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Super Contra

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This page is about the original arcade version and direct ports of it. For the NES conversion, see Super C (NES).

“ December 2634 A.D. One year after the battle with the mysterious alien army, the Earth seems to be free from their clutches. However...
Now, Contra rises to action once again! 		„
~ Super Contra translated Japanese opening text

Super Contra (スーパー魂斗羅 エイリアンの逆襲 Sūpā Kontora: Eirian no Gyakushū?, lit. "Super Contra: The Alien Strikes Back") is a run-and-gun platformer video game developed and published by Konami, originally released as a coin-operated arcade game in 1988. It is the sequel to the original Contra. Bill Rizer and Lance Bean, the two heroes of the first game, return as the protagonists in this game as they are sent to thwart another alien invasion.

The game was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System, MS-DOS and Commodore Amiga in 1990 under the shortened title of Super C. Unlike the MS-DOS and Amiga ports, which are directly based on the arcade version, the NES version greatly expands on it, featuring several new levels, enemies and bosses, and changes the final antagonist of the game.

The arcade version has been re-released on various other platforms since its original release.

Plot[]

A year after the battle with the Red Falcon organization, Bill Rizer and Lance Bean are sent on another mission. This time, the alien forces have taken over an allied military base somewhere in South America, possessing most of its troops. Bill and Lance must not only fight against their former comrades-in-arms, but also newly mutated forms of the same alien creatures they fought during their previous mission, as well as new alien monstrosities they may encounter along the way.

Overview[]

Like in the previous installment, players once again play the role of veteran Contra commandos, Bill Rizer and Lance Bean, in a mission to thwart another alien invasion. This time, the enemy is a mutated branch of the aliens that were defeated in the previous game, which, one year after those events, have once again possessed the minds of a human military training facility somewhere in South America.

The heroes are deployed by helicopter on the outskirts of the military base, which now lies in ruins, where its former cadets have gone mad and now are rampaging all over the place, shooting their firearms and throwing grenades at everything that moves. During the insertion mission, the Contras have to ascend and descend a small hill, as well as face the base's various defense mechanisms, which mainly consist of concealed turrets, but more noteworthy, have to take down the M4A4 Tank - an armored vehicle with a cannon and a soldier manning a minigun on its top. Already getting near to the base's main entrance, the heroes are intercepted by a military carrier helicopter armed with several turrets, which also deploys a large troop of crazed soldiers into the battlefield. Once this menacing threat has been taken care of, the player reaches the base's main entrance, which is heavily protected by several infantry units.

Once inside the base, things aren't much better. The place is also in ruins and more enemies can be seen riding tanks and manning mobile turrets, while hundreds of crazed soldiers enter the battlefield nonstop. A place worth mentioning is a narrow bridge near the end of the base which the player has to traverse, where a plethora of snipers, rampaging soldiers, and turrets hold post, and which due to the reduced space makes evading maneuverability all the more complicated. At the end of the base, the player has to face Magnus, a heavily armored tank with a central pilot, two soldiers manning miniguns, and two extending electrodes on its front that generate an electric field (this field is actually harmless, possibly due to a programming oversight).

After having retaken the training facility, the heroes follow the mad army's trail into the jungle. There, they initially continue to face the horde of crazed soldiers, but as they make their way deep into this tropical landscape, they start finding unidentified and hostile life forms, evidencing the aliens are once again behind this conflict. After defeating hordes of soldiers and aliens alike, the heroes reach a huge statue-like living structure that attacks by releasing a plethora of worms from its central hatch and that is aided by two mollusk-like monstrosities that vomit harmful acid. By defeating this bizarre looking monster, the Contras find an entrance to the aliens' lair.

The aliens' lair is a actually huge living organism; gigantic arteries, veins, organs, living tissue and bones comprise the surfaces of this place. Having detected the intruders, the aliens deploy their main forces, an endless horde of rampaging Orians that scurry and jump all over the place, in addition to many more disgusting monstrosities. Of note is the level's miniboss, Giralal, a huge flying vessel made of organic material that releases crawling alien skulls and hostile parasites nonstop until it is taken down. The entrance to the inner chambers of the aliens' nest can be seen at the end of this corridor, although accessing it won't be so easy as it is guarded by this stage's boss, the menacing Metal Alien - a gigantic Orian-like monster with wings that has several attacks at its disposal.

