Contra is a huge nostalgia game for me. I have many fond memories of sitting in a dark basement with a friend, blasting away at this game and Super C for hours.
This was the first run-and-gun game I ever played. It was incredibly fun, especially in co-op.
The Table of Contents
Nostalgia and the Konami Code
It was also my (and many others') introduction to the Konami Code (Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start or Select Start for two players) and to cheat codes in general.
Having insider knowledge felt great when hacks and cheats were rare and hard to find online.
Who Are These People?
The two playable commandos are Mad Dog and Scorpion, but you wouldn't know that from the game. You know what else the game has very little to do with? This brochure image for the arcade version. I have no idea who that lady is. I also don't get why she's in this game, dressed like a commando with grenades and a combat knife, even though the knife isn't in the game.
The "Story" (Such As It Is)
Your mission is to take down the "vile Red Falcon," an "alien warmonger." Ol' Red has a standard army of foot soldiers and gun turrets. It also features aliens that resemble those from the Alien movies.
The strategy in Contra is to shoot everything. When you finally beat the giant alien egg-hatching heart (…is that Red Falcon?) and "save the universe," you are told that you can now "Consider yourself a hero." Thanks, Contra, for suggesting that if no one else will celebrate my universe-saving, I should do it myself.
You won't spend much time on the story in this game. It doesn't matter much that the North American version takes place in a modern South American jungle. Meanwhile, the Japanese version takes place in the future, maybe near New Zealand. In the end, no one really cares.
Why You Actually Play Contra
You play Contra for the classic side-scrolling run-and-gun gameplay and the nostalgia. It's tough, but Unlimited continues, and the Konami Code's 30 lives help make the console version beatable in single-player. Co-op mode also makes it easier. Contra is a fun, classic two-player game where you team up to fight enemies, but be careful not to accidentally hurt each other by scrolling the screen at the wrong moment.
Controls That Work (Mostly)
The movement and shooting mechanics are old. For instance, you have to jump first to shoot down. Still, in my replay, this throwback to classic gaming was more fun than frustrating. The system works, and things
move quickly, so I found myself caught up in the action and only occasionally frustrated by control issues. Remembering how to game the angles at which you and your enemies can shoot was quick and enjoyable.
Learning Through Death
Contra is a classic arcade-to-console port. The difficulty comes not from game length (it's only eight levels long) but from how often you are going to die, which will be often. Contra is designed so that you learn by dying. You will inevitably wind up jumping only to find that, as the screen scrolls, you have jumped right into some death or another.
You will die a few times while figuring out workable strategies for tough areas and bosses. You will die as you and your co-op partner accidentally cause the screen to scroll and doom the other player. But (until you're out of lives) the game drops you back in right where you died, so this usually isn't that frustrating (with the Konami Code, anyway). Losing your good guns upon death does hurt, though.
Power-Ups and the Spread Gun
Contra features several gun power-ups: rapid fire (R), machine gun (M), laser (L), flamethrower (F), and the spread gun (S), whose bullets fan outward in front of you. The spread gun is my go-to in this game
because it can neutralize so many threats at once.
The laser and flamethrower are stronger, but they require a lot more precision and don't cover as much of the screen. In co-op, you and your friend might face tough choices.
You'll have one great power-up that you can't share. In addition to the gun upgrades, you can also get a B that makes you invincible (bulletproof vest?) and a falcon-shaped power-up that destroys all threats on the screen. Where do the power-ups fly in from? Maybe from your sponsors in the Hunger Games; I don't know.
Eight Levels of Pure Fun
I revisited many parts of this game and suddenly remembered them well. It's funny how I hadn't thought about them in over twenty years. This nostalgia payoff was huge. I enjoyed every level. It's better to design eight great levels than fifty uneven ones.
Graphics and Sound
Graphics and sound are good enough. They're nothing special now, of course, but they're not distractingly bad. They have that 8-bit charm, and the alien-like creature and level design are cool sometimes. Rediscovering old enemies and forgotten places brought me a lot of nostalgia.
This game was as fun as I remembered it. When I play a childhood game again, it often feels slow. But that didn't happen here, except when dying and retrying got a bit tedious.
The Verdict
We rate: Contra (NES) an 8.5/10 - a ★★★★½☆ on our retro game scale.
Would I recommend it?
Yes - The game is hard but rewarding, short but sweet, and the gameplay is still fun almost 40 years later. Plus, you get to input the Konami Code on an NES controller again. And at the end, you can consider yourself a hero! But then, you were always a hero to me.
Would I replay it?
Yes, it's better to play with a friend, and strategizing together when you’re stuck will help ward off monotony, too.
What Contra Meant to Me
Contra was more than a video game for me; it was a big part of my childhood. I always remembered family gatherings as a kid when my uncle would bring his console and Contra for us to play.
I remember sitting cross-legged on the carpet and playing the game for what seemed like hours. I even thought about getting the Konami Code tattooed on my arm.
Watch our Contra NES co-op gameplay
Recorded by me (Brandon) and Zach. This real hardware session highlights why the Contra video game is still so iconic — spread guns, one-hit deaths, and all.
What You Should Know About Collecting Contra
Contra with the box and manual is worth over 5 times the price of just the cartridge. A loose cart sells for around $37. Complete copies sell for much more. That's a huge difference.
But here's what really matters: condition. Stickers on the cart lower the price. Label damage lowers the price. A crushed box or bent manual lowers the price, too. Clean games are worth more than damaged games. This is true for all NES games.
