If you can handle its short length and weird storyline, Contra Rebirth offers a fun experience.
The story arc of the Contra series has grown more and more outlandish with each new game in the series, and Rebirth's is as bizarre as they come. A man awakens from cryogenic slumber, only to be told that he is the legendary soldier Bill Rizer. A new enemy has apparently travelled back in time to the 1970s to invade an undisclosed area of ruins, and Lance Bean has been sent to investigate. Of course, he goes missing and later resurfaces as a drag queen for reasons known only to the game developers. Anyway, that said, you don't really need to follow the story as it is irrelevant--for the main draw is the non-stop, explosive, alien-busting action. Five levels round out the deal--they're not as exciting as levels from past games, but they're vibrant and compliment the action decently. You'll have access to three weapons--a Spread Gun, a Pulse Laser and Homing Missiles. You can have two at a time, and can switch at will like you could in Alien Wars, but you can't use them both simultaneously like you could in the Alien Wars either. Holding down the Shoulder button will lock your character in place as he shoots for better precision shooting. Yet, it would have been nice if you could strafe and shoot like you were able to do in Shattered Soldier. The game's overall difficulty is lenient enough for casual gamers, but provides a steady challenge to experienced crowds.
The soundtrack is composed of tunes from previous Contra games, and they sound great. And, of course, you can also unlock two additional characters as you progress in the game--including the little robot Brownie from Contra Hard Corps.
Other than that, Contra Rebirth is a fan service to loyalists of the series, but that doesn't mean the rest of us can enjoy what it has to offer--even if it is over too soon.