Finally, the heroes reach the innermost chambers of the hive, where they are attacked by a plethora of bug-like aliens, both adults and newborns. As expected, other monstrosities will pose the last line of defense of the aliens. Of note are the Bakongas, ferocious fanged mouths that suddenly open on the ground, as well as Big Faces, aberrant looking cycloptic alien skulls with an exposed brain that will spin around the player, preventing their bullets to travel out to fend off other incoming enemies. One area worth mentioning is a tight corridor filled by what appear to be incubators on both walls, from where newborn aliens quickly hatch and travel to the opposite side, making traversing this area very difficult.

At the end of this long corridor, the player faces the Suspicious Face, an amalgamation of several demonic faces that spew a quick barrage of projectiles at the player while other aliens populate the screen. Once defeated, a fanfare is played to trick the player into thinking the game has been completed. However, after a few seconds of unsettling silence, the membrane wall left by the previous boss suddenly bursts open and the real commander of the alien army finally makes its appearance, Emperor Demon Gava. The monster is so huge that only his face can be seen. It attacks by vomiting a series of mosquito-like aliens that chase the player, as well as by using two serpentine-like limbs that extend all over the battlefield. Gava's face has various organs that can be individually destroyed to lessen to some extent the overall threat he poses. An alien embryo can be seen gestating on Gava's forehead, which acts as the boss's main weak point. Once it is destroyed, Gava will die and with this bring a stop to the whole alien invasion. However, while Gava is succumbing, the alien manages to hatch and escapes with an unknown destination.

Gameplay[]

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Stages[]

Stage Name Minibosses Boss Music
1 Ruins of the Federal Military Base M4A4 Tank
Great Heli 		Entrance Security Thunder Landing
2 Inside the Federal Military Base Tucker ×2 Magnus In a Tight Squeeze
3 Deep Jungle - Dethgerbis Jungle Juncture
4 Alien 1 Giralal Metal Alien No Escape
5 Alien 2 Suspicious Face Emperor Demon Gava Deathbed
Hotter Than Hell

Reception[]

The sequel to the first Contra gained popularity among many reviewers; however, the game was reviewed less favorably. IGN rated the arcade version re-release of Super Contra on Xbox 360 5.7/10. Gameranking gave the re-released arcade version of the game a score of 60.55%.[1]

Soundtrack[]

Main article: Music from Super Contra & A-Jax

Ports, remakes and compilations[]

Gallery[]

Screenshots[]

Packaging artwork[]

Promotional artwork[]

Trivia[]

  • The "C" in Super C and Operation C was originally intended to be short for "Commando" and not "Contra". This is stated on the box and packaging materials for all the home versions of Super Contra in North America (including the DOS and Amiga versions). This was likely due to the word "Contra" being associated with the Iran-Contra affair, which was still going on at the time.

Related products[]

References[]

  1. ↑ Super Contra (Xbox 360) at Game Rankings.com. (archived: December 9, 2019)

External links[]

Super Contra/Super C
Organizations
Contra
Bill Rizer • Lance Bean • RD008 • RC011
Red Falcon
Bosses
Arcade
Entrance Security • Magnus • Dethgerbis • Metal Alien • Emperor Demon Gava
NES
Great Heli • Magnus • Sensor • Laser Chandelier • Giralal • Emperor Demon Gava • Dethgerbis • Kimkoh
Minibosses
Arcade
M4A4 Tank • Great Heli • Giralal • Suspicious Face
NES
Tucker • Spidal • Suspicious Face
Stages
Arcade
Ruins of the Federal Military Base • Inside the Federal Military Base • Deep Jungle • Alien 1 • Alien 2
NES
Base Area 1 • Base Area 2 • Jungle • Base Area 3 • Base Area 4 • Alien Area 1 • Alien Area 2 • Alien Area 3
Soundtrack
Music from Super Contra & A-Jax
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