Chinese mobile game developer CocoaChina (through Chukong Technologies) announced today that it will bring its officially licensed remake of Konami's classic shooter Contra entitled Contra Evolution to iOS devices on June 27 in the U.S.
Contra Evolution's China release in January landed the number one spot in the first 24 hours and the US launch marks the official partnership between the Chines developer and the legendary Japanese publisher.
"We've worked with Konami to replicate the original Contra game as closely as possible, and are extreme happy with the result," said CEO of CocoaChina/Chukong Haozhi Chen. "Contra Evolution feels, sounds and plays just like the original - Contra veterans and new players alike will not be disappointed."
The remake was developed on the popular open source 2D game engine Cocos2d-x financed by CocoaChina which has seen usage in titles including Fish Frenzy and Light Wars.
"Cocos2d-x met the very high bar of responsiveness and latency required for this demanding classic action title," Chen said. "Plus, the engine provides seamless cross-platform support by default."
CocoaChina/Chukong hopes to have an Android version available soon. When Contra Evolution hits U.S. Devices, the iPhone version will cost $0.99 while iPad owners wanting the HD edition will have to shell out $2.99.
The last high release for the series came in the form of Hard Corps: Uprising, a prequel to Sega Genesis classic Contra: Hard Corps. Hard Corps: Uprising was originally released for Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network in 2011.
CocoaChina has come a long way from China's first (and now largest) mobile game developer. The company began as a forum for Chinese iOS developers before working under Chukong Technologies. Now, CocoaChina also has offices in California and Tokyo outside of its Beijing headquarters.
Now the company is riding high off of it's successful Fishing Joy series which has seen over 100 million downloads and makes the company $6 million a month. Many consider it China's equivalent to Angry Birds. Speaking with GamesIndustry International, U.S. general manager Lei Zhang had huge plans for the domestic market.
"I think that[Fishing Joy] has a very neutral cultural background and should have a global appearance, inherently," said Zhang.
