Line #314 VideoGame/Contra


1	[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/contra_arcade_title_screen.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:225: Any resemblance to [[Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger Arnie]] and [[Creator/SylvesterStallone Sly]] is probably [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed intentional]].]]
3
4	->"''Fire! Fire! Fire! And don't stop firing are the only instructions you need. Because in this Doomsday extravaganza, there's little time for thinking. A killer instinct is all that matters. And if your trigger finger lacks stamina, Earth will lack a future.''"
5	-->-- From the ''Super C'' manual
6
7	''Contra'' is a RunAndGun action game series produced by Creator/{{Konami}} in 1987, starring SuperSoldier Bill Rizer (accompanied by his partner Lance Bean in the early games) who must defend the Earth using a variety of weapons, including Machine Guns, Fire Balls, Lasers, Bombs, and the ever-popular [[SpreadShot Spread Gun]].
8
9	The games are [[NintendoHard notoriously difficult]], but fast-paced enough that most players don't mind the challenge. The NES version of the original ''Contra'' popularized what is now known as the "KonamiCode": '''Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A'''.
10
11
12	'''List of ''Contra'' games:'''
13	* ''Contra'' (Arcade/NES/[=MSX2=]/ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC as '' Gryzor'')
14	* ''Super Contra'' (Arcade, released as ''Super C'' on the NES)
15	* ''Operation C'' (Game Boy)
16	* ''VideoGame/ContraIIITheAlienWars'' (SNES/GB, released as ''Contra Advanced: The Alien Wars EX'' on the GBA, ''Super Probotector: Alien Rebels'' in European languages, with added elements from ''Hard Corps''.)
17	* ''Contra Force'' (NES, a DolledUpInstallment originally planned as an unrelated game titled ''Arc Hound'')
18	* ''VideoGame/ContraHardCorps'' (Genesis)
19	* ''Contra: Legacy of War'' (PS/Saturn, first of the two Appaloosa-developed installments)
20	* ''C: The Contra Adventure'' (PS, the other Appaloosa-developed installment)
21	* ''Contra: Shattered Soldier'' ([=PS2=], returned to 2D)
22	* ''Neo Contra'' ([=PS2=], another attempt at a 3D ''Contra'')
23	* ''Contra 4'' (Nintendo DS, developed by Creator/WayForwardTechnologies)
24	* ''Contra [=ReBirth=]'' (Platform/WiiWare, developed by Creator/{{M2}})
25	* ''VideoGame/HardCorpsUprising'' (PSN and Xbox Live Arcade)
26	* ''Contra 3D'', a pachislot game released exclusively for Japan roughly based on the first two games.
27	* ''Contra: Evolution'' (arcade/[=iOS=]/Android, officially licensed remake of the NES/Famicom ''Contra'' developed for the Chinese/Hong Kong market and later the international markets)
28	* ''Contra Returns'' ([=iOS=]/Android, a free to play game co-developed by [[Creator/TencentGames TiMi Studios]])
29	* ''Contra: Rogue Corps'' (Nintendo Switch/[=PS4=]/Xbox One/Steam, developed by Toylogic)
30	* ''Contra: Tournament'' ([=iOS=]/Android, a free-to-play ThirdPersonShooter BattleRoyaleGame developed by Eggtart)
31	* ''VideoGame/ContraOperationGaluga'' (Nintendo Switch/[=PS4=]/[=PS5=]/Xbox One/Xbox Series/Steam, a reimagining of the original game developed by Wayforward Technologies).
32
33	Known as ''Gryzor'' (the arcade and home computer versions) or ''Probotector'' (the home console versions) in Europe, the latter distributed with the assistance of Bandai’s European branches in the 1990s.
34
35	On April 19, 2017 a live-action film was [[http://chinafilminsider.com/classic-1987-arcade-game-contra-set-become-movie announced,]] and was scheduled to be released in 2019, a date it missed. Its current status is unknown.
36
37	----
38	!!'''This series provides examples of:'''
39
40	* AdvertisedExtra: Spidal (a.k.a. [[DubNameChange The Babalu Destructoid Mechanism]]), the robot spider from ''Super C''. It's on the cover, it's illustrated in the manual, it is heralded by a music switch, and it's just a MiniBoss who is vulnerable to a CraniumRide. If you have the Laser it won't even get close.
41	%%* AfterTheEnd: "Calamity on a global scale. '''The Earth after environmental collapse'''". - ''Shattered Soldier''.
42	* AlienInvasion: The central conflict in all games involves a destructive alien race invading Earth, forcing a group of commandos to work together to repel the intruders.
43	* AllThereInTheManual:
44	** The plot for most of the games prior to ''Contra: Hard Corps'', which is how the American version of the series managed to get away with a different continuity for several years until ''Contra: Shattered Soldier'' (aside for the fact that the Famicom version of ''Contra'' had cut-scenes which were removed from its NES counterpart).
45	** You wouldn't know that ''Contra: Hard Corps'' took place during the holiday season if you haven't looked at the manual.
46	* AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs: The final mission of ''Contra Force'' has D.N.M.E. taking the fight right at your doorstep.
47	* AllegedlyFreeGame: ''Contra Returns'' has insane grinding requirements, major difficulty spikes, equipment drops mostly governed by {{Loot Box\|es}}, also several paid-only perks (mostly time-limited).
48	* AlternateUniverse: ''Contra Returns'' takes place in another continuity with characters from the Contra series put in, which is why some ''Hard Corps'' characters look radically different and Bahamut is still a good guy with no signs of pulling a coup [[spoiler:at first]], and Bill answers to him. A possible reference to ''Hard Corps: Uprising'' where Bahamut looked and played exactly like Bill in other ''Contra'' games.
49	* AlternativeCalendar: Parodied in ''Contra'' ''[=ReBirth=]'', which is set in "Contra Year 2633", a reference to the MSX ''Gradius'' series (in which the game's universe had its own "Gradian" calendar).
50	* AndYourRewardIsClothes: Clearing the game with an S-rank in ''Neo Contra'' unlocks a swimsuit costume for the character you used.
51	* AntagonistTitle: ''Neo Contra''. The game's title comes from the name of the terrorist organization Bill and Jaguar battle throughout the whole game.
52	* AntiFrustrationFeatures: Not playing ''Contra Returns'' for a pretty long time (such as 6 months or a year) will have you showered by comeback events and rewards upon returning.
53	* ArtShift: ''Contra Returns'' features a more cleaner art style with far less grotesque bits and parts.
54	* ArtisticLicensePhysics: There is no way that a helicopter can fly into space, especially as the rotors (or any VTOL powered systems) are ''not'' designed to function on low-orbit, with only RuleOfCool being a plausible explanation as to how it works. This is even the case with the transport plane in ''Shattered Soldier'', as the design means that it can only normally operate on gravity.
55	%%* ArtifactOfDoom: The Relic of Moirai in ''Contra: Shattered Soldier''.
56	* AstralFinale: The final stages of ''Neo'' has you taking the fight to [[BigBad Master Contra]] at his space station.
57	* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: The final boss of ''Contra 4'' [[spoiler:grows gigantic by absorbing the corpses of humans into its biomass]].
58	* AutomaticCrossbow: ''Contra Returns'' has a weapon category called Bows. While a few are future-tech compound bows, most are rapid-fire crossbows that have a decent firing rate and a somewhat decent ammo capacity. Unfortunately they enter the AwesomeButImpractical territory because of their awful reloading time.
59	%%* BaitAndSwitchBoss:
60	%%** The Stage 2 boss in ''Contra 4''
61	%%** Slave Beast Taka (the Stage 1 boss) in ''Shattered Soldier''.
62	* BeastWithAHumanFace:
63	** The Jinmen-gyo from ''Shattered Soldier'', whose name appropriately means "human-faced fish".
64	** In the first level of ''III'' and the City level in ''4'', one of the enemies is a man-faced mutt.
65	* BeatEmUp: ''Contra Returns'' can be described as "Beat em up with guns" as now there are almost no enemies that are OneHitPointWonder, the players, like in the Japanese version of ''Hard Corps'', except for [[EndlessRunningGame one gameplay mode]], are also not OneHitPointWonder.
66	* BehindTheBlack: In ''Contra [=ReBirth=]'', the boss of Area 3 repeatedly bounces off the edges of the screen when defeated, even though you're riding a truck through a wide open area with nothing to bounce off of.
67	* BigBad:
68	** Emperor Devil Gava is the leader of the invading aliens in most of the games.
69	** In ''Shattered Soldier'', [[spoiler: the BigBad is at first assumed to be Lance Bean, Bill Rizer's former partner, but the true antagonists of the game are the [[GovernmentConspiracy Triumvirate]]]].
70	%%** Colonel Bahamut in ''Contra: Hard Corps''
71	%%** Master Contra in ''Neo Contra''
72	%%** Chief Salamander in ''Contra'' ''[=ReBirth=]''
73	%%** Tiberius in the prequel, ''VideoGame/HardCorpsUprising''.
74	%%** In ''Operation Galuga'', General Varanis.
75	%%* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler: Mystery G in ''Neo Contra'', which culminates in a HeroicSacrifice]].
