Genre: Run and Gun
Year: 1987
Developed by: Konami
Published by: Konami
Platforms: NES, Arcade
#168
Feeling Like: Up, up, down down…
Not many NES games left, now. A few of the big dogs and that’s it.
Unsurprising. The Nintendo Entertainment System was massively influential and revolutionary at the time, but the majority of its library hasn’t aged well in the slightest. You can hardly blame a system for not keeping up with modern appetites more than 35 years later, but a few still shed the stink of rudimentary controls and barely recognizable images.
Contra is one of them.
Very few games did the run and gun option as well; there’s no filler here. Hit Start, off you go. You’re immediately inundated with alien soldiers, monsters, obstacles and pitfalls. Thankfully the controls are so perfect that any incoming projectiles or threats are a fair challenge. Now, you won’t escape them at first because Contra is one of the more difficult games ever made. This is where “Nintendo hard” came from – there aren’t any shields or life bars. One hit, from anything, and you’re dead. The only advantage you’ll get it is the knowledge you’ll gain from failure.
There’s a reason the spread gun is etched into gaming lore; it’s still one of the greatest weapons ever. The difference between your puny single shot, basic gun and the awe-inspiring, blazing blast of red orb death is the difference between beating a level and dying, quickly. It’s so ridiculously overpowered that it’s a legitimate strategy to avoid any other power up when you’re on the Spread.
There was no way in hell I was beating this game without the Konami code, or save states on an emulator. I was never good enough to do so, though I imagine most people who have ever beaten Contra did so with the extra 30 lives. But that’s not what it’s about – it’s about basking in the 80s obsession with Aliens, Arnold, Sly and disgusting things to blow up. It’s a time capsule that’s still being unearthed by gamers today, and for good reason.
I didn’t even play Contra until well into my 20s. It continues to pop up on lists of “best NES games ever” and will continue to do so as long as there’s a desire to see arbitrary lists and a widespread interest in video games. It may be short and brutal and punishing, but the controls, soundtrack and variety of enemies ensure that this will always go down as a classic.
The 500 