Run and Gun video games used to be (and still kind of are) a genre of gaming that was enjoyed by many. With that statement acting as a segway Contra is a game of the Run and Gun variety that was released right in the middle of what we would call “The Golden Age of Arcade Games”. It was developed by Konami, a leading arcade game publisher, with the sole purpose of giving people an idea of what it would be like to take down an organization who had the intention of destroying the world – that kind of gave away the entire plot of the game but, hey, we’re still going to talk about it.
Video of Contra gameplay
Contra’s Plot
I mentioned this above but, Contra’s gameplay was centered around giving humanity an understanding (or at least the publisher’s understanding) of what it would be like to go against a threat to the human race’s survival. Essentially, players of the game would enter a world set in the year 2633 where a group called the Evil Red Falcon Org. have a goal to destroy the entire human race. Players going by the names of Lance and Bill (members of the Marine Corporation’s Contra Unit) are commissioned to go to the island of Galuga Archipelago (a fictional place) to attack and take down the forces of the enemy and figure out who the alien is who is controlling the people in the organization.
*That’s pretty much it
Download a Contra ROM here
Gameplay
Players in the Contra world had the option of using either a standard viewpoint, a 3D view, or a fixed screen view. It also allows players to enjoy the game in a multi-player format (one person plays as Bill and the other Lance).
- Bill: Blonde-Haired Commando wearing a blue bandanna and a white tank top
- Lance: Dark haired commando wearing no shirt at all and a red bandanna
In gameplay, you use the joystick to control both your players aiming ability and his ability to run and jump which adds a bit of a challenge to the game. When you’re in a stage with sideview you have the ability to shoot both to your left, right and straight up when you’re in an upright position as well as have the ability to at an angle and upward when you’re running. Not to mention that when you’re jumping you can shoot in 8 different positions (which is very helpful in combat). When you’re in a standing position and press your joystick downward you will engage in a crawl where your player will basically lie down on his belly and gain the ability to dodge bullets coming from the enemy and aim at targets that are low to the ground.
If you manage to press jump while in a crouching position your player will drop down to the level below him.
Weapons and powerups
So, in the game you actually get access to quite a few different pieces of machinery (weapons). The default weapon you get in the game is a standard assault rifle equipped with unlimited ammo – the cool thing about this is that you are able to upgrade this base gun into one of the 4 guns available in the game. You can get one of the 4 guns by destroying the guard clothed in all red when you’re at an enemy’s base. The guns available are:
- Rapid fire machine gun (it shoots rapid fire when you hold the shoot button down)
- Laser gun
- Fireball gun
- Spread gun (shoots 5 different bullets at once)
Aside from these guns you also have access to power ups that become available when you’re using the gun that comes standard with the game. These are:
- Rapid Fire upgrade: You’re able to shoot bullets at a faster than normal rate
- Barrier: You gain the power of invincibility for a period
Stages of gameplay
There are 7 basic stages in the gameplay.
- 1st stage: This is one of those levels with the side-view where you’re in a jungle and are required to fight the line of defense the enemy has in place there before you get to the first base
- 2nd stage: 3D view stage where you are required to navigate through passages in the base before you run out of time. Players are required to get to the other side of the base to destroy a generator located there.
- 3rd stage: The player is required to take out the defense system so they can find the last target which is basically a fire-ball shooting eyeball.
- 4th – 6th stages: Repeat of the experiences you have in the first few stages essentially.
- 7th stage: Side-scrolling stage where you have to destroy the last line of defense the enemy has before you get to the alien’s lair – here you will find alien soldiers instead of the standard, human soldiers you’re used to fighting. Before you get to the boss you’ll run into an alien head that has the ability to create larvae from its mouth – the boss is an alien that basically resembles a heart.
Losing a life
If either of the characters so much as get’s grazed by a bullet, runs out of time, or falls into an area without a platform you can see they die. If you do manage to die you will go back to your original gun when they respawn.
You can play the game below
<center><iframe src="https://www.retrogames.cc/embed/16841-contra-usa.html" width="600" height="450" frameborder="no" allowfullscreen="true" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" scrolling="no"></iframe></center>Fun Facts about Contra
- The ideas for both Lance and Bill came from the movie Alien
- The idea for the title of the game come from a fighter in Nicaragua called the Contrarrevolucion who were fighting the Sandinista Junta
- The original, arcade version was equipped with a standing screen
- In both Europe and Oceania the game was called Gryzor, due to a political scandal that occurred in both places
- The artwork from the arcade version of the game was considered t be so good that it was also featured on other, home versions of the game.
- The German version of the game was called Probotextor due to laws the Germans had at the time to keep violent games from being sold to children
- Konami had an LCD version of the game that they released to kids
- There were additional cutscenes in the Japanese version of the game
- The NES version released in America made Konami’s code popular
- Vampire weekend had an entire album inspired by this game
- If you get a mint condition copy of the game you can make over $400 upon its sale.
Conclusion
How exactly did Konami manage to take a game that was somewhat based off of real events and make it fun? I have no idea how to answer this question but, I can tell that you that they did a great job at creating it though. Here you have a ton of information on Contra – if you find anything else on the game that you feel will be beneficial to add to the article feel free to leave it in a comment or shoot us a message – we’ll make sure it gets added.
The facts in this article were taken from Wikipedia
Resources:
http://mentalfloss.com/article/67773/11-fireball-facts-about-contra