Retro Profile: Contra (NES)
Sunday, September 2nd, 2007 at 9:20am by Staff
As a kid, nothing seemed cooler in a video game than two shirtless dudes running around with heavy weaponry and blowing up aliens that were bent on dominating the earth. I still remember when my brother and I played Contra for the first time. I was hooked from the get go. This game is all about non-stop action, and quick reflexes. You have a choice of 5 weapons in the game– Machine Gun (M), Flame Thrower (F), Laser (L), Spread (S), and Rapid (R). The spread gun is still my personal favorite. Hands down, the worst weapon was the laser or that pea shooter weapon you start out with upon losing a life.
Contra has a total of 8 levels, each progressively more challenging than the last. Two of them were psudeo-3D levels that took place inside the alien base. The main goal is to run and gun (and somersault) your way through hordes of aliens soldiers and take down the sinister Red Falcon boss. You’ll shoot your way through starry jungles, snow-capped fortresses, and even scale up the side of a waterfall– just to name a few.
Most famous for its somewhat formidable difficulty, Contra is best played with a friend. It’s always nice to have a buddy around when you’re trying to beat 
the game with out using the Konami code. But be warned though– this game may also end some friendships as well. All you have to do is make the “mistake” of pressing the A & B buttons at the same time to steal an extra man from your friend (because you couldn’t play well enough to stay alive in the first place) and you might as well just show yourself to the door. Also, leaving the other person behind on the waterfall level is another surefire way to make a mortal enemy.
Contra wouldn’t be complete without the rock’n sound tracks in each level. It’s never boring or plain…in fact most of the tunes are quite memorable. Audio excellence is something that Konami would go on to be known for in addition to great home ports of arcade hits.
Play or Stay? Well I think it’s safe to say that Contra set the standard for many side scrolling action games after its release for years to come. Contra is a game with no health bars, save points, or fancy story telling; just heavy action, nostalgic fun, and that famous Konami quality. Frankly, that’s all you’ll need to enjoy this fine creation. This one’s a keeper. – Jamie Alston
September 2nd, 2007 at 1:07 pm
A true classic. Along with Rush N Attack, this one was on of my favorites back in the day. I still play it now and then and it’s just as much fun as it always was.
My brother laments the loss of this “golden age” of home gaming. He thinks the innocent appeal is gone in a blur of realistic graphics and ten button controllers.
The new Contra game for the DS should be a must have title.
September 2nd, 2007 at 2:53 pm
The golden age of gaming is now. I don’t know if you remember, but most of the games back then were crap. Nowadays there are hundreds of awesome games to play on any system. Developers are doing radical, amazing things, and gaming itself is starting to reach the mainstream. I don’t see how realistic graphics and advanced controllers can detract from a gaming experience, on the contrary, they add to it.
No offense to you or anything, but I think your brother should get his head out of the sand.
Oh, and Contra DS, instant classic.
September 2nd, 2007 at 4:19 pm
You should write for “Radical Dude” magazine or something.
September 2nd, 2007 at 4:36 pm
@Brian: Yeah, the “golden age” of old school gaming has–for all intents and purposes–long passed. However, it good to know that Nintendo’s Virtual Console on the Wii helps to keep those games alive and well for gamers like us and a whole new generation of players as well.
I’m very much looking forward to Contra 4 on the DS!
@Vibe: While this may be a new golden age of gaming for the everyone who came aboard to the gaming world in the last 5 years or so, it’s certainly nothing like how it used to be before now. And to be quite honest, I think it’s a little misguided to say that “most of the games back then were crap”.
I mean, somebody can easily make that same statement about the games coming out today. Sure, real gamers like me, you, and probably everyone who visits this blog knows that it’s a bad idea to buy any and every game out there today because there some games that these first and third party developers come up with that are total junk (i.e.: movie-based games). But we pay more attention to the plentiful gems out there like Super Paper Mario, BioShock (Xbox 360), and the Metroid Prime series.
In that same way, it’s true that we had to deal with duds like Predator (NES), Blaster Master 2 (Genesis), and BioMetal (SNES). BUt there were so many more that outnumbered them like The Legend of Zelda (NES), Chrono Trigger (SNES), and Flashback (Genesis & SNES). These are just a few of many good games we had back in the day. I recommend getting to know them.
September 2nd, 2007 at 5:54 pm
awesome game. I remember one time on elementary school, this guy came all hyper talking about how he had finished Contra with another of our friends the day before, and he felt he needed to brag to us, the geeks on the back of the class…. lol…we were beating Mike Tyson with our eyes closed… preppies, will they ever learn??