Aliens trying to take over the world? Just take 'em down with some of the cool weapons in this game!
THE GOOD
-Nice variety of power-ups
-Solid controls
-Game mixes things up by changing the playing views from side scrolling to behind the player
THE BAD
-Difficulty is a bit too high
OVERVIEW
Alright so here is the back story. A cruel and corrupt alien life form known as Red Falcon has been setting up a base near the old Mayan ruins since the late 1950s. Thirty years later, the American government learns about suspicious alien activity in the region and decides to act. They send in their two top military specialists named Bill Rizer "Mad Dog" and Lance Bean "Scorpion" to defeat Red and his army. Now it is up to two of America's finest to stop the alien invasion from conquering the entire world.
GAMEPLAY
Contra is a compelling side scrolling shooting game for the NES. You and another friend can take on the roles of "Mad Dog" and "Scorpion" in there quest to achieve victory. The controls for the game are very flexible. You can jump and fire your weapon in eight different directions. Shooting in the eight different directions makes killing the enemy quite easy. Aside from shooting there is a fair amount of platforming to do in the game like jumping from cliffs and avoiding crumbling bridges. Plus, Contra switches between side scrolling and behind the player viewing, on certain levels, which keeps things from getting repetitive. The downside to the combat is that the difficulty is a little too high which can make you throw the controller through the wall sometimes.
Ok, so let's talk guns! Contra offers a wide variety of guns (power-ups) to waste your opponent with. Each player starts off with the shotgun and all they have to do is shoot a power-up balloon to gain an upgrade. There are other, more useful, weapons like the machine gun, flamethrower, and laser gun. Also, you can find explosives and shields to help you out too. Trust me; you'll need all the firepower you can handle when you go up against some of the bosses in the game. So, give yourself a "pat on the back" when you do defeat them because they are quite challenging even for the experienced gamer.
GRAPHICS & SOUND
The developers came up with some really fun levels in Contra. The visuals are above the average NES game and mixing different views was a nice plus too.
The music definitely fits the mood of the theme and the sound effects give a nice military feel.
CONCLUSION
Even though the difficultly is tad high, I would still recommend this one. The multiplayer mode will help in making the game a little easier so I suggest playing with a friend. The fun combat system and cool power-ups really make for a great gaming experience and who doesn't like killing aliens, right?!