Play Contra Advance: The Alien Wars EX Online

Summary

Contra Advance: The Alien Waves EX (often just called Contra Advance) cranks the classic run‑and‑gun formula onto the Game Boy Advance with fresh levels and graphics lifted straight from its Super‑Nintendo predecessor. The game pits you against endless swarms of aliens, robots and monsters as you try to thwart the Red Falcon’s world‑domination plot, keeping the frantic shooting pace that made the series a staple of the ’90s. Announced at E3 2002 as a remake of Contra III, the handheld version dropped the secondary weapon slot, bombs and the iconic Mode 7 stages, swapping them for side‑scrolling sections borrowed from Contra: Hard Corps. It relies on a password save system and even supports two‑player co‑op via link cable, though each player needs their own cartridge. Critics were split: IGN lamented the loss of Mode 7 variety, GameSpot warned longtime fans about the weapon changes but noted newcomers could still have fun, and Edge pointed out that the memorised enemy patterns and handheld speed didn’t age gracefully. The title later resurfaced on the Wii U Virtual Console in November 2015 for North America and Europe.