76	* BlackHelicopter: For a game set far in TheFuture, both Contra and the Red Falcons really like their Apache-style helicopter gunships even though everyone has spaceship and flying MiniMecha technology. That said, it's clear those gunships have futuristic armaments and armor given how much damage they can take.
77	* BloodierAndGorier: ''Neo Contra'', while LighterAndSofter than ''Shattered Soldier'', has some explicit gory scenes in game. [[spoiler: From [[HighPressureBlood enemies gushing blood]], [[HeroicSacrifice Mystery G's dying scene]] to ''even'' [[GoldenEnding Jaguar's ending in which he slashes mooks relentlessly]]]], ''Neo Contra'' is no slouch when it comes to gory scenes. This is why this game got higher content rating than other games in the series.
78	%%* BodyHorror: [[BigBad Colonel Bahamut]] gets one and so does the very first boss of the 3rd game.
79	* BossGame:
80	** ''Hard Corps'' is a bit different than other Contra games in a way that the normal sidescrolling may be either short or easy, but the game contains a lot of mini-bosses and bosses that you'll spend more time figuring out how bosses fight while fighting them, with lesser platforming than normal Contra games.
81	** Downplayed in ''Shattered Soldier''. There are segments like standard Contra of running and gunning through grunts, but even then, the vast majority of your time is spent fighting mini-bosses and bosses. The generic grunts don't even count towards your completion percentage of the stage.
82	* BossRush: The final stage of ''Contra III'' has six bosses in a row (''[[TrueFinalBoss seven]]'' if you're playing Hard mode), though the last two bosses were new to the series. The ones who weren't are the final bosses from the previous games and the Stage 4 boss from the Arcade version of ''Super Contra''.
83	* BottomlessMagazines: No matter how often you or the bad guys shoot, no one ever runs out of ammo. Even ''Rogue Corps'' runs on this, you never run out of ammo. You do, however, had to worry about OverHeating, which prevents you to just shoot at will without restraints.
84	* BottomlessPits: Falling off the screen tends to kill you in most games.
85	* {{Bowdlerise}}:
86	** When the console versions of the ''Contra'' games were released in Europe and Australia, 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''.
87	** 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). Most of the dialogue and some scenes were cut, which made several events such as Bahamut turning into an alien monster [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere completely unexplained]].
88	** ''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 [[spoiler:''UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler'']] in the Japanese version. He was redrawn to look just like an actual salamander in the overseas versions.
89	* BrainInAJar:
90	** The penultimate boss in ''Contra III'', whose official Japanese name is "Brain Organism Searle" [[note]]''Zunou Seimeitai Saaru''[[/note]], is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a sentient brain]] with one eye. As it's connected to Emperor Devil Gava [[note]]''Tennou Ki Gyaba''[[/note]], it reappears among Gava's dissected remains in ''Neo Contra'', and Gava [[{{expy}} look-alike]] Black Viper has a similar counterpart in ''Contra 4''.
91	** ''Contra: Hard Corps'' has "Big Magnum", a brainish alien is used to power a giant [[EarthShatteringKaboom planet destroying]] laser.
92	* BreakThemByTalking: In ''Neo Contra'', [[BigBad Master Contra]] delivers one to Bill Rizer at the end of Stage 5, telling him if he knows his personal memories, and that his memories were pieced together by a military database. Let's not forget the fact that [[spoiler: he also claims that he is the real Bill Rizer and that Bill Rizer is nothing but a clone]]. This drives Bill Rizer into a brief HeroicBSOD until Mystery G puts him out of it after [[spoiler: [[HeroicSacrifice he saves Bill and Jaguar from Master Contra and gets killed in the process]]]].
93	* BreakablePowerUp: The game takes away all powerups on the loss of a [[VideoGameLives life]]. Since the player is a OneHitPointWonder and {{Power Up}}s are ''not'' {{Single Use Shield}}s, the distinction between [[VideoGameLives lives]] and HitPoints is largely academic in this case.
94	* BrickJoke: Area 2 of ''Contra'' ''[=ReBirth=]'' begins with the Contra(s) blowing the head off a HumongousMecha, sending it flying and the mecha retreating. After the RecurringBoss is defeated at the end of the stage, its head falls from the sky and bonks it, resulting in its disintegration.
95	* BulletHell: The ninja miniboss in Area 3 of ''Contra'' ''[=ReBirth=]'' has a bullet hell style attack as part of its attack pattern of throwing laser shuriken. On Easy, the bullet hell pattern is pretty straightforward, but as the difficulty level goes up, it becomes more complex and you get less space to dodge the shuriken.
96	* TheCameo:
97	** An ''incredibly'' obscure one in ''[=ReBirth=]''; among the fleeing citizens in the second stage is a girl on a skateboard that popped up briefly in ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTheArcadeGame'', and her sprite is more or less an updated version of her NES incarnation (she wore a different outfit in the actual arcade game).
98	** On the same stage, a billboard with Dr. Venom's face on it can be seen in the background. Dr. Venom was the antagonist of the ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}'' sequels for the MSX.
99	** Sparkster of the ''VideoGame/RocketKnightAdventures'' appears, as a shadowy figure, in the Secret Ending of ''Shattered Soldier''.
100	** The Rolling Duckers in ''Contra III'' were based on the walking Ducker cannons from ''Gradius''.
101	%%ZCE* {{Camp}}: ''Contra'' ''[=ReBirth=]'' seems to be a deliberate example of this, although the trend seems to have started with ''Neo Contra'', which is likewise whacky as hell.
102	* CanonDiscontinuity: ''Contra Force'', ''Contra: Legacy of War'' and ''C: The Contra Adventure'' are not listed in the database of ''Contra: Shattered Soldier'', though this has mainly to do with the fact that none of those games were released in Japan and database follows the Japanese continuity instead of the American one that was followed by every game in the series prior to ''Shattered Soldier''.
103	%%* CarFu: Used by the third MiniBoss in ''Hard Corps''. It's pathetically easy to avoid as compared to his EyeBeams, though.
104	* ClassicCheatCode: ''Contra'' wasn't the first game to use the classic KonamiCode (that honor goes to ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}''), but this game was the one that made it popular in North America.
105	* ColorCodedMultiplayer - In the NES versions of ''Contra'' and ''Super C'', Bill and Lance are distinguished by the color of their pants. This was mainly done due to hardware limitations, since Bill and Lance in the arcade version actually have different sprites (though, they did wear color-coded bandannas), but ''Contra III'' for the SNES and ''Contra 4'' for the DS both kept the tradition. In the arcade version of ''Super Contra'', Bill and Lance actually wore green and purple respectively, which became the colors for "Mad Dog" and "Scorpion", the extra characters in ''Contra 4''.
106	* ComicBookFantasyCasting: Bill and Lance are famously modeled after Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone respectively. A {{Retraux}} promotional poster for 4 throws in Wesley Snipes as Mad Dog and Vin Diesel as Scorpion.
107	* CompilationRerelease:
108	** The PC-only ''Konami Collector's Series: Castlevania & Contra'' features ''Contra'' and ''Super C'' along with the original NES ''Castlevania'' games (and an unused version of ''VideoGame/{{Jackal}}'')
109	** The 2019 ''Contra Anniversary Collection'' for Playstation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch is a pretty beefy package that features the arcade versions of ''Contra'' and ''Super Contra'', the NES ''Contra'', its Japanese version and ''Super C'', the Game boy game ''Operation C'', ''Contra III: The Alien Wars'' and ''Contra: Hard Corps'' and the European ''Probotector'' versions of ''Contra III'' and ''Hard Corps''. The Probotector games even feature a Turbo feature to have them play at the same 60hz speed as the proper Contra games. A later patch added the Japanese versions of the other games as well.
110	* ConspicuousElectricObstacle:
111	** Downplayed in the original game. In base levels, there is an electrified barrier in every room. Trying to advance before the core is destroyed gets the player stunned by that barrier.
112	** In stage 4 of ''Contra Rebirth'', blue electrified spheres move along some of the handholds.
113	* ContinuingIsPainful: In the early ''Contra'' games, losing a life will revert the player's weapon back to the default Normal Gun, which can be especially painful in the middle of a boss battle. To fix this problem, the automatic Machine Gun was made into the default gun from ''Operation C'' and onward (with ''Contra 4'' and ''VideoGame/HardCorpsUprising'' both reverting back to the "peashooter"-style Normal Gun from the arcade and NES games), while ''Contra III'' and ''Hard Corps'' allowed players to carry more than one weapon at the same time (giving players the option to have a backup weapon in case they lose a life).
114	* CoolVersusAwesome: You play as two manly gun-toting soldiers based on Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger and Creator/SylvesterStallone, fighting off extraterrestrial forces based on [[Franchise/{{Alien}} one of the most influential horror pop culture icons of that time]].
115	* CopycatCover:
116	** The cover artwork for the first NES game, [[http://www.exotica.org.uk/wiki/Bob_Wakelin#Gryzor originally drawn by Bob Wakelin]] for the home computer ports released under the ''Gryzor'' name, [[https://web.archive.org/web/20020804132948/http://www.geocities.jp/yadayo8/eiga/hu.html was traced over from two different publicity stills]] of Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger from the movie ''Film/{{Predator}}''. The same cover artwork was remade for ''Contra Advance'' by none other than Ashley Wood.
