RetroReview #1 - Contra

I remember that time when I was a child.

A bazaar in my little town, a mustached seller of everything (literally - from grinding discs to radios and wipers) and it. A small, rectangular console with a well-known name in Poland - Pegasus (that pretended to be the NES console). It costed the entire 15 PLN (4-5 USD), so it was difficult to convince parents to buy it.

But I succeeded.

The seller for 2 PLN (0.5 USD) added some nine thousand games on one cartridge. Never mind that there were only five games and their modifications.

At home, I quickly took the console out of the box, connected all the cables to the TV and it started.

This was my first contact with games.

Many years have passed since then. So I decided to refresh a few games from that period of time on the emulator (although it would be nice to catch the original console somewhere).

Contra went to the first fire.

Contra is a very nice memory in my mind.

A big challenge, lots of action and the opportunity to play with friends on one console. Everyone could play with someone else and try to break the record, which was (for us) the seventh level. No one has ever gone any further, at least in the circles of my friends, because three lives and only three possible level restarts didn't allow even the smallest mistakes. And the fact that sometimes a dozen or so bullets appeared on the screen - didn't help.

Now, after all these years, I can say that this game is not even a bit easier.

At least I have better reflex and more experience.

Let's start with graphics.

You can see that this game is very old, which shouldn't come as a surprise. Huge pixels and repeatability of environmental elements (eg. background, opponents) can stab the eyes. After all, congratulations to the creators that they tried to create the illusion of three-dimensionality (even special levels taking place in "three dimensions" were created). This one thing distinguishes Contra from many other interesting games.

Music remained at a high level.

It's dependent on the type of mission (ordinary fight, "three-dimensional" level, boss battle) and doesn