Contra
A.K.A Gryzor in United States, is a run and gun game originally released for Arcade Machines in 1987 and ported to NES in 1988 as “Probotector” in which you control two commandos, Pfc. Bill Rizer and Pfc. Lance Bean of the Contra unit, who are sent to the Galuga archipelago to destroy the enemy forces and uncover the true nature of the alien entity controlling them, a plot to conquer the world.
About the authors:
As we’re talking about the NES version (which really pushed to the Hall Of Fame this title) we’d need to mention the whole team who made up this:
Programmers
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Shigeharu Umezaki, Satoshi Kishiwada, Kouki Yamashita, T. Danjyo, Mitsuaki Ogawa
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Graphic Designers
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Ueyama, Setsu Muraki, M. Fujiwara, T. Nishikawa, C. Ozawa
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Sound Creators
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Hidenori Maezawa, Kiyohiro Sada
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Special Thanks To
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Kenji Shimoide, Naoki Satō, AC Contra Team
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Directed By
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Shigeharu Umezaki (Umechan), Shinji Kitamoto
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Specs and NES Port:
NES
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Media Type
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Cartridge
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Input Devices Supported
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PowerGlove
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Multiplayer Options
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Same/Split-Screen Multiplayer
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Number of Players Supported
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1-2 Players
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Multiplayer Game Modes
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Co-Op
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Contra Cartridge
This version was produced in-house by Konami and features several differences from the arcade release in order to better suit the NES's hardware. The game can be played by up to two players, but due to the graphical limitations of the NES, Bill and Lance lost their individualized character designs.
The NES version consists of eight stages, which are structured a bit differently from the arcade game. Some of them are a bit longer, in others, a boss was added, and there is no more time limitation.
Japanese Version;
The Famicom version utilized a custom-made Multi-Memory Controller that Konami produced called the VRC2 (in contrast to the UNROM board used by its NES counterpart). This allowed for the inclusion of cut-scenes and a few graphical effects that were not possible in the NES version. Moreover, some cut scenes and a prologue explaining the backstory were added.
Facts:
- Contra was one of the early NES games to feature the Konami Code. Inputting the code at the title screen starts the player with thirty lives instead of the usual three. There were more Cheats and Hints such as All Weapons, Level Select or Unlimited Lives.
- When the NES version of Contra was localized for the North American market, the year of the setting was changed from 2633 to 1987 and the location was moved from the Galuga Islands to the Amazon. Bill and Lance were also given the codenames of Mad Dog and Scorpion.
- It is unclear whether the game was deliberately named after the Nicaraguan Contra rebels, the ending theme of the original game was titled "Sandinista", after the adversaries of the real-life Contras.
- The game's European release was censored, changing the main character and other human-looking enemies to robots.
- The ending environment is very similar to the movie Aliens. Also, the cover of the American release features two soldiers who are slightly modified and repainted images from the movie Predator.
- The protagonists front cover illustrations (Bill and Lance) were both borrowed heavily from two different Arnold Schwarzenegger (Predator - John McTiernan, 1987) poses.
Contra Legacy:
Much of the game's popularity came from its two-player simultaneous gameplay, which was an uncommon feature in video games at the time of Contra's release. While successful in the arcades, the game boomed when it was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1988. Kitamoto and Umezaki also included some new fresh mechanics such as the alternative levels between the classic side-scrolling perspective to a third-person viewpoint, that turned to offer diversity to a genre that had often been allocated by the simple gameplay mechanics of the period.
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