117	** While not as well known, the promotional art for the original arcade games [[https://web.archive.org/web/20020813185326/http://www.geocities.jp/yadayo8/eiga/ra.html were traced over from imagery]] of Creator/SylvesterStallone in ''Film/RamboFirstBloodPartII''.
118	** The cover art for ''Contra Spirits'' (the Japanese version of ''Contra III'') is [[https://notablegamebox.tumblr.com/post/24158345115/the-artist-who-did-the-cover-for-contra-iii-alien another trace over of Arnie]], this time from the movie ''Film/RawDeal1986''.
119	* CoresAndTurretsBoss: The series features many bosses that are composed of turrets and glowing cores.
120	** In the first game, the very first and seventh boss consists of a few turrets and a glowing core. The base levels, particularly the first one, also consist of glowing cores and turrets. A miniature version of cores and turrets are found withing the base stages before the boss.
121	%%* CraniumRide: You can do that a in some sections in ''Contra'' ''[=ReBirth=]''. For an example, the final level.
122	* CulturalTranslation: Characters in ''Contra Returns'' were changed from their original release to better suit Western audiences in the global release. Protagonist Edge Han (which was changed from his original name "Han Feng" for the Asian English version) becomes Pulse William, and player support Tina goes from a brunette to a blonde. This creates a minor DubInducedPlotHole when Shin Contra Edge Han is released, and his name gets changed to Merle but, the voice lines remain unchanged, where he still refers to himself as ''Edge Han''.
123	* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Shattered Soldier'' features a darker atmosphere overall and a story that's far more deeper than the previous "Aliens are wrecking Earth's shit, Bill and Lance attack aggressively" stories of older games.
124	* DecompositeCharacter: ''Contra 4'' turned the various character designs and {{Dub Name Change}}s of Bill and Lance into seven different playable characters:
125	** "Bill" and "Lance" use their official names and most iconic designs.
126	** "Mad Dog" and "Scorpion" use their names from the American manual of the original ''Contra'' and designs based on the arcade version of ''Super Contra''. (Story-wise, they're also {{Retcon}}ned into being the protagonists of ''Operation C''.)
127	** "Jimbo" and "Sully" use their names from the American manual of ''Contra III: The Alien Wars'' and designs from the same game.
128	** Finally, "Probotector" is based on the robots that replaced the human characters in the {{Bowdlerise}}d European games.
129	* DiabolusExMachina: In the Amstrad CPC port of the original game, a particularly sadistic example occurs after killing the final boss. [[spoiler: ''For no reason at all'', its destruction somehow triggers the Earth's ''self-destruct mechanism'' which then promptly wipes out humanity and all life along with it, rendering your entire effort moot.]] No, really, [[https://youtu.be/5stKSYNk6Z8?t=7m26s see for yourself here]].
130	* DifficultButAwesome: The Laser Gun. Often regarded as a PowerupLetdown due to its slow firing and narrow range, mastering it nonetheless nets you a powerful weapon that can take down bosses in seconds.
131	* DifficultyByRegion:
132	** The Famicom versions of the first two games, as well as ''Contra Spirits'', had stage select codes which were removed for their overseas releases.
133	** Inverted with the Japanese arcade version of ''Super Contra'', which has a second loop not featured in the overseas release that is basically the hardest setting of the game with your score, lives and weapons (including Hyper Shells) restored from the first playthrough but no more continues nor second player join-ins. The western version ends the game once the final stage is cleared.
134	* DolledUpInstallment: ''Contra Force'' was derived from an unreleased Famicom game titled ''Arc Hound''.
135	* DubNameChange:
136	** Bill Rizer and Lance Bean were renamed "[[Series/ThePhilSilversShow Sgt. Bill 'Mad Dog' Ko]]" and "[[PunnyName 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 two "new" heroes, and "Jimbo" and "Sully" for the ''Contra III'' renditions of Bill and Lance).
137	** 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 the name changes.
138	** The names of the enemy characters also differ depending on the manual.
139	** "Tsugu-Min" became "Brownie" in ''Contra'' ''[=ReBirth=]''. Despite the similar name, she is a different character from the robot character in ''Contra: Hard Corps'', whose name is "Brown'''y'''".
140	** The bosses have different names in the Japanese release of ''VideoGame/HardCorpsUprising''.
141	* DubInducedPlotlineChange: The biggest reason that there was a split between the English and Japanese timelines for Contra is because the only story people had for the English versions came from the instruction manuals. Unfortunately, the manuals were written by people that didn't seem to have actually played the game and gave it an almost ComicalTranslation. Enemies were given names like "Jagger Froid" and "[[Series/ILoveLucy Babalu]] Destructoid Mechanism". In other words, ''they made things up'', leading to endless confusion.
142	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
143	** In the arcade version of the original game, you have to wait until the other player runs out of lives before you can continue if you are playing cooperatively. Inverted in ''Super Contra'', where you can continue at any time without having to wait until the other player runs out of lives.
144	** The arcade versions of ''Contra'' and ''Super Contra'' use vertically-oriented screens. Aside from being a weird orientation for a mainly-horizontal RunAndGun game, this setup was not used in ports or subsequent games besides ''Contra 4''.
145	* EarthShatteringKaboom: In one of the endings in ''Neo Contra'', [[spoiler:Jaguar cuts a giant robot with his katana with enough force, to also slice the planet in half, which explodes]].
146	* EasyModeMockery:
147	** ''Contra III'' does not allow the player to fight the TrueFinalBoss or see more than a black screen with text for an ending until completing the game on the hardest setting. The Japanese version does allow the player to fight the final boss on Normal, but only shows a partial version of the ending.
148	** ''Contra 4'' also ends the game on Stage 7 on Easy mode, literally telling the player that they can't see the ending unless they beat it on Normal or Hard.
149	** In ''Contra'' ''[=ReBirth=]'', the real Final Boss cannot be fought if the difficulty setting is on Easy. Players get the same initial ending regardless of the difficulty setting, but going the extra mile awards the player with a bonus ending.
150	* EmbeddedPrecursor: ''Contra 4'' features the NES versions of ''Contra'' and ''Super C'' as unlockable extras after completing a series of optional challenges.
151	* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: ''[[spoiler:Winning]]'' in the Amstrad CPC version causes the Earth to be blown up.
152	* TheEndOrIsIt:
153	** Brought up in the ending of the MSX version, which congratulates you for foiling Red Falcon, but is unsure as to whether the aliens are truly destroyed or not and urges that the matter be investigated before it's too late.
154	** Complete Mission 6 in ''Shattered Soldier'' and ''Neo'' below an A rank, and the ending will show [[spoiler: the TrueFinalBoss is NotQuiteDead]].
155	* EvilIsVisceral: Gomeramos King, the final boss in the original ''Contra'', is a giant beating heart. He's a recurring enemy throughout the series.
156	* EvilLaugh: In the [[MultipleEndings bad ending]] of ''Shattered Soldier'', [[spoiler:the Triumvirate laughs when they destroy the Galuga Archipelago, [[TheBadGuyWins saying that they now hold the world in the palm of their hand]].]]
157	%%** Colonel Bahamut in ''Hard Corps''.
158	%%** Master Contra in ''Neo Contra''.
159	* EvilOverlooker: The original game's cover art had Java overlooking Bill and Lance, while the cover art for ''Super C'' had Gava doing this instead.
160	* {{Expy}}:
161	** The final boss in the arcade version of ''Super Contra'', Emperor Devil Gava (a.k.a. the Red Falcon Commander himself), is based on Mad Emperor Asmodeus, the final boss of another Konami arcade game, ''[[http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/arcade/c/bats.htm Battlantis]]''. ''Battlantis'' was directed by Hideyuki Tsujimoto, who was co-programmer in the original arcade version of ''Contra'' and later directed ''Super C'', as well as ''VideoGame/SunsetRiders'' and ''VideoGame/MysticWarriors''.
162	** The alien form of Emperor Devil Gava is based on the [[{{Franchise/Alien}} Xenomorph Queen from the Alien franchise]], especially in his first appearance in ''Super C''. Compare [[http://www.klustr.net/contra/images/articles/gyaba_1.png Gava's head from Super Contra]], and that [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/alienanthology/images/a/a4/Aliens_Queen.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20190416143907 of the Queen]]. Both give birth to the other aliens, and are their leaders.
163	* FaceHeelTurn: Colonel Bahamut from ''Contra: Hard Corps'' used to be a war hero until he turned against the Government. ''VideoGame/HardCorpsUprising'' is actually a ''prequel'' before his [[spoiler: supposed]] FaceHeelTurn.
164	* FairyCompanion: Played with in ''Neo Contra''. The Weapon Set E has Fairy Laser.
165	* FallenHero:
166	** [[spoiler:Lance Bean, Player 2 in the original ''Contra'', turns out to be the Blood Falcon Commander, the apparent BigBad of ''Contra: Shattered Soldier'' (although he did go a little nuts toward the end, his dying confession reveals he was really a WellIntentionedExtremist trying to fight the GovernmentConspiracy that was ''really'' behind the whole Alien War from the beginning.)]]
