History Videogame / Contra

* RefugeInAudacity: The (in)famous missile-jumping sequence in the end of Stage 4 in ''Contra III: The Alien Wars''. A CrowningMomentOfAwesome in most players' eyes, YourMileageMayVary.

** The [=MSX2=] version of ''Contra'' was only released in Japan and did not have an official release in Europe, even though ''Nemesis'' (aka ''{{Gradius}}''), ''Vampire Killer'' (the [=MSX2=] equivalent of the first ''VideoGame/{{Castlevania|1986}}'') and ''VideoGame/MetalGear1987'' were all released there. However, many ROM sites incorrectly list the game under the title of ''Gryzor'' (the European name of the first arcade game).

** The [=MSX2=] version of ''Contra'' was only released in Japan and did not have an official release in Europe, even though ''Nemesis'' (aka ''{{Gradius}}''), ''Vampire Killer'' (the [=MSX2=] equivalent of the first ''VideoGame/{{Castlevania}}'') and ''VideoGame/MetalGear1987'' were all released there. However, many ROM sites incorrectly list the game under the title of ''Gryzor'' (the European name of the first arcade game).

** The [=MSX2=] version of ''Contra'' was only released in Japan and did not have an official release in Europe, even though ''Nemesis'' (aka ''{{Gradius}}''), ''Vampire Killer'' (the [=MSX2=] equivalent of the first ''VideoGame/{{Castlevania}}'') and ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' were all released there. However, many ROM sites incorrectly list the game under the title of ''Gryzor'' (the European name of the first arcade game).

* XMeetsY: {{Contra}} = [[{{Alien}} Aliens]] + Film/{{Commando}} + {{Rambo}}. The Japanese flyer even mentions all three of those films. While the series is often associated with ''{{Predator}}'' as well (thanks to the cover artwork of the NES version), the original ''Contra'' arcade game actually predates ''Predator'' by four months.

* XMeetsY: {{Contra}} = [[{{Alien}} Aliens]] + Film/{{Commando}} + {{Rambo}}. The Japanese flyer even mentions all three of those films. While the series is often associated with ''{{Predator}}'' as well, the original ''Contra'' arcade game actually predates ''Predator'' by four months.

* XMeetsY: {{Contra}} = [[{{Alien}} Aliens]] + Film/{{Commando}} + {{Rambo}}. The Japanese flyer even mentions all three of those films.

* XMeetsY: {{Contra}} = [[{{Alien}} Aliens]] + Film/{{Commando}} + {{Rambo}} + {{Predator}}. The Japanese flyer even mentions all three out of four of those films.

* BadassFurry: Brad Fang and Plissken.

* {{Badass}}: Brad Fang and Plissken.

** The Metal Alien/"Slave Hawk" (which resembles the winged Queen Alien from ''{{Aliens}}'') from the arcade version of ''Super Contra'' returns in the final stage of ''Contra III''.

* XMeetsY: {{Contra}} = [[{{Alien}} Aliens]] + {{Commando}} + {{Rambo}} + {{Predator}}. The Japanese flyer even mentions all three out of four of those films.

* CutAndPasteTranslation: The NES version of ''Contra'' is missing the extra cut-scenes and graphical effects from its Famicom counterpart because it lacked the graphic enhancing chip Konami used for the Japanese release. The reason for its removal was because it made use of an internal expansion port within the actual Famicom hardware, which the NES did not have.

* DifficultyByRegion: The Japanese version of ''Contra Hard Corps'' had a life meter with allowed three hits before dying. This was removed in other regions without otherwise modifying the difficulty, leading many to regard this as the hardest game in the series. They also removed cheat codes that would have made it more bearable.

* EasyModeMockery: ''Contra III'' does not allow the player to fight the true final boss or see more than a black screen with text for an ending until completing the game on the hardest setting.

* DubNameChange: Bill Rizer and Lance Bean were given the {{punny name}}s of "[[ThePhilSilversShow Sgt. Bill 'Mad Dog' Ko]]" and "Corporal Lance 'Scorpion'" in the manuals for the NES versions. When the American version of ''Contra III'' kept the futuristic setting, their names were changed again to Jimbo and Sully and this time the manual claimed that they were the descendants of the original heroes. All four names were later used in ''Contra 4'' ("Mad Dog" and "Scorpion" for the extra palette swaps of Bill and Lance, and "Jimbo" and "Sully" for their ''Contra III'' renditions). When ''Contra 4'' was translated to Japanese, "Jimbo" and "Sully" became "Spirits Bill" and "Spirits Lance", likely since many Japanese players wouldn't had been that familiar with all the name changes.

** "Tsugu-Min" became "Brownie" in ''Contra Rebirth''. Despite the similar name, she is unrelated to the robot from ''Contra Hard Corps'', whose name is "Brown'''y'''".

** "Tsugu-Min" became "Brownie" in ''Contra Rebirth''. Of course, she was called that in ''Hard Corps'', as well.

** As few Contra games had dialogue or a focus on plot, the change to robots typically didn't affect much with the exception of Contra Hard Corps(which actually had a storyline). Many pieces of dialogue was totally cut which made several events such as Bahamut turning into an alien monster [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere completely unexplained]].
** ''Contra [=ReBirth=]'' was changed when brought overseas -- when a photograph of Chief Salamander is shown at the beginning of Stage 3, he looks strikingly like Adolf Hitler in the Japanese version. He was redrawn and given an actual salamander's head in the overseas versions though.

