VideoGame/StarGladiator Hayato Kanzaki]].

** Krystal = Millia Rage.
*** She's actually more similar to [[{{Franchise/Metroid}} Samus Aran]], at least in looks, and her gun is based on her [[PoweredArmor Power Suit]]. Krystal even has an alternate color scheme, were she looks exactly like [[MetroidZeroMission Zero]] [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Suit Samus]].
*** She also seems to be a human equivalent to Lucia or Brownie, or a counterpart to Sheena Etranzi from ''VideoGame/ContraHardCorps''.
** Harley = Potemkin + Johnny.
*** He also seems to designed as a fully human version of Brad Fang, from ''VideoGame/ContraHardCorps''.
** Leviathan = Ky Kiske + Chipp Zanuff + Lance Bean.
*** He also resembles Deadeye Joe, from the original ''VideoGame/ContraHardCorps''. Both have lower parts of their faces obscured by their masks, both are chased by the player, both have NobleDemon tendencies, and both fight against the player character, personally, and inside a {{Mecha}}.

** Tiberius = [[VideoGame/MegaManX Colonel]], or [[spoiler:Master Contra of ''VideoGame/NeoContra'' or Chief Salamander of ''VideoGame/ContraRebirth'']].
*** Ironically, he also seems to be partialy based on [[spoiler: [[HeWhoFightsMonsters Baha]][[FallenHero mut's]] appearance and role in the original ''VideoGame/ContraHardCorps'']], up to the point they Tiberius even ''resembles'' [[spoiler: ''Contra: Hard Corps'' Bahamut]] visually, for example both having long hair and having a stache, as well as both wearing military uniforms and capes..

** [[spoiler: Subverted when you take out the mecha-worm and move on--at the very end of the stage, when you've gotten back on a motor-bike, the camera cuts to the fallen worm...and the mook-driven CoolCar ]] ''[[spoiler: rips its way out of the mecha-worm's body]]'' [[spoiler: to continue the fight!!]]

* CosmeticallyAdvancedPrequel: ''Hard Corps: Uprising'' is exactly a prequel to the original ''Contra'', taking place 20 years before. However, the scenes in this game looked advanced compared to the Galuga Archipelago scene in the original.'

*** To an even lesser extent, the Heated Plasma weapon power-up. It's not a rapid-fire weapon like the other guns (at first), and its charged attack takes a few seconds to unleash. But then again, Heated Plasma does a lot of damage, and it can consume small-arms fire before it ever gets near you.

*** She's actualy more similar to [[{{Franchise/Metroid}} Samus Aran]], at least in looks, and her gun is based on her [[PoweredArmor Power Suit]]. Krystal even has an alternate color scheme, were she looks exacly like [[MetroidZeroMission Zero]] [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Suit Samus]].

*** Ironicaly, he also seems to be partialy based on [[spoiler: [[HeWhoFightsMonsters Baha]][[FallenHero mut's]] apperance and role in the original ''VideoGame/ContraHardCorps'']], up to the point they Tiberius even ''resembles'' [[spoiler: ''Contra: Hard Corps'' Bahamut]] visually, for example both having long hair and having a stache, as well as both wearing miltary uniforms and capes..

*** He also resembles in this form, the first two stages of [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil2 G-Virus mutated William Birkin]], especialy with both sharing the overgrown one arm, with a pulsating, giant eye.

** Arachne, the transforming black robot from stage 6, looks, and behaves like a [[CompositeCharacter combination of]] Super Power Robot Yokozuna from ''VideoGame/ContraHardCorps'' and ''VideoGame/ContraShatteredSoldier'', and the Heli-Robot from the begining of stage 6 in ''Shattered Soldier''. It also bears uncanny resemblance to Babalu Destructoid Mechanism, the mini-boss in ''Super Contra'' and ''Shattered Soldier''.

* NoFairCheating / AntiGrinding: Attempting to milk a safespot for CP and score will eventually result in a [[VideoGame/GuiltyGear NEGATIVE PENALTY]], locking your score for the rest of the stage. That being said, the negative penalty takes a while to activate, meaning that one can theoretically grind for quite some time, die, then go back to the same spot and do it all over again for more points. It also seems to be easily fooled by doing anything except holding the fire button, allowing you to easily get enough points to max out your character several times over before it kicks in if you're bored enough to keep shooting the said respawning enemies manually or park your character on one of the conveyer belts in level 5 so that they're constantly pushed by the boxes coming out of the machine.

* RecurringBoss Althrough in Hard Corps: Uprising, most bosses are new, the classic Wall / Fortress Gate, makes a return.

** All the increases to your max number of starting lives in Rising Mode reference previous ''Contra'' titles in their names: "Uprising S" = ''Super Contra'', "Uprising III" = ''Contra III'', "Uprising SS" = Shattered Soldier, ect. And then there's the prohibitively expensive [[KonamiCode "Uprising 30"]] earned by completing Rising Mode...

