Play Contra Online

Summary

Contra’s NES incarnation takes the arcade’s frantic run‑and‑gun core and squeezes it onto a home console, letting one or two players control shirtless commandos distinguished by blue (Bill) and red (Lance) pants. The simple two‑button layout—shoot with the left button, somersault‑jump with the right—pairs with an eight‑way stick that both moves and aims, even letting you crouch by holding down.

Your default rifle never runs out of ammo, but scattered Falcon‑shaped icons let you swap to a machine gun, laser, fireball gun or shotgun, while rapid‑bullet and barrier pickups appear more often; a rare seventh item wipes the screen clean of foes. The eight stages remix the arcade’s seven, marching you through jungles, waterfalls, snowfields, an energy zone, a hangar and an alien lair, each capped by a massive alien‑head boss and rendered with 30 fps sprite tricks that keep the hardware honest.

At the title screen the legendary Konami Code (↑↑↓↓←→←→BA) swaps the usual three lives for a generous thirty, a cheat that turned many a frustrated player into a seasoned veteran. Since its 1988 debut, the game has resurfaced in countless compilations, cementing its place as a touchstone of early console action.

Storyline

Contra is set in the distant future of 2633 A.D., where the Red Falcon Organization has established a hidden base on the fictional Galuga archipelago near New Zealand. Their goal is to wipe out humanity.

Earth Marine Corp’s elite Contra unit sends commandos Bill Rizer and Lance Bean to the island, tasked with destroying the enemy forces and uncovering the alien entity that controls them. In the U.S. release, promotional material downplays the sci‑fi setting, changing the timeline to the present day and moving the location to the Amazon Jungle.