167	** [[spoiler:Lucia, player 2 in ''Shattered Soldier'', ends up as a member of the QuirkyMinibossSquad in ''Neo Contra'', where she participates in a conspiracy to destroy the human race, and is fought and killed by the players.]]
168	** Colonel Bahamut, the BigBad from ''Hard Corps''. In the prequel, ''VideoGame/HardCorpsUprising'', he's the '''[[TheHero hero]]'''.[[note]]Though the developers said ''Uprising'' Bahamut could be instead a different person.[[/note]]
169	%%* FetusTerrible: [[spoiler:Gegebonne the Saprophagous Head and Shadow Beast Kimkoh in ''Neo Contra''.]]
170	* FlameSpewerObstacle: Stage 6 of the original game has broken pipes. These either spit out flames at regular intervals, or when the player is nearby.
171	* FlashOfPain: From ''Contra III'' onward, enemies flash when hit.
172	* FlunkyBoss: Gomeramos King, the heartlike final boss of the original ''Contra'', relies entirely on four pods above and below it as its defenses. These pods spawn flunky aliens until they are destroyed.
173	%%* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere:
174	%%** The [[ArtifactOfDoom Relic of Moirai]] in ''Shattered Soldier''. Also, Shadow Beast Kimkoh in its first appearance in the NES version of ''Super C''.
175	%%** [[spoiler:Emperor Devil Gava]] as well as most of the alien enemies in ''Neo Contra''.
176	%%** The TrueFinalBoss of ''[=ReBirth=]'' is [[spoiler:an {{expy}} of Project C in ''Neo Contra'']].
177	%%* GigglingVillain: The TrueFinalBoss of ''[=ReBirth=]''.
178	%%* AGodAmI: [[spoiler:The Triumvirate, when you confront them in their dimension in ''Shattered Soldier'' and when they start to activate the Relic of Moirai.]]
179	* GreatoffScreenWar: Five years prior to the events of ''Shattered Soldier'', Bill and Lance were involved in a mission which resulted in an ultra-magnetic weapon killing four fifths of the world's population, the apparent death of Lance, and Bill himself being blamed as the culprit. Despite this mission being the catalyst of the events in ''Shattered Soldier'', the actual events are never revealed and only a single flashback of Bill holding a dying Lance is shown.
180	* GuestFighter:
181	** ''Contra Returns'' allows you to play as the ComicBook/GreenArrow, [[Franchise/{{Terminator}} a T-800, and John Connor]].
182	** The BoardGameAdapatation produced by Blacklist Games includes Anastasia and Dmitri from ''Street Masters'' as support characters for those who pre-ordered the game.
183	* GuideDangIt: ''Contra III'' has top-down shooting stages where you can rotate your character to aim. What the game doesn't tell you is that you can double tap L or R to rotate faster. This seemingly useless maneuver is ''extremely'' useful against the boss of Stage 5 on Hard difficulty when he starts to spin your character uncontrollably-- double tapping rotating against the way the boss is forcing the player to spin will make aiming at the boss weakspot much less troublesome.
184	* HappyEndingOverride: All those Alien Wars you've been fighting throughout the entire series? As of ''Contra: Shattered Soldier'', [[spoiler:it turns out that the war was all part of a GovernmentConspiracy known as the Triumvirate, and that Lance had uncovered the truth by accident. After Bill was thought to have murdered his partner Lance and destroyed 80% of the world's population, Lance returns as a notorious terrorist leader trying to overthrow the Triumvirate and is the DiscOneFinalBoss of the game]].
185	* HardLevelsEasyBosses: The stages in ''Contra 4'' are notoriously difficult because the player has to pay attention to threats on both the top and bottom screens, which is not helped by the number of enemies and their aggressiveness, nor the fact that the playable character is a OneHitPointWonder. By comparison, the bosses are almost a cakewalk, since they all follow fairly predictable patterns and only have two or three attacks each.
186	* HardModeFiller: Completing either NES game will restart the game on a harder difficulty and they can be played in countless loops until the player uses all of his/her continues. Surprisingly averted with the first arcade game, which ends on a single playthrough. The Japanese arcade version of ''Super Contra'' has a second loop not in the overseas release that is even harder than the "Very Hard" setting (except for the sole fact that continuing and having a second player join will cease to be possible once you reach it).
187	%%* HelicopterBlender:
188	%%** One of the bosses in ''Contra: Hard Corps'' is a transforming mecha with a helicopter form.
189	%%** Also, one of the bosses in ''Shattered Soldier''.
190	%%* HighSpeedBattle:
191	%%** Stage 4 of ''Contra III''
192	%%** Stage 5 of ''Contra 4''.
193	* HomingProjectile: The "H" weapon, introduced in ''Operation C'', fires missiles that home in on enemies.
194	* HumongousMecha:
195	** ''Contra III: The Alien Wars'' has Big Fuzz, a giant robotic skeleton complete with fire breath, homing EyeBeams, and timed bombs. It was re-introduced in ''Contra 4'' with the fire breath as its sole attack.
196	** ''Contra: Hard Corps'' has Powered Ninja Yokozuna, a giant blue robot boss with that ran faster than a train and [[RuleOfCool stopped the train with its bare hands]]. The second boss of ''Shattered Soldier'' is an updated model named Yokozuna Jr., who does pretty much the same thing.
197	* IHaveManyNames: Thanks to the inconsistent localizations of the early titles, Bill Rizer and Lance Bean, the original main characters, have many names from "Sgt. Bill 'Mad Dog' Ko" and "Corporal Lance 'Scorpion'", to "Jimbo" and "Sully". Additionally, the European computer ports of ''Gryzor'' (the original ''Contra'') claimed that "Gryzor" was actually the surname of the main characters, making them "Bill and Lance Gryzor".
198	* ImprobablePilotingSkills: Those helicopter pilots are unsung heroes. They can fly through hostile bases and jungles, and can cruise into alien lairs without trouble to pick up the heroes after a job well done. One helicopter ''even'' manages to fly through space. ''Shattered Soldier'''s airplane pilot also deserves a mention, as he nonchalantly gives the heroes a trip through space!
199	* InNameOnly:
200	** ''Contra Force'' for the NES is a localization of an unreleased-in-Japan Famicom game titled ''Arc Hound''. The game has nothing to do with the rest of the ''Contra'' series, being set in present times with the BigBad being a group of human terrorists instead of aliens. The opposite is the case with ''VideoGame/HardCorpsUprising'' where it's clearly an official prequel to ''Contra: Hard Corps'' for the Genesis despite not having ''Contra'' in the name. [[spoiler: It is also a prequel to the original ''Contra''.]]
201	** ''Contra Tournament'' is a cookie-cutter BattleRoyaleGame, as a ''VideoGame/PlayerunknownsBattlegrounds'' clone than a proper ''Contra'' game. It has the names, locations, and weapons from ''Contra'', however.
202	%%* IntentionalEngrishForFunny: Borderline and done deliberately in ''[=ReBirth=]''.
203	* InvincibilityPowerUp: The "Barrier" power-up makes the player invincible to enemy attacks for a short period of time.
204	* ItsAWonderfulFailure: In ''Shattered Soldier'', if the player doesn't have a high enough ranking when Stage 5 is completed, the player will get a DownerEnding where the island is destroyed by a KillSat, killing everyone [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness including the heroes]].
205	* JungleJapes: The first stage of the first game, ''4'', and Mission 5 of ''Shattered Soldier'' are set in the jungles of the Galuga Archipelago.
206	* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler: In ''Shattered Soldier'', as the Triumvirate were ready to use the [[ArtifactOfDoom Relic]] against Bill and Lucia, it ends up overwhelming and fusing with them, becoming the FinalBoss]].
207	* KatanasAreJustBetter: Jaguar in ''Neo Contra''. [[spoiler: Though he uses guns too, his katana is enough to destroy a single machine. One of the endings in ''Neo Contra'' shows he slices the enemies with just Katana instead of guns. However, he won't use it in ''[=ReBirth=]''.]]
208	* KillItWithFire: The Fire Gun in ''Super C'' has an extra-powerful charged shot that destroys most of the stronger enemies with one or two hits.
209	* KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter: Energy weapons certainly have an important role, especially when it comes to dealing with tougher units. But for ease of use, as well having special functions like spread gun or homing missiles, infantry have a slight preference for kinetic weapons.
210	* KonamiCode: The Konami cheat code was popularized by these games (at least among American players, who are not as big ''Gradius'' fans as the Japanese were), as entering it in the title screen awarded the player with up to 30 extra lives.
211	* LeaderFormsTheHead: Subverted by the three CombiningMecha in ''Hard Corps''. Each of them get to form the head for each of the boss' three forms.
212	* {{Leitmotif}}: In ''Shattered Soldier'', Lance has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8tGyHcMIi4 Lance Lullaby]] while the Triumvirate has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-8F0wRIxn0 Senator]].
213	* LighterAndSofter: ''Contra Tournament''. The entire game took place in a bright daylight, aliens are nowhere in sight, and the game is framed as a training exercise.
214	* LifeMeter: The Japanese version of ''Contra: ''(''The'')'' Hard Corps'' gets a 3-hit life meter. [[DifficultyByRegion Players of other regions get stuck with being]] {{One Hit Point Wonder}}s. ''Contra Returns'' also have all characters possess life bars, unless you're playing the 'One Life Mode'.
