This game is sweet.
Of course, all Contra rules apply to this game. You die in one hit (except if you pick up an invincibility power-up) and when you run out of lives it's game over. A great strategic element is that you can carry 2 weapons at once, and you have backup grenades as well (sounds a bit like Halo...?) The enemies are numerous but you have infinite ammo with every gun so just blasting away is always encouraged. The bosses are HUGE. Some of them take up over half the screen! There are only 6 levels in the game, but there are 3 different types - running to the right, killing from an overhead perspective, and riding vehicles, which is exhilarating. The variety here has great potential, but there just aren't enough levels to really give the game longetivity. The weapons are easily the best the series has seen. In addition to the normal machine gun, you can get crash missiles, homing missiles, spread gun (awesome), laser, and the flamethrower (also awesome).
Like any good old-school action game, Contra is best played with 2 players. The game is less frustrating this way even though the enemies get a bit tougher.
The Super Nintendo has outstanding RPGs, platformers, and action-adventure games. It also has the token non-stop, in-your-face action game of the 16-bit era, or perhaps ever: Contra 3: The Alien Wars