* VideoGameSettings
** Level 1: ShiftingSandLand
** Level 2: JungleJapes
** Level 3: TempleOfDoom
** Level 4: Capital (with a NostalgiaLevel sequence)
** Level 5: ElaborateUndergroundBase
** Level 6: SinisterSubway
** Level 7: ItsAllUpstairsFromHere
** Level 8: BattleshipRaid

** The Ripple weapon is also fired much like its Gradius counterpart, albeit with a much shorter range, but it has the benefit of negating and even reflecting enemy shots.

** Celestial Imperator, the Stage 5 boss, has attacks based off the Laser Chandelier, the Stage 4 boss in the Famicom version of ''Super Contra''.

*** Ironicaly, he also seems to be partialy based on [[spoiler: [[HeWhoFightsMonsters Baha]][[FallenHero mut's]] apperance and role in the original ''VideoGame/ContraHardCorps'']], up to the point they Tiberius even ''resembles'' [[spoiler: ''Contra: Hard Corps'' Bahamut]] visually, for example both having long hair and having a stache, as well as both wearing miltary uniforms.

*** Bahamut also resembles in design, battles (starts out as a super powered human military leader in full uniform, then goes through multiple monstrous forms) the fight with [[spoiler: seeming main antagonist]] [[spoiler: Lance Bean]] in ''Contra: Shattered Soldier'', especially seeing the fact their final transformations [[spoler: Tiberis Invictus and Demon Emperor Gava]]], resemble each-other.

*** Ironicaly, he also seems to be partialy based on [[spoiler: [[HeWhoFightsMonsters Baha]][[FallenHero mut's]] apperance and role in the original ''VideoGame/ContraHardCorps'']]

*** [[spoiler:Tiberius Invictus = [[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy Chaos]] (or, if you prefer, Valentine from the final battle of ''Guilty Gear 2: Overture'', or the Project C of ''VideoGame/NeoContra''), and last but not least, he resembles a '''much''' more mobile Devil Emperor Gava, especially that both contain the ''"鬼"'' (demon, ogre, devil, oni) Kanji in [[DubNameChange their Japanaese names]] ]]

*** [[spoiler:Tiberius Invictus = [[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy Chaos]] (or, if you prefer, Valentine from the final battle of ''Guilty Gear 2: Overture'', or the Project C of ''VideoGame/NeoContra'').]]

The [[ExcusePlot story]] of ''Uprising'' involves the, well, ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin uprising]]'' in the far future against the world's current tyrannical dictatorship, [[TheEmpire the Commonwealth]], and its leader [[BigBad Emperor Tiberius]]. Leading the [[LaResistance Union Forces]] in the fight is [[DefectorFromDecadence ex-Commonwealth soldier]] Bahamut[[note]]the final boss of ''Hard Corps''[[/note]], who deserted and switched sides after realizing it was evil. His unit also consists of fellow soldiers Krystal, a young woman with considerable combat skills whose village was destroyed during a Commonwealth attack and joins the fight so nobody else would have to suffer a tragedy like hers; Harley, a boisterous guy with CoolShades and an awesome pompadour; and female samurai Sayuri, who forgoes the whole shooting thing in favor of a more [[KatanasAreJustBetter close up and personal approach to fighting]]. Of the quartet, only Bahamut and Krystal are initially available as playable characters, with the other two, as well as Tiberius' [[TheDragon right hand man]] Leviathan, available as premium {{downloadable content}}.

* CosmeticallyAdvancedPrequel: ''Hard Corps: Uprising'' is exactly a prequel to the original ''Contra'', taking place 20 years before. However, the scenes in this game looked advanced compared to the Galuga Archipelago scene in the original.

* ArcNumber: 573 (which stands for Konami, in case you somehow didn't know by now) is all over the damn place and probably shows up more than in any other Konami game: the stage 3 midboss and boss are called 573-Tigris and 573-Draconis respectively[[note]] they are called Kasuga-Tora and Kasuga-Ryu in the Japanese versions, making themselves as Kasuga series[[/note]], the Rising Mode has an upgrade that gives you 30 lives which costs 57,300,000 points to buy and if you use a variation of KonamiCode that allows you to buy it without beating the game first with that character, the main menu reads "CODE 573". Finally, the longer you play the game, the more continues you get: the number starts from 3 and goes steadily up to 20 before finally jumping up to, you guessed it, 573.

* HeavyMetal: Lots of HairMetal and ThrashMetal, courtesy of DaisukeIshiwatari.

* MoneyGrinding: There are various methods of doing this to get upgrades...
** TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything / NoFairCheating: But if you do this too long you'll get a [[VideoGame/GuiltyGear Negative Penalty]] and your score will be locked for the remainder of the stage. Usually happens when you hit a 40x combo multiplier.

*** Due to being a counterpart to Bill Rizer, Bahamut is also an expy of ArnoldSchwarzenegger as a politician.

*** He also resembles in this form, the first two stages of [[ResidentEvil2 G-Virus mutated William Birkin]], especialy with both sharing the overgrown one arm, with a pulsating, giant eye.