215	* LoadBearingBoss:
216	** The original ''Contra'' ends with the destruction of the alien heart, which causes the island the game took place on to explode in a spectacular fashion, with the heroes escaping by helicopter. The Amstrad CPC port, however, took this to [[RocksFallEveryoneDies downright sadistic levels]] by [[spoiler:instead having the '''entire Earth''' explode and kill everyone after you take out the heart]].
217	** ''Contra III: The Alien Wars'' has the alien lair explode after the final boss dies, with the heroes very narrowly making it out by helicopter as they [[OutrunTheFireball race the explosion upwards]].
218	** ''Contra: Hard Corps'' has this occur in nearly every ending, with the only exceptions being [[spoiler:the WeCanRuleTogether NonstandardGameOver and the secret ending]]:
219	*** ''Rescue the research station, fight to the end'': [[spoiler:Destroying the FinalBoss destroys the missile you were on for some reason, which ends up saving the world because said missile was carrying the Alien Cell which was going to be released into the atmosphere and kill off humanity]].
220	*** ''Rescue the research station, surrender and fight later'': [[spoiler:Killing Colonel Bahamut after he mutates out of control causes the fortress the battle took place in to blow up and collapse, but the hero(es) manage to get away]].
221	*** ''Chase Deadeye Joe, fight to the end'': [[spoiler:The alien lair is implied to be destroyed after the alien heart shattered, as the same flames from the above fortress ending appear as the protagonist(s) walks/walk off screen]].
222	*** ''Chase Deadeye Joe, surrender and fight later'': [[spoiler:Destroying Big Magnum destroys the space station it was on, which takes Colonel Bahamut and the [[HeroicSacrifice hero(es)]] along with it]].
223	** Once again happens at the end of ''Contra 4''. [[spoiler:Of course, destroying the brain of the now titanic Black Viper would end up destroying him completely. The fight took place in the beast's head, with the curvature of the Earth visible from the mouth opening. After a few flashes of white, the "room" vanishes completely, simply leaving just the helicopter the hero hangs onto and said view of the Earth.]]
224	* LoneWolfBoss: Mystery G in ''Neo Contra''. He has no connection to the enemy group of the same name, he's only there to test Bill Rizer to see if he's the ultimate soldier. [[spoiler:He also pulls a HeroicSacrifice, depending on your performance throughout the game.]]
225	* LongSongShortScene:
226	** "Critical Moment of Contra" is a 2-minute tune played during a 30-second boss battle.
227	** For some reason, in the arcade version of ''Super Contra'', "Hotter than Hell" plays during the very short [[DiscOneFinalBoss penultimate boss battle]] instead of during the FinalBoss battle, which uses the same music as the main stage. And the "Game Clear Jingle" is misplaced, playing before the final boss instead of after.
228	* LooterShooter: In ''Contra Returns'', as you complete missions, you collect parts, coupons, and other goodies to assemble, redeem, or obtain more powerful and better weapons. Along with the standard LootBox.
229	* LuckBasedMission: The Low Ammo 2 and [[PacifistRun Pacifism 4]] challenges in ''Contra 4'' can be instantly failed in case a running enemy randomly spawns on the same platform as the player, as there is no time to avoid them by jumping.
230	* MacrossMissileMassacre: Lots of missiles appear as a recurring hazard in Stage 3 of ''Contra'' ''[=ReBirth=]'', with the miniboss also fighting upside-down on a missile, and the boss itself being a giant missile that shoots smaller missiles.
231	%%ZCE** Occurs in ''Contra III'', and your character is right in the thick of it.
232	%%* MacGuffin: The Alien Cell in ''Hard Corps'' and the Relic of Moirai in ''Shattered Soldier''.
233	* MaleGaze: [[spoiler: Pheromone Contra/Lucia]]'s appearance in ''Neo Contra'' has several fanservice-filled shots.
234	* MarathonLevel: The final stage in the first arcade game is one long side-scrolling level that consists of various environments such as a snow-covered mountain, an energy plant, a hangar and the alien's nest. In the NES and MSX versions, these particular areas were split into their own separate stages.
235	* MarketBasedTitle:
236	** In Japan, ''Operation C'' is known as ''[[RecycledTitle Contra]]'' (although spelled in katakana instead of the kanji used in the arcade and Famicom versions), ''Contra III: The Alien Wars'' is known as ''Contra Spirits'', ''Contra: Hard Corps'' is known as ''Contra: The Hardcore'', ''Contra: Shattered Soldier'' is known as ''Shin Contra'', ''Contra Advance: The Alien Wars EX'' is known as ''Contra: Hard Spirits'', and ''Contra 4'' is known as ''Contra: Dual Spirits''. ''Super Contra'' (which arcade version is known as ''Super Contra: Alien no Gyakushuu''[[note]]''Super Contra: [[RevengeOfTheSequel The Alien Strikes Back]]''[[/note]]) was shortened to ''Super C'' on the American NES, although the arcade version kept its full title outside Japan (but without the Japanese version's subtitle). ''Contra Force'' would've been known in Japan as ''Arc Hound'' had the Famicom version actually been released.
237	** Prior to ''Contra: Legacy of War'', the series was known as ''Gryzor'' or ''Probotector'' in European languages, depending on the platform. Specifically, ''Gryzor'' was the title used for the first arcade game (the second game kept the ''Super Contra'' name) and the home computer ports released by Ocean Software, while ''Probotector'' was used for the console versions which replaced the human characters with robots.[[note]]''Super C'' for the NES is known as ''Probotector II: [[RevengeOfTheSequel Return of the Evil Forces]]'', ''Contra III'' for the SNES is known as ''Super Probotector: Alien Rebels''; but ''Operation C'' and ''Contra: Hard Corps'' are both simply titled ''Probotector''. ''Contra: The Alien Wars'' for the Game Boy is simply titled ''Probotector 2''.[[/note]]
238	* MeaningfulName: The [[MarketBasedTitle Japanese title]] of ''Shattered Soldier'' is to [[spoiler: reveal the truth behind the events of ''Contra'' series]]. Hence the name ''Shin Contra''[[note]]''Shin'' means real or truth in Japanese[[/note]].
239	%%** Brad Fang, the WolfMan in ''Contra: Hard Corps''.
240	%%* MissionPackSequel: The NES version of ''Super C'' is this to the original ''Contra'', while ''Neo Contra'' runs on a modified ''Shattered Soldier'' engine.
241	%%* {{Mooks}}: The Greeders (running foot soldiers) and Ledders (snipers) in the original game. The sequels wouldn't bother naming its mooks.
242	* MultipleEndings: In ''Shattered Soldier'' and ''Neo Contra'', the type of ending you receive depends on how well you play (i.e. continues used, number of lives lost, and non-respawning targets destroyed in each stage).
243	* MusclesAreMeaningless: Extremely buff Protagonists will die if hit by one bullet.
244	* MutuallyExclusivePowerups:
245	** In ''Contra 4'' and the arcade version of ''Super Contra'', your weapon can be upgraded to a second level, but the extra power-up is lost if the player collects a new weapon.
246	** The "Rapid Bullets" power-up in the two NES games increase bullet speed, but is lost when the player changes weapon. Averted in the arcade version of the original game, in which the Rapid Bullets power-up is still in effect after changing weapons (presumably due to the fact there are only two Rapid Bullets power-ups in the entire game in that version and they can only be acquired when the player is wielding the default gun).
247	* MythologyGag: In ''Shattered Soldier'', upon arriving at [[spoiler: the Triumvirate's lair]], Bill or Lucia will say, "What is this place?" Which is what Bill said in the opening of the arcade version of ''Super Contra''.
248	%%* NebulousEvilOrganisation: '''The Red Falcon Organization'''. [[spoiler:The Triumvirate were behind these conspiracies, making them this trope above Red Falcon.]]
249	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Bill and Lance, especially in the original game, are obvious pastiches of '80s movie stars Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger and Creator/SylvesterStallone. [[http://i.imgur.com/cTIzYrI.gif Dare to compare!]] A [[http://www.destructoid.com/elephant//ul/9855-550x-contra-poster-2-dsf.jpg poster]] for ''Contra 4'' included in ''Nintendo Power'' followed suit by depicting "newcomers" Mad Dog and Scorpion as pastiches of Creator/WesleySnipes and Creator/VinDiesel.
250	* NonIndicativeName: The "hit rate" in ''Shattered Soldier'' and ''Neo Contra'' on the top of the screen is actually a destruction rate of every unique (i.e. non respawnable) enemy and object in each stage.
251	* OneHitPointWonder: The player character dies in one hit in every game except the [=MSX2=] port of the first ''Contra'' and the Japanese version of ''Contra: Hard Corps''. Oddly, Konami took this feature ''out'' of the [[DifficultyByRegion overseas versions of the game]], feeling it would water the challenge down too much.
252	* OneManArmy: Alien invasion? Global terrorist force? Just send one or two badass soldiers to do the cleanup job. ''Works everytime''. Referred in ''Contra: Hard Corps'' [[AllThereInTheManual biography]], in which Sheena Etranzi has a reputation of being a one-woman army.
