Contra

"Timeless..."

When it comes to adventure and action games that roll a ton of challenge and constant platform jumping, there isn’t a game for the Nintendo Entertainment System that matches the true style and addictive qualities that Contra has. A first generation action game, Contra offers up some of the most intense firefights and consistent action that any platforming game of its time could ever hope to achieve! Spawning several different sequels that span across several different systems, Contra is a game that really set the standard when creating a side scrolling action game. Placing you in control of a brave and fearless soldier, you take on several stages of increasing challenge and waves of endless enemies in order to stop an alien invasion. Where the game really takes a steep ride is in the fact that it is so easy to get killed that a single mistake in any portion of the game will cost you a valuable life! Considering that everyone and their brother knows of the thirty man code called the ‘Konami Code’, getting through the game shouldn’t be too much of a hassle.

The game play is straightforward and to the point in which you control a soldier through several stages of enemies and screens full of enemy gunfire. Through your travels, you can shoot small pods that race across the screen and collect upgrades on your weapons that include lasers, flame throwers and the almighty spread shot, all of which will help you through your mission! The key to the game is to be able to jump and shoot while avoiding incoming enemy fire and enemies in general. You’ll find that the game can kill you if you stand still for too long, and even if you manage to avoid all of the enemy fire that is being thrown at you, foot soldiers can rush and finish the job. All of the bosses that you find will take plenty of strategy and skill to defeat without losing the two lives that you start the game with, so be prepared for some teeth clenching frustration!

The fact that the game is two player goes a long way in helping you to defeat the game and you’ll always have some backup when you’re weaving through the thick waves of enemies that seem to come from every direction. A bit of strategy is needed in order to play through this mode, simply because on the jumping parts of each stage, you can’t leave your buddy behind or they will end up losing a life from falling off the screen! This only adds to the challenge in which you can either play point man and try taking out whatever is coming from the front, while your partner takes up the action from the rear and keeps the enemies off your back. Something that will help you while playing is that you can fire your weapon in all directions to hit enemies at all angles and this becomes especially useful in the later levels with the enemies are simply overwhelming!

The control is pretty easy to learn, although it can take some serious time and practice to master the timing needed to get through the platform parts of the game. You have a firing button and a jump button, with nothing else that you really have to learn to do other than crouch down when you need to hit something that is below your normal line of fire! The fact that the game offers you the multi-directional firing gives you a better feel for the game, but the jump timing could have used some serious tweaking. In some points of the game, you’ll find that you can’t really jump to different ledges without taking a couple of steps back and then trying at it again. With the limited amount of lives and continues that you have, you’ll find that the game takes on more challenge that is heaped on with the lack of overall control that you have over your jumping!

Visually, for an NES game, Contra has some of the best detailing and onscreen action in a side scrolling shooter. Taking into effect that the game is old and it is featured on the NES, it does have noticeable points of image break up and slow down, but only when the game action goes into overdrive! The stages are all well detailed with amounts of smaller detail thrown into play with special effects that come into play through the various weapons that you collect. The characters and enemies are palette swapped, but you’ll be too busy trying to avoid the screen full of enemy bullets to really pay much attention to that. Something that comes across as an impressive bit of detail is that each weapon is customized with its own bit of flare and detail, so you can tell what it is that you’re using instead of just wondering what it is that you’re firing with!

The audio of the game is a catchy adventure tune that changes throughout the game, but stays with the same theme of action with a sense of urgency. The music really does suit the game, in which you’ll be just as interested in blowing the hell out of whatever comes your way as the music is intended to make you feel! The sound effects are pretty much small sounds that revolve around explosions and machine gun fire, but don’t really make it into the foreground too much other than when you die and the tell tale whipple sound comes blaring out of the speakers. All of this adds in for a rather enjoyable audio experience and action gamers will be pleased!

Overall, Contra is one of the best action games from its era, with plenty of thumb smashing action rolled into a few stages. With the insane difficulty and the rather impressive visuals that a game this old has, you’ll find that Contra is a welcomed visit to the golden age of 8-bit gaming! NES owners and collector’s alike shouldn’t pass up this title for anything else, and if you don’t already have it in your collection, then you’re either living in a cave, or just can’t find a used copy of it somewhere accessible.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/02/01, Updated 12/02/01