Contra III: The Alien Wars

"Shoot to relieve stress"

If you're a sucker for Run & Gun games, chances are you know all about the Contra series. It's hard, it's fast, it's full of explosions left, right and centre, and it's just about as good a co-op experience as you can get - even by 2008 standards.

In the not-so distant future, circa 2636, aliens will invade the Earth. We've got nukes, we've got satellite lasers, we've got Osama Bin Laden and similar donkeys, but none of that will matter. Video game logic says we're all doomed. But there are two commando soldiers who could make a difference - Bill Rizer and Lance Bean. Two versus several thousands? Doesn't seem fair now, does it?

Well, they do have machine guns, spread shot guns, homing missiles, crush missiles, lasers and flamethrowers, plus they can dual wield any two weapons at any one time, alternating at a button's press to send forth a ceaseless stream of pyrotechnic carnage... I'm making sound easy now, aren't I? Well, it's not. In keeping with Contra tradition, one hit and you're dead; lose all of your lives and you're tossed back a few dozen steps (and several dozen enemies); lose all of your continues and you're back to square one. Really, it's easier (to lose) than it sounds. But that just means you get to replay some of the craziest firefights ever.

Contra 3 (or Contra Spirits in Japan; Super Probotector in European territories) is one of the finest Run & Gun titles out there. The action is relentless with tons of enemies thrown at you at any given point in time. There are plenty of tough-as-nails bosses, too. There is variety where it counts - both in scenario design and gameplay style. There's one crazy level where you'll have to jump from missile to missile, airborne, whilst shooting in all directions to bring a huge alien aircraft crashing to the ground. There are only two other games more crazy than this that I can think of right now, and they're both Contras. (Running on helicopter blades in Neo Contra and riding a rocket in Contra 4.)

The SNES was famous for Mode 7 pseudo-3D graphics. There's nothing wrong with tacking the effect on, even if it does look a bit out of place (see Super Castlevania IV), but Contra 3 features two whole levels dedicated to this graphical technique. Next to the base levels in the original Contra, they are the worst tension-breakers in the entire series. Instead of gunning from left to right, you'll be gunning in all directions from an overhead perspective - similar to some Super C stages, but with a mind-numbing rotation aspect to boot. The goal in both of these levels is to destroy a set number of alien turrets/generators. It's rather tedious and relatively slow paced, and it comes across as a lazy effort to inject more life into the game. Not that Contra 3 isn't a thrilling ride - hell no - it's just that the game is really, really short.

Old-school games, and especially Run & Gun types, were never meant to be marathons. Finishing it under an hour is no biggie; there is still a harder difficulty level (skip easy folks) and playing for high scores with or without a buddy is always a good time. Of course, for a true Contra experience, you should team up with another hardcore action fan - that way you'll have several dozen less enemies to worry about, giving you a little more time to savour the dynamic 2D graphics and the nineties Hollywood movie-esque soundtrack. It may be tough to track down the original in all its 16-bit glory these days, but with the Virtual Console release sitting right there (and perhaps many more to come - XBLA and PSN?) you've now got no excuse.

8.5/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/22/08

Game Release: Super Probotector: Alien Rebels (EU, 11/19/92)