253	%%* OutOfTheInferno: The intro of ''Neo Contra''.
254	%%* OutrunTheFireball:
255	%%** The end of ''Contra III'' and ''Shattered Soldier''.
256	%%** The intro of ''Neo Contra''.
257	* PacifistRun: Some of the challenges in ''Contra 4'' strip you of all weapons and force you to get to the end of the level without killing a single enemy.
258	* PointOfNoContinues:
259	** In the arcade version of the original ''Contra'', you can only continue up to thrice per playthrough! But depending of the machine's DIP switch settings, the arcade versions of ''Super Contra'' can allow you to do that up to 5 times per playthrough.
260	** You can't continue nor can a second player join in once you reach the [[HarderThanHard "Extremely Hard" second loop]] in the Japanese arcade version of ''Super Contra''; if you clear the final stage again or lose all your lives at this point, your game will be completely over and the machine will return to attract mode!
261	** Losing all your lives in the NES/Famicom versions of the first two titles after continuing for a third time will cause your game to be truly over, so use the continuous play feature wisely in order to avoid trouble!
262	* PocketRocketLauncher: The games use a generic assault rifle sprite for their various rocket launchers: short-range Crush rockets, target-seeking Homing missiles, a three-round-burst Rocket Launcher (rockets emerge abreast rather than single-file) that instagib weak enemies without detonating and harm strong ones, and the Prototype Weapon, which creates a MacrossMissileMassacre all by itself by launching a cluster missile that bursts into a shotgun-like spread of kamikaze drones (which resemble a fighter plane from a space-SHMUP game).
263	* PoisonMushroom: Area 2 of ''Contra'' ''[=ReBirth=]'' has a Normal Gun power-up on Hard Mode that changes your weapon to your default pea shooter.
264	* PowerupLetdown:
265	** In most games, when you have too many shots on screen to fire a full spread, the Spread Gun will instead fire partial spreads or single bullets to keep your firing rate consistent. It does ''not'' do this in ''Super C'' (arcade version only), turning the Spread Gun into an annoyance as you have to wait for your previous shots to clear the screen before you can fire again. The "upgrade" makes it ''worse'': it fires five shots per spread instead of three, and your shots-on-screen are increased from nine to ten, which would be good in any other game, but here it means you can only have two spreads on screen instead of three. In the fast-paced OneHitPointWonder world of ''Contra'', this can be the difference between life and death.
266	** Laser in the NES games. OneHitPolykill doesn't matter so much when enemies spawn from multiple angles, and OneBulletAtATime most ''certainly'' doesn't help either. [[{{Nerf}} This is in contrast to the arcade games]], in which it fires a continuous beam with unlimited range.
267	%%* ProjectilePlatforms: The missile-jumping level in ''Contra III''.
268	* {{Pun}}: One of the hazards in stage 2 of ''Contra 4'' is the "over the shoulder soldier folder," a most "terrible tumbler", which is just a boulder.
269	* PunnyName: The localizations of the early installments were filled with these. For example, Bill Rizer and Lance Bean were renamed "Sgt. Bill Ko" (as in "[[Series/ThePhilSilversShow Sgt. Bilko]]") and "Corporal Lance" (an inversion of "Lance Corporal") respectively in the manual for ''Super C''.
270	* RacingTheTrain: One of the robotic bosses of ''Contra: Hard Corps'' and ''Contra: Shattered Soldier'' makes his entrance by outrunning the train you're on, pushes it to a stop, lifts the end of it, then climbs on top. This turns out to be a bad idea in the end- upon defeat, he falls backwards off the front of the train, and gets hit by it! In ''Contra: Shattered Soldier'', an {{Expy}} of said boss does the exact same thing, except that you're on a small train carriage which the boss lifts off the ground with ease.
271	* RatedMForManly: In spite of being able to play as female characters (Sheena, Lucia, Tsugu-Min/Brownie, Krystal, Sayuri, Ricci, Sally), this game series demands you to be as manly as hell (Shoot everything that can be shot) to attain victory.
272	%%* RecurringRiff: The "Stage Clear" riff from the first game and the "Game Over" riff from ''Contra III''.
273	* RecycledTitle: In Japan, ''Operation C'' was simply titled ''Contra'' (but spelled in kana instead of kanji). The modified versions of ''Contra'' for the NES, ''Operation C'', and ''Contra: Hard Corps'' that were released in Europe were all simply titled ''Probotector''.
274	* ReformulatedGame: The Platform/{{MSX}}2 port features a LifeMeter, Bill Rizer only, a Rear Gun instead of a Spread Gun, ten additional levels, the Vital Alien Organ PostFinalBoss, and no continues.
275	%%* TheRemnant: ''Neo Contra''.
276	* RetCanon: ''Contra 4'' implements elements of the old American continuity (before ''Shattered Soldier'' reverted the continuity to keep it consistent with the Japanese version). The two new heroes, Mad Dog and Scorpion, take their names from Bill and Lance's old nicknames from the American localization of the NES ''Contra'', while the alien Black Viper was originally the supposed antagonist of ''Operation C'' (in the Japanese version it was an unnamed nation that was using an alien cell to develop weapons). ''Contra 4'' retcons the events of ''Operation C'' so that it was a previous mission of Mad Dog and Scorpion against Black Viper in an attempt to explain away the sudden appearance of these "new" characters.
277	* RevengeOfTheSequel: The European version of ''Super C'' for the NES is titled ''Probotector II: Return of the Evil Forces''.
278	* RevisitingTheRoots: ''Operation Galuga'' marks the return to the classical run-and-gun gameplay that was last seen in ''VideoGame/HardCorpsUprising''. In between those times, Konami was experimenting with other kinds of gameplay with either ''Returns'' or ''Rogue Corps'', with varying receptions.
279	%%* RobotGirl: Lucia and Tsugu-Min/Brownie.
280	%%* RoboticReveal: [[spoiler: Master Contra in ''Neo Contra'']].
281	* {{Roboteching}}: Yokozuna Jr. has the ability to morph into a jet in ''Shattered Soldier''.
282	* RobotSoldier: The European version of the game was renamed to ''Probotector'' and the human sprites where changed to robots (including the protagonists) and aliens.
283	* RocksFallEveryoneDies: In the Amstrad CPC version, [[spoiler: you've saved the Earth and stopped the alien invasion... but killing the [[FinalBoss alien heart]] triggers a self-destruct mechanism and [[EarthShatteringKaboom causes the Earth to explode anyway]]]].
284	* RoguesGallery: The series has several recurring bosses:
285	** The boss of the first stage in the original ''Contra'', a wall protected by a sniper and two cannons, reappears as a sub-boss in later ''Contra'' games.
286	** The FinalBoss of the original ''Contra'' is named "Emperor Demon-Producing Heart Gomeramothking"[[note]]天王創魔心ゴメラモスキング, Tennou Sou Ma Shin Gomeramosukingu[[/note]] (according to the Japanese versions). It's [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a giant alien heart]] with [[ShoutOut four alien egg chambers]] that [[MookMaker spawns]] infinite [[FaceHugger buggers]].
287	** "Emperor Devil Gava"[[note]]天王鬼ギャバ, Tennou Ki Gyaba[[/note]] , the FinalBoss in the arcade version of ''Super Contra'', looks like a skeletal dragon with [[CognizantLimbs two skeletal "snakes" for arms]].
288	** "Shadow Beast Kimkoh"[[note]]陰獣キムコウ, In Juu Kimukou[[/note]], the final boss of ''Super C'' for the NES, an alien with a woman's face inside its mouth. It comes back as a boss in ''Contra III'' and subsequent games. There are lots of little ones in ''[=ReBirth=]''.
289	** "Slave Beast Taka"[[note]]奴隷獣タカ, Dorei Juu Taka[[/note]] is a giant mutated tortoise who serves as the first boss in ''Contra III'' (he was renamed Kimkoh in the American version for reason). In ''Contra: Shattered Soldier'', he appears again, but this time with a deformed human face on his behind.
290	** "Great Awakening Robo Big Fuzz"[[note]]大覚ロボビッグファズ, Daikaku Robo Biggufazu[[/note]] (or "Robo-Corpse"), the third boss of ''Contra III'', is a [[SkeleBot9000 skeleton-like]] [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot zombie robot]] who reappears in ''Contra 4''.
291	** The Metal Alien/"Slave Hawk" (which resembles the winged Queen Alien from ''Film/{{Aliens}}'') from the arcade version of ''Super Contra'' returns in the final stage of ''Contra III''. It was [[http://www.klustr.net/contra/articles/recurring_bosses_6.php planned]] to be included in ''IV'', but was ultimately scrapped.
292	** Super Power Robot Yokozuna, who first appears in ''Hard Corps'', and a later version Yokozuna Jr. appears in ''Shattered Soldier''. Both battles against it are {{Traintop Battle}}s, and both of them demonstrate the ability to stop a train.
293	** The Magnus series of tanks (Magnus in ''Super C'', Magnus Mk. II in ''Contra III'', Magnus Mk. IV in ''Shattered Soldier'', Magnus Mk. V in ''Neo Contra'').
