As I recall Contra was one of the most widely known games released on the NES in its heyday. It wasn’t as famous as say, Mario, but it seems like every person I ever spoke to about video games back then would bring it up. I’m also pretty sure that this is the game for which everyone memorized the Konami code due to its harsh difficulty. I imagine one of the reasons this title was so popular is because of the fact that it offered two player simultaneous play, and was a little more edgy than most video games of the time. You did after all, play as a soldier armed with a machine gun.
The fact that the main enemy was an alien obviously softened the violence a little, but the focus on macho protagonists paired with their choice firepower definitely makes this a product of its time. The whole Aliens and Predator film lines after all were pretty big back then, and it’s pretty clear that Konami was trying to tap into that market hysteria. Fortunately Contra is still one of the most enjoyable video games on the original Nintendo, and it has aged quite well. This is still one of my top go-to cooperative play titles.
An alien force called the Red Falcon is attacking planet Earth in an attempt to conquer it. It’s up to two commandos, Mad Dog and Scorpion, to thwart their plan and defeat the otherworldly forces. It’s pretty silly, but this scenario works for me. Contra is a two dimensional side scrolling action game with platformer elements. As either of the two soldiers (or both of them if you bring a friend along) you can move left, right, jump, and fire your weapon. Unlike in most run and gun type games you can actually aim in multiple directions including up and diagonal, but to shoot downwards you must first jump.
Enemies can also fire in multiple directions, and they approach fast and furiously. To compensate for this there are several different weapons hidden inside items with the red falcon insignia. Your weaponry include the basic slow firing rifle, rapid shot machine gun, fireballs that have a circular trajectory, a laser, and a spread shot. Another item will slightly increase the speed of the projectiles from the current gun you have. You can only hold one weapon at a time, and you lose the old one each time you pick up something new which is to be expected.
Stage designs require a lot more platforming than in your standard run and gun. What’s more is you have abnormally good control of your character while in the air, and you’ll need it in order to dodge incoming enemy fire. Most of the stages have you working your way from left to right, but I was really happy that others are more vertically inclined which really hits home the platforming elements that work so well in this case. Konami added even more variety to the pot by including quasi-3D warehouse stages.
In these you have a view of a room wherein you can move only left/right (until you clear the room of enemies) and you can fire at the enemies and barriers in the background. When you’ve cleared an area you can run forward to the next one where you repeat this action. It sounds repetitive, and it is, but these segments are so few and far that it isn’t a big deal. It was pretty typical for developers to include multiple perspectives/play styles in their games back then so this isn’t anything new. They’re a nice change of pace, and I actually enjoyed them.
The only thing that holds the original Contra back in my opinion is its difficulty. It’s not entirely unfair like Ninja Gaiden, but the fact that your characters have a very limited number of lives and they lose one from a single hit makes things difficult. Thankfully you’ve got the Konami code to help you out with thirty extra lives, but I found Contra challenging even with this handicap. The screen is regularly swarmed by large numbers of enemies, and they’re often positioned on the other side of a bottomless chasm that is so strategically placed to cause players grief.
To make matters worse only so many shots can be on-screen at once; you’re basically helpless if you’ve fired too rapidly as you wait for them to go out of view. This is most likely an issue with the hardware itself, but in this case it can be very detrimental. I find that the hardest part of this game is getting past the environmental hazards. The crew of developers at Konami got creative, and many of these are too difficult to avoid. It just makes it all that much more rewarding to make it to the end.
While this original iteration of Contra is plenty fun playing solo the real meat and potatoes is its multiplayer. I’d go so far as to say it’s easily one of the best NES co-op games of all time. The screen is plenty zoomed out during the platform areas that you won’t be tripping over your friend. The ability to divide and conquer here is amazing. This is where the multiple planes in each stage really comes in to play. You and your friend can separate and cover each other’s backs pretty easily. What’s more is that Contra is one of the few multiplayer games of this kind where I didn’t feel like having a buddy along for the ride impeded progression. You never feel like the screen is holding you back here.
Contra is a very good looking NES title. The character models for Mad Dog and Scorpion look pretty much identical (except for color) but that’s a common trait in co-op titles on this platform. This game is nice and colorful with excellent attention to detail in the scenery. I especially like the starting jungle locations, as well as the snow covered landscape a few stages later. The quasi-3D stages are particularly impressive for the platform, and I still remember being blown away by them as a child. When the game begins focusing entirely on the aliens things get a little out of whack in my opinion, but up until that point the game is pretty entertaining thematically.
Unfortunately the game screen is often cluttered with enemies and fire which can be a little distracting especially when you’re joined by another human player. Contra also suffers from slowdown and flickering, but it isn’t detrimental here. The soundtrack is pretty typical for the era and is noticeably archaic, but I really enjoyed every single song here. Contra is one of those soundtracks that you never forget; especially that introductory stage theme. It’s one of my favorite compositions on the system.
