I can definitively state, without even a second of hesitation, that this is one of the best video games ever made. Certainly the greatest run and gun experience, probably the greatest "action" game of any sort, and a bonafide 8-bit titan. Contra is, was, and will continue to be, unstoppable.
Contra has become affixed so firmly to the NES experience that's it's easy to forget that other versions actually do exist. The game originated in 1987 in the arcades, with the Famicom and (North American) NES carts appearing a year later. This is one case where the NES port absolutely murders the original: arcade Contra is a questionable experience, featuring some decidedly ugly color choices and janky jump physics. As for those home computer variants? Spare yourself the misery.
The story here is blunt, simple, and pure 80s. An evil "Red Falcon" organization has set up shop within the dense Amazon jungles. It's up to a duo of commandos, Bill (player 1) and Lance (optional player 2) to wipe out the threat and uncover the extraterrestrial forces behind the invasion. Though of Japanese origin, the game's Western influences are abundantly clear. Bill and Lance are modeled after action heroes Schwarzenegger and Stallone with the alien fiends resembling those aliens from a certain Ridley Scott film (about aliens).
Contra consists of eight stages with a single playthrough clocking in at a cool 25 minutes, give or take. There's some pleasant variety to the level design: six are your traditional left-to-right scrollers, one is a vertical scroller complete with a persistent insta-death pit at the bottom (à la Kid Icarus), plus a duo of "bases" where the game instead opts for a "behind the player" type of perspective. The secret to the game's monumental success lies within the control scheme. Contra is sublime, an absolute joy to play. Walking and jumping are fluid, with the speed calibrated perfectly. There's ducking and the ability to hop down ledges with the classic A+down button combo. But it's the gunplay that truly shines. The manly men of Contra can shoot in eight directions, sniping enemies from all angles. Likewise, the heroes are assaulted, relentlessly, from every area of the screen. Left, right, up, down, there are even stages showcasing booby traps and bombs that emerge from background to foreground. Despite featuring a wholly different viewpoint, the base stages feel just as natural as all others, but with the player's bullets travelling "into" the screen. This is the prototypical "run and gun" game, deftly mixing sleek platforming mechanics with all the ferocity of a good shmup.
Let's talk about the guns. Yeah, the guns. While the player naturally begins with the white-bullet pea shooter, each stage of Contra features plenty of upgrades. There's an auto-fire machine gun, the wide-range flamethrower, and the slow but powerful laser. But the most precious weapon of all is what became the series staple: the spread gun. This beast does exactly what its namesake implies: fires out multiple projectiles that "spread" all over the screen. Being in possession of this firearm is monumentally satisfying; losing it is a tragedy. The secret to completing Contra is as follows: 1) get the spread gun, 2) do not lose the spread gun.
The game showcases some of the most memorable settings on the NES. Sure, there's no logical consistency to any of it (how do the boys go from the Amazon jungle to a snow field within a matter of minutes?) but everything looks fantastic. That opening "jungle" stage is one of the most iconic in video game history, sporting a brilliant array of deep greens and blues for backgrounds, plus those unforgettable exploding bridges. The complexity and intensity just ramps up from there. I'm especially partial to stages 6 and 7: the "energy zone" and hangar environments. Sprawling futuristic mechanical gauntlets, each comes jam-packed with environmental hazards: claws that descend from the ceilings, pop-up spiked walls, periodic flares. For a plot that ostensibly hinges on an alien invasion, there are actually very few alien foes. Instead, most are of the human or robotic variety. Early stages give us the blindingly charging soldiers (called these "football players" as a kid), plenty of snipers, wall-mounted turrets, and more. The first instance of extraterrestrial life is something of a tease: that initial "big alien" appears as the stage 3 boss, and no aliens are seen again until the game's final stretch. The concluding stage of Contra is an absolute stunner. A living, breathing, pulsating alien lair where the scenery comes to life spewing forth freakish arthropod spawn. Boss battles are exceptional throughout the journey. There's a mixture of mechanical defense towers, alien land- and spacecraft, plus the final confrontation with the "heart of the alien" itself. All bosses feature multiple attack patterns, sidekicks, gunfire from every which way. Prepare to weave around like the Vic Viper.
Soundtrack: about ten minutes or so of fast-paced tunage. There's a sophisticated techno metal vibe to the whole thing, like it can barely be contained by the NES sound chip. The compositions are highly infectious. Absolutely immortal NES hit. Things do slow down a bit during those final segments. Stage 8 features an appropriately creepy dirge, and the ending theme is a thumping heroic send-off. Note that the Famicom release had a tad more music (to accompany cutscenes!) which was then excised from the NES conversion. This is of little consequence, however. The sound effects are also pretty much perfect, and were also reused in future Konami releases. It brought a huge smile to my face when Penta the Penguin starting blasting Contra bullets in Yume Penguin Monogatari.
I'd be remiss to not talk about the game's difficultly level. Contra tops a great many "Hardest NES Games" (not to mention "Hardest Video Games") lists. Is the game hard? Honestly, yeah. Sure. "Nintendo Hard" even. One of the hardest on the NES (or elsewhere)? Not even remotely close. Forget all the broken-down unplayably difficult crap that graces the NES. There are countless "legitimate" games that put up a tougher fight than Contra: any Ninja Gaiden or Castlevania title, the first Mega Man, Blaster Master, Bionic Commando, and so on. I'd even argue that Super Mario Bros. is harder than Contra! Much of the challenge here stems from the unforgiving life system. Three lives, three continues, one-hit deaths. However, (assuming the player hasn't hit Game Over) the commandos respawn instantly arcade-style, and additional lives can be gathered by slaying foes and scoring points. With such silky smooth controls and logical enemy placement, the game never feels "cheap" or unfair. For the most part. There are - and this is the game's only true flaw - certain enemies that spawn onscreen without enough warning. This is especially true of the "gunners" who first appear in the snowy stage. Those dudes just materialize, man. A little memorization goes a long way in dealing with some of these belligerents. For those who find the game unyieldingly brutal, there are some ways to mitigate the pain. The two-player mode is literally just that: a buddy can hop in and play simultaneously without any change to the stage layouts or enemy arrangements. And, of course, Contra is the game that popularized the classic "Konami code" which increases the player's lives to a whopping 30! Playing with the code activated can be a great way to get in some practice, before dropping down for a more "legitimate" run.
Just writing about Contra has me itching to play it again. This is quintessential retro gaming, and Konami at their absolute peak. Most genres need to cook for some time to reach something approaching perfection. Run and guns hit that peak in 1988.