294	* RuleOfCool:
295	** In ''Contra III'', what's the best way to destroy a giant flying battleship? Chase it with motorcycles, and then cling to a cruise missile that's heading for the ship! And then leap from missile to missile in the salvo as they impact uselessly on the alien's shield. Considering that you've mostly been running along the ground, climbing walls, and riding tanks so far, it's an unusually... brazen choice of attack.
296	** There's no way in hell that you can jump from missile to missile like in Stage 4 in ''The Alien Wars'' But damn, is it cool?!
297	%%* SandWorm: The Red Crawler Tank/Twilobite in Stage 5 of ''Contra III'' and the "Land Worm" in Area 3 of ''Neo Contra''.
298	%%* SavageSetpiece: The Apatosaurus in ''Hard Corps''. Oddly, its attack consists of a ''sneeze'' when you shoot its nose.
299	* SayMyName: In ''Neo Contra'', [[spoiler: after Bill and Jaguar defeat Lucia/Pheromone Contra: '''"LUCIIAAAAAA!!!!!!"''' ]]
300	* SchizophrenicDifficulty: The arcade version of the second game starts off rather hard, gets harder in the second level, eases up in Stage 3, then has another difficulty increase on Stages 4 and 5.
301	%%* SequentialBoss:
302	%%** The battle with Lance, and most of Mission 6, in ''Shattered Soldier''.
303	%%** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmFCAdLWZnc Takedder]] robot from the Sea Struggle stage in ''Hard Corps''.
304	%%* ShiftingSandLand: Stage 5 of ''Contra III''.
305	* ShoutOut:
306	** Bill Rizer and Lance Bean themselves look like [[LawyerFriendlyCameo lawyer-friendly cameos]] or outright {{Exp\|y}}ies of Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger and Creator/SylvesterStallone respectively. The Internet further highlighted this resemblance with videos like "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xco-UqhNEw8 Contra: The Movie]]" or what a ''Contra'' movie would look like if Hollywood made one in the 1980s.
307	** ''Contra'' ''[=ReBirth=]'' has several references to other Konami games. Chief Salamander and his Neo Salamander Force are named after the Konami game ''Salamander'', with the Zelos Force being a reference to that game. Plissken, the alien lizardman, is possibly named after Iroquois Pliskin, Solid Snake's alias in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' (which in turn is a reference to Snake Plissken, the anti-hero from ''Film/EscapeFromNewYork''). And the Shizuoka ruins that Stage 4 of the game takes place at is a reference to ''Franchise/SilentHill'' (Shizuoka means "silent hill" in Japanese).
308	** The aliens in the series are a homage to the ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'' movies. ''Super C'' made the ExcusePlot in the manual look as if the Aliens from the movie invaded the Contra world, with Bill witnessing that [[ChestBurster a strange alien bursted out of the chest of the zombified soldier he just shot.]]
309	** The soundtrack for Alien Wars lists Stage 3's name as [[VisualNovel/{{Snatcher}} Neo Kobe Steel Factory]]. The level also ends with a fight against several skeletal robots resembling Snatchers (and Franchise/{{Terminator}}s by proxy).
310	** A boss in ''Hard Corps'' is a three part CombiningMecha and its battle theme is titled "GTR Attack", referencing ''Manga/GetterRobo''.
311	* ShoutOutThemeNaming:
312	** The original ''Contra'' duo, Bill Rizer and Lance Bean, are named after four actors who appeared in ''Film/{{Aliens}}'': specifically Bill Paxton and Paul Reiser for the former; and Lance Henriksen and Michael Biehn for the latter. The different spellings used for the surnames, obviously the result of a [[SpellMyNameWithAnS clueless translator]], does obscure the reference a bit.
313	** The reptilian Plissken in ''Contra'' ''[=ReBirth=]'' sometimes prefers to be called "[[PunnyName Newt]]", a reference to a character who appears in the second ''Alien'' movie.
314	* ShowsDamage: Some entities change palette or become cracked when taking damage. For an example, in the original ''Contra'', level 4 and 6 boss change color palette as their health gets lower. Or how shields in front of cores in Base 2 get more cracked as they receive more damage.
315	* ShutUpHannibal: Bill's response to [[spoiler: Master Contra claiming to be the ultimate form of Bill Rizer]] is this:
316	--> '''Bill:''' No, you're a joke. You're just a heap of metal with an inflated ego.
317	* SkeleBot9000: Big Fuzz from ''III'' and ''IV'' resembles a huge skeletal robot akin to a ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' skeleton.
318	* SkyFace: The [[AttractMode opening demo]] for ''Contra III'' shows Red Falcon's face looming over a destroyed city.
319	* SleevesAreForWimps: Applies to the few characters who [[WalkingShirtlessScene wear shirts at all]]. Probably the only character to wear a shirt with sleeves is Ray from ''Hard Corps''.
320	* SlidingScaleOfSillinessVersusSeriousness: Individual games run the gamut from grim, [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic]] atmospheres (''Contra III'', ''Shattered Soldier'') to over-the-top SummerBlockbuster-esque antics (''Hard Corps'', ''Neo Contra'').
321	* SmartBomb: There is screen clearer item in the original ''Contra'' which clears all enemies when picked up.
322	%%** The Hyper Shells in ''Super C'' (which are present only in the arcade version and could only be used in overhead stages);
323	%%** The bombs in ''Contra III'' and ''Contra: Hard Corps''.
324	%%* SmashingHallwayTrapsOfDoom: Stage 7 of the NES version.
325	%%* SpaceElevator: ''Hard Corps'' has one, though you go there in only one of the story branches.
326	* SpectacularSpinning: The main characters perform somersaults whenever they jump.
327	* SpreadShot: One of the weapons the player can acquire is the Spread Gun, which fires multiple bullets in a wide area.
328	* StationaryBoss: In the first stage of the first game and ''Contra 4'', the boss is the entrance to an enemy base, which is protected by turrets and enemy soldiers. The player must shoot its glowing weakspots to open a path to the next level.
329	* StealthPun: The name of ''Contra: Hard Corps'''s final boss theme is Last Springsteen. Music/BruceSpringsteen's nickname is "The Boss." Thus, the song can be called FinalBoss.
330	* TheStinger:
331	** If you beat ''Contra'' ''[=ReBirth=]'' on the Normal difficulty or higher, you'll get a scene after the credits revealing that [[spoiler:Plissken was Chief Salamander, the game's BigBad, all along, and it's implied that BR-W9 makes a FaceHeelTurn as well (that, or Plissken makes a HeelFaceTurn)]].
332	** The Famicom version of ''Contra'' also had a secret stinger by holding SELECT and START during the end credits, foreshadowing [[WeWillMeetAgain Red Falcon's eventual return]].
333	--->'''YOU STUPID EARTHLINGS!'''
334
335	--->'''Do you think that'''
336	--->'''with this being done,'''
337	--->'''you have destroyed Red Falcon?'''
338	--->'''We lost our frontline base on Earth;'''
339	--->'''but we are already taking the next step.'''
340
341	--->'''Red Falcon will be'''
342	--->'''eternally immortal...'''
343	* StupidSurrender: At one point in ''Hard Corps'', the OneManArmy player gets surrounded by thirteen [[{{Mooks}} regular soldiers]] with their guns trained on you. The very same mooks that you've been mowing down in the dozens if you chose to save the research facility. You're then told that the situation is hopeless and you must surrender. You may choose to surrender (following this trope) or fight it out (subverting it, although you fight against something completely different).
344	* SuperNotDrowningSkills: Although your character is [[OneHitPointWonder killed by anything that isn't a floor, wall, ceiling, friendly, or a power-up]], this does not apply to water. In the first game, you could even stay in the water INDEFINITELY with your head submerged! Averted in the DolledUpInstallment, ''Contra Force'', where the characters all have SuperDrowningSkills and will drown instantly in Stage 2; and in ''Shattered Soldier'', [[SuperDrowningSkills where you die if you drop into water]].
345	* SuperSpecialMove: Shows up in ''Super Contra'', Bill and Lance have a limited number of these "weapon crash" attacks where they [[PowerFloats levitate up]] and then face the 4th wall screen while DualWielding whatever guns they have. They then proceed to rapidly hose the screen with their guns (especially devastating with powerful weapons like Lasers and Crush missiles).
346	* SuperTitle64Advance:
347	** The GBA port of ''Contra III'' is simply called ''Contra Advance''.
348	** In Europe, ''Super C'' became ''Probotector II'' and ''Contra III'' became ''Super Probotector''. However, the Game Boy and Mega Drive installments are both simply titled ''[[RecycledTitle Probotector]]''.
349	** In Japan, ''Contra 4'' is known as ''Contra: '''D'''ual '''S'''pirits''.8
350	* SuperWeapon: In ''Contra Returns'', the player can have up to 3 of them on hand at a time which will help clear areas and hammer enemy bosses. The player starts off with the Annihilation Tracking Cannon, which is a portable MLR harness that does a MacrossMissileMassacre with [[HomingProjectile homing missiles]]. You can upgrade your superweapon and it reaches max, the next Super weapon is available for unlocking. The final two weapons are the Lightning Storm and the PlasmaCannon.
351	%%* TalkingAnimal:
352	%%** Brad Fang in ''Hard Corps''
353	%%** Animal Contra in ''Neo Contra''.
