Contra III: The Alien Wars (1992). Play online

Summary

Contra III: The Alien Wars keeps the gun‑firing on an unrelenting roll – you barely get a breath between waves of extraterrestrials. The two‑handed fire‑arms you pick up can be swapped on the fly, and the power‑up drop system showers you with homing missiles, torpedoes, a flamethrower, a laser and a spread shot; you lose everything if you die, but limited bombs and a temporary shield can stave off doom. Four side‑scrollers blend with two Mode 7 overhead stages that showcase the SNES’s raster‑scrolling, sprite scaling and rotation, including that insane moment where you cling to a missile as it hurtles across the screen. Director Nobuya Nakazato pushed a cheekier tone, tighter level geometry and a built‑in “boss rush” that rewards you every three screens with a bigger, flashier encounter. Critics praised its cinematic soundtrack and arcade‑quality action, and the title has survived on Wii and Wii U Virtual Console, the 3DS eShop, the Super NES Classic, and the modern Contra: Anniversary Collection.

Storyline

Contra III: The Alien Wars drops players into the year 2636, two years after the events of Super Contra. Bill Rizer and Lance Bean are recalled to battle a full‑scale alien invasion of Earth.

The game spans six stages, each filled with scrolling action, hidden passages and a mix of regular enemies and towering bosses. Mini‑bosses appear between sections, giving a quick but fierce challenge.

Weaponry is diverse: you start with a weak but accurate machine gun and can pick up missiles, flamethrowers, lasers, wide‑area shots and a powerful super‑missile, each with its own trade‑offs.

Controls feel tight on the SNES; you can fire in any direction, crawl, jump, and even cling to walls to find new angles of attack. The graphics take full advantage of the console, delivering sharper sprites and alien designs that look genuinely terrifying.