Up, Up, Down, Down, B, A. Alright! I'm ready to tackle Contra!
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Platform: Nintendo Entertainment System
Genre(s): Run and Gun
Release Date: February 20, 1988
"Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Pro Wrestling, Super Mario Bros. 3, Tetris, aside from being great games what do all of these have in common? I owned them all for my NES when I was a young whipper-snapper. One that I did not own, nor did I ever play until I was fifteen was Contra. I had never played a Contra game until 7 years ago. OH MY GOD HOW COULD I MISS THIS?!
Sorry for that. *ahem* Ported onto the Nintendo Entertainment System way back in 1988, three years before this Gamer was ever born Contra took ahold of the gaming community and refused to let them go. And I can see why.
Contra is a Run and Gun, a game made back when Gamers craved a challenge to their games. And oh dear god is this game challenging, I used the now infamous Konami Code to get thirty lives, and I still failed! It was on my second try with the Konami Code that me and my cousin were finally able to conquer this beast! To this day I have yet to meet anybody who can say they beat the original Contra with just three lives and have a straight face.
Contra was revolutionary on many different levels for starters being able to fire in any direction, wasn't just a vast improvement over other shooting games of it's time but it just felt freakin' awesome! The action in the game was another. Enemies are constantly attacking you from all angles forcing you to pay attention and stay on your toes.
I know people probably thought that with Contra's port to the NES that the game's difficulty might drop. Uh-uh, not here Contra was just as hard, hair pulling, controller breaking, and frustratingly awesome as ever.
The Co-Op in Contra is officially the best I have ever played on the NES (Sorry Mario), I had an absolute blast playing this with my cousin, laughing, yelling, whooping, and screaming together as we battled through these immensely difficult enemies together was extremely satisfying and fun.
If I have anything negative to say about Contra it's that after beating it, my cousin and I don't really feel the need to put ourselves through that admittedly incredibly fun, but also frustratingly difficult experience again. So for myself and others I can imagine replay value is kinda low.
But in conclusion Contra is a marvel. It looks great, it sounds great, and it feels great. Difficulty might keep some away or hinder replayability but I for one am extremely saddened that I didn't experience this game when it first came out. If you're like me and missed Contra before, go and play it. You'll have a blast as you rip your hair out."
+Gameplay is addicting and fun
+Game looks Great
+Sound is memorable
+Boss fights are memorable
+Gave us the now famous Konami Code
+Extremely satisfying Co-Op
-Difficulty might keep some away
-Difficulty also may hinder replayability
9.0/10
Gold Seal of Satisfaction