354	* ThemeNaming: [[spoiler:The members of the Triumvirate in ''Shattered Soldier'' (Gaius, Nero and Commodus) are named after three of the most infamous Roman emperors (you may know Gaius better as [[TheCaligula Caligula]]).]]
355	* TimedMission:
356	** In the arcade version of the original ''Contra'', the first "[=3D maze=]" stage needs to be completed in seventy seconds and the second one in 110 seconds. Since the maze stages don't feature infinitely respawning enemies, the timer is a contrivance to keep the game from sitting in the same place (much like how the bosses in ''Gradius'' will eventually self-destruct just in case a player could find a safe spot and walk away from the arcade machine). As such, the NES version discards the timer, yet the Commodore 64 version is punitive, giving only forty and fifty-five seconds respectively.
357	** The last part of stage 6 in ''Neo Contra'' gives you even more punitive 30 seconds to complete. Afterwards, if the time runs out, the game will be over immediately even you have multiples of remaining lives!
358	* TraintopBattle: ''Contra: Shattered Soldier'' has a level that involves chasing a train down on motorcycles, attacking the weaponized caboose, and heading to the engine. At which point the Yokozuna Jr. mecha attacks the train, leaving the player to wonder why our OneHitPointWonder heroes had to bother.
359	%%* TransformingMecha: Mr. Heli-Robo in ''Contra: Shattered Soldier''.
360	* TrialAndErrorGameplay: The Hit-Rate System in ''Shattered Soldier''. Certain enemies and boss weak points contribute to the rate while dying subtracts (especially continues). Don't do well enough or simply miss too many targets on top of trying to survive through a challenging run will get you the DownerEnding.
361	* TrueFinalBoss:
362	** In ''Shattered Soldier'', if you get an A Rank or higher on the first five missions (if not, you get a DownerEnding), you get to go on to Stage 6, where after defeating the Mr. Heli-Robo [[TransformingMecha transformer]] [[MiniBoss miniboss]], you face the SealedEvilInACan Relic Of Morai in a SequentialBoss fight (as if the sequential boss fight with Lance wasn't enough). And THEN, if you beat all that with an S Rank, you fight his true final form, which disappointingly is a ClippedWingAngel boss (if the pattern has been memorized), combined with a GainaxEnding.
363	** Master Contra, the BigBad of ''Neo'', won't be fought unless you score an A or S rank in the first five stages. If you beat him in the sixth stage (along with its TimedMission) with an A or S rank as well, you'll have to fight him one final time in his true final form, which is a giant head, while falling through Earth's atmosphere. [[HoldTheLine You don't need to attack him, you can simply dodge all his attacks until he burns up in the atmosphere]].
364	** The final boss of ''[=ReBirth=]'', a garbage ball you fight on the moon, won't be fought unless you play the game on Normal or above.
365	** In ''The Alien Wars'', you won't fight the TrueFinalBoss unless you play on Hard mode.
366	** You won't fight Black Viper in ''4'' unless you play on Normal or Hard mode.
367	* UncommonTime: Stage 8 of Contra alternates between multiple time signatures such as 5/4.
368	%%* UnderwaterBossBattle: The Man-Faced Fish[[note]]official Japanese name is "Jimen-Gyo"[[/note]] in ''Shattered Soldier''. [[SuperDrowningSkills Try not drop yourself into water.]]
369	%%* TheUnfought: Chief Salamander in ''Contra'' ''[=ReBirth=]''. {{Justified\|Trope}} for plot twisting reasons.
370	* TheUnseen:
371	** General Hal, the commanding officer of the GX Army, is only mentioned in the (Japanese) backstory for ''Super C'' and never actually appears in the game (since he is presumably killed before the events of the game). He makes an appearance in ''Contra [=3D=]'' as one of Bill and Lance's radio contacts.
372	** The Head of Intelligence, which the C-Force in ''Contra Force'' is tasked with protecting, doesn't get to appear at all.
373	* UnstableEquilibrium: Dying in most of the games reduces your gun to a pea shooter, and certain bosses (e.g. the Stage 4 boss of the original), increase in difficulty/cheapness the longer the fight drags on. In some of the later ''Contra'' games starting from ''Contra III'', it's less severe. And to make things worse even in the original arcade versions of the first two titles, [[PointOfNoContinues you can only continue a limited number of times before your game is entirely over!]]
374	%%* UnwittingPawn: [[spoiler:Bill Rizer]] in ''Shattered Soldier''.
375	* UrbanRuins: The first level of ''Contra III: The Alien Wars'' takes place in a human city which is in the midst of being destroyed by an alien invasion.
376	* VerticalKidnapping: The Gigafly enemies in ''III'', ''4'', and ''Shattered Soldier'' don't kill you on contact, but grab onto the player and attempt to "kidnap" them off the top of the screen (which will be lethal). To avoid dying, the player simply needs to kill them.
377	* VeryHighVelocityRounds: Your bullets move much, much faster than most anything shot at you does... at least anything shot at you by a {{Mook\|s}}. Bosses are a different story.
378	* VillainExitStageLeft: [[spoiler: Lance Bean]] does this when you first meet him in ''Shattered Soldier'' and Master Contra does this as well in ''Neo''.
379	* WaterfrontBossBattle: In ''Shattered Soldier'', the Jinmen-Gyo from the fourth stage attacks by jumping out of the water, trying to eat the player from one of three floating platforms, as well as sucking the platforms into his mouth in a bid to swallow the player alive.
380	%%* WeHardlyKnewYe: [[spoiler:Mystery G in ''Neo Contra''. Subverted because he was the ''true'' Bill Rizer all along.]]
381	%%* WeUsedToBeFriends: [[spoiler:Bill Rizer and Lance Bean. Lucia too was a friend of Bill.]]
382	* WeWillUseLasersInTheFuture: It's the 27th century lasers (and in later years other energy weapons) have become an increasingly important part of the human arsenal as tankbusters and a great counter for especially tough units. This is especially prevalent in ''Contra Returns'' where most of the best weapons are energy weapons and many of the more exotic firearms had their physical bullets replaced with energy bolts when upgraded. One unique weapon, the Darkflame Machine Gun, even gets an upgrade where it can sporadically fire a LaserCutter beam instead of its usual hail of bullets.
383	%%* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:Lance Bean in ''Shattered Soldier''.]]
384	* WhamEpisode:
385	** ''Shattered Soldier''. Among other things, it is revealed that [[spoiler:Red Falcon and such aren't evil, but just a defense force]].
386	** ''Neo'' ramps it up even further by having [[spoiler: [[BigBad Master Contra]] ''[[EarthShatteringKaboom blow up the Earth]]'' in the bad ending]].
387	* WhamShot: In ''Neo'', [[BigBad Master Contra]]'s [[TheReveal Reveal]] at the end of Stage 5 that [[spoiler:he looks almost ''exactly'' like Bill Rizer.]]
388	* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: The early ''Contra'' games had the main player character and several enemy characters changed into robots when localized for Europe for this reason.
389	* WhatNowEnding: At the end of ''Contra Force'', [[spoiler:Fox is still missing, and Burns suspects someone is stalking him]].
390	* WhereItAllBegan: Mission 5 of ''Shattered Soldier'' takes place at the Galuga Archipalego. The objective even lampshades this by saying "This is where it all began before".
391	* AWinnerIsYou:
392	** The NES version of the original ''Contra'' had an exploding island and then said simply:
393	--->'''CONGRATULATIONS!'''\
394	'''YOU'VE DESTROYED THE VILE RED'''\
395	'''FALCON AND SAVED THE UNIVERSE.'''\
396	'''CONSIDER YOURSELF A HERO.'''
397	** The ending of ''Contra III: The Alien Wars'' is similar; the game merely addresses you, the player, for your efforts, and for completing the game in Hard difficulty.
398	* WorldOfBadass: It's about badass muscular soldiers fighting alien invasions and terrorist organizations. It's especially present in ''Neo''.
399	* XenomorphXerox: The Red Falcon aliens are almost blatant rip-offs of the Xenomorphs, from the very first one having an elongated head with exposed teeth, to the humanoid warrior types that look like biomechanical monsters, to the tiny, spider-shaped Facehugger enemies that attack in the final stage.
400	* YeahShot: The true ending of ''Shattered Soldier'' has Bill and Lucia jumping toward the crowd in triumph.
401	* YouDontLookLikeYou: ''Contra Returns'' features some characters from ''Contra: Hard Corps'', but only Fang looks remotely like he was in the original. Ray is now a hooded gunner akin to a white [[VideoGame/{{Overwatch}} Reaper]], Sheena is a pigtailed young GenkiGirl (she later gets an adult form that looks a lot more like her original self). Averted with those from original Contra; Bill and Lance still retained their original Schwarzenegger-Stallone lookalike appearance.
402	* {{Zeerust}}: For a series set during the [=27th=] century, the technology used the by characters look way too modern by late 1980s/early '90s standard. This is probably the reason why the American version of the storyline took place in the present until ''Contra III''. Averted in ''Contra: Evolution'' (Remake of the Famicom version of ''Contra'') which all versions uses the Japanese continuity.
403	%%* ZergRush: The second half of ''Contra'' ''[=ReBirth=]'''s Stage 5.

Context VideoGame / Contra