* {{Bowdlerize}}: When the console versions of the ''Contra'' games were released in PAL territories, the main characters and some of the enemies were replaced by robotic counterparts and the series was renamed ''Probotector''. This was due to a censorship law in Germany that prohibited selling games to children that depicted human characters killing each other with guns. The first console game in the series that was released in Europe intact was ironically ''Contra: Legacy of War'' and later ''Shattered Soldier''. The Probotector robot later appeared as an easter egg in ''Contra 4''. The german "indexing" of the original Contra still holds until today and will only be reconsidered in 2014.

* {{Expy}}: The final boss in the arcade version of ''Super Contra'' is based on Mad Emperor Asmodeus, the final boss of another Konami arcade game, ''[[http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/arcade/c/bats.htm Battlantis]]''. Both games were directed by H. Tsujimoto, who was also the director of the arcade version of ''SunsetRiders'' (a game often considered to be ''[[RecycledInSPACE Contra IN THE WILD WEST]]'').

* HeyItsThatVoice: {{Steven Jay Blum}} as Master Contra in ''Neo Contra''. Also {{Wendee Lee}} as Lucia.

* IAmNotShazam: "Red Falcon" was simply the name of the terrorist organization occupying the Galuga island in the first game, which is why Lance's organization in ''Shattered Soldier'' is called "[[{{Expy}} Blood Falcon]]". However, the American manual of the NES version of ''Contra'' implied that Red Falcon was the name of a particular alien entity and the localized manuals for ''Super C'' and ''Contra III'' followed suit by giving the name "Red Falcon" to an enemy boss that was originally called "Emperor Devil Gava" in Japan. The manual for ''Contra 4'', being influenced by the localizations of the earlier games, used "Red Falcon" as the name of an individual character.

* PolygonCeiling: The Appaloosa-developed installments ''Contra: Legacy of War'' and ''C: The Contra Adventure'' tried to make the jump from 2D to 3D, but didn't have very much success. ''Contra: Shattered Soldier'' and ''Neo Contra'' used 3D graphics but stuck to 2D formula (side-scrolling and overhead, respectively).

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical: At the time the earliest games were released, there was controversy over the US, under Ronald Reagan, supporting rebel groups in Nicaragua called the Contras, short for ''Contrarevolucionarios'', or "Counter-Revolutionaries." This caused some minor controversy and may have contributed to European release of the arcade game being titled ''Gryzor'' (since support for the Contras was considered right-wing and heavily opposed in Europe) and why the NES version of ''Super Contra'' and the Game Boy ''Contra'' game were retitled ''Super C'' and ''Operation C'' respectively.

* {{Expy}}: The final boss in the arcade version of ''Super Contra'' is based on the final boss of another Konami arcade game, ''[[http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/arcade/c/bats.htm Battlantis]]''. Both games were directed by H. Tsujimoto, who was also the director of the arcade version of ''SunsetRiders'' (a game often considered to be ''[[RecycledInSPACE Contra IN THE WILD WEST]]'').

** The same cover artwork was remade for ''Contra Advance'' by none other than AshleyWood.

* CopycatCover: The cover artwork for the first NES game, originally drawn by Bob Wakelin for the home computer ports released under the ''Gryzor'' name, [[http://www.geocities.jp/yadayo8/eiga/hu.html#pldt-contra was traced over from two different publicity stills]] of ArnoldSchwarzenegger from the movie ''{{Predator}}''.

* CopycatCover: The cover artwork for the first NES game, originally drawn by Bob Wakelin for the home computer ports released under the ''Gryzor'' name, [[http://www.geocities.jp/yadayo8/eiga/hu.html#pldt-contra was traced over from two different publicity stills]] of ArnoldSchwarzenegger from the movie ''Film/{{Predator}}''.

* [=~It's A Wonderful Failure~=]: In ''Shattered Soldier'', if the player doesn't have a high enough ranking when Mission 5 is completed, the player will get a {{Downer Ending}} where the island is destroyed by a KillSat, killing everyone including the heroes.

* [=~Name's The Same~=]: Browny (a.k.a. CX-1-DA-300 Combat Robo) from ''Hard Corps'' and Brownie (a.k.a. BR-W9) from ''[=ReBirth=]''.

* [=~Schrodinger's Gun~=]: In ''Hard Corps'', [[BigBad Colonel Bahamut's]] plan for the [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum Alien Cell]] depends on which path you take through the game. [[spoiler:Either he wants to use it to power a KillSat, turn it into a bio-weapon, [[FusionDance merge with it]], or load it on a missile and launch it into civilization.]]

* [=~What Do You Mean, It's Not Political?~=]: At the time the earliest games were released, there was controversy over the US, under Ronald Reagan, supporting rebel groups in Nicaragua called the Contras, short for ''Contrarevolucionarios'', or "Counter-Revolutionaries." This caused some minor controversy and may have contributed to European release of the arcade game being titled ''Gryzor'' (since support for the Contras was considered right-wing and heavily opposed in Europe) and why the NES version of ''Super Contra'' and the Game Boy ''Contra'' game were retitled ''Super C'' and ''Operation C'' respectively.