Konami's Contra

Contra is a spray and pray run and gun shooter that was developed by Konami and released in 1987. The game was originally released as an arcade cabinet, but later re-released for the NES one year  later in 1988. If you ask me, this is game that will make any one quite with a controller flying through the air in an instant.

The plot of the game is the plot of pretty much every shooter. You control a commando, or commandos if playing two player, and your mission is to stop a terrorist group who is plotting to take over the world. It's a little cheesy, but very much the style of that generation. What I mean by that is, looking at a lot of comic books that came out around that time; a lot had the plot of one super hero against an evil mastermind plotting against the world. So the game fits very well with its plot for the time.

This game though is hard to say the least. unlike a lot of today's FPS style games, after one hit in Contra, you are dead. After 4 lives, it's game over. With enemies and turrets all over the place, shooting every which way, it is hard enough to get past the first area. Even with the power ups that they give you, it is pretty much impossible to go through an area with out losing a life.

The only way I was able to even get past the first area was using the Contra code, or better known as the Konami Code. This is a code that is in every Konami game (I think), but don't quote me there. Using the code at the start menu, before you choose one or two player, will give you 30 lives in the game. With a cushion like that, it makes running through the game a lot easier. Also, with out a limited ammo count you can literally "run and gun" in this side scroller.

The Konami Code

Even though this is one of the games that makes me agro quite the most (really what game doesn't tick me off to that point though), I really enjoy this game. I guess that is because this game make me feel really accomplished when I just get past the first stage. Watching that classic explosion anime when you blow your way through a level just makes me jump for joy. Hip Hip Hooray for making a grown man jump for joy...

Another thing I really like about this game is how it is not just in 2-D like the others before. In Contra, you move up and down the terrain. This actually makes you think because you can move and dodge different areas and, wait for it.... you can shoot more than just straight! This is crazy right! this also adds a level of strategy in the game. 

But you can really see the influence that this game has had on a lot of today's FPS games. For instance, in most FPS games you have or can pick up different weapons with different effects. In Contra, you can pick up upgrades that either upgrade your weapon your temporally make you invincible. You can see this in game like Call of Duty when you switch classes for the different effects of the class, or in Halo 3 when you use bubble shields or invisibility.

Altogether, Contra is a fun game that has influenced today's FPS style games.

References:
http://www.contraweb.org/contra-history