It all started in 1987, when Konami released their awesome platform/shooter, Contra in the arcades here in the States. In 1988, Contra finally saw its debut on the Nintendo Entertainment System. Within that same year, Konami hit the arcade scene once again with the sequel, Super Contra. Fans of the genre everywhere knew that it was only a matter of time before they would see it come to the NES. Sure enough, Konami gave it to us in 1990, under a slightly different name we all know as Super C.

Starting off, the gameplay seems to have mostly remained the same. You still primarily run through side-scrolling 2-D levels of various environments. The Machine Gun, Spread Gun, Laser, Flame Thrower, and Rapid Fire weapons have made their return, along with the Barrier and Mega Shell power-ups as well. Soon after playing the game though, you’ll begin to see where Konami made both minor and major improvements to the game. Super C starts off on the right foot with Mad Dog and Scorpion jumping out of a helicopter into the action below, while thunder booms in the background. That right there lets players know that they are in for an awesome fight! If you grab the Flame Thrower weapon, you’ll notice that it doesn’t fire those dinky fireball swirls anymore. Instead, it shoots off a straight flame “puff” that bursts into 4 four directions when it hits an enemy or solid object. Although it’s a small change, it’s a welcome one because it makes the Flame Thrower a much more useful selection in some of the tougher areas.

Probably the biggest improvement with Super C is the top-down viewpoint sections, replacing the pseudo 3-D areas in Contra. It gives you a fresh prospective of controlling Scorpion and Mad Dog and it just works a lot better than the older design did. Not to mention, it’s quite fun to blast through tanks, walls, and anyone or anything else dumb enough to cross that invisible line you drew with your gun. I just wish there more than only 2 of the top-down sections.
The bosses are bigger and tougher this time around too. My two favorites are the spider tank, and that fortress that pops out the ground in the jungle area. I love to see that thing go back down in shame, once I hit it enough times. Just don’t make the mistake of dying, and losing your precious weapons. If you do, you can bet that you’ll have a harder time getting past any given boss battle.

Another major enhancement in Super C came in graphics department. Darker shades of colors were used in the background, while the brighter shades of red, green, blue (ect.), were used in the foreground. This resulted in giving every area a very gritty, hardcore effect and that’s just what you need to feel at home in any Contra game. The level designs are great to, because you don’t just go from side-to-side all the time. Some levels will have you constantly jumping up to advance to next area; other places will have you riding an elevator, while shooting down pesky winged troops and homing energy pellets. Every alien boss is worth taking a look at, at least once. I dare say that the bosses of Contra can’t hold a candle to what Konami came up with this time. Anyone who’s played through level 6 will know what I’m talking about.

The music in Super C absolutely rocks. I was actually surprised that they managed to surpass the previous game, but they did. Every song has a more driving touch to it, making you want to keep going, all the way up the Red Falcon. In particular, most tunes possess heavier bass lines, and hard drum kicks. It ends up coming off as if you’re in the arcade again…even though the arcade version still sounds different from the NES.

Play or Stay? When it’s all said and done, Konami get’s the formula done right, yet again. While the overall gameplay remained the same, it turned out to be a good move on the developer’s part. Instead of trying to make too many drastic changes too soon, Konami took it slow and only made some slight adjustments that really helped the series to take a more solid shape. I’m also proud (yet a little ashamed) to say that I finally beat Super C recently, without using the 10-man code…I did use up one continue, though. Whether you’ve played Contra before or not, Super C is well worth adding to your NES collection. Oh yeah, and don’t forget to grab a buddy for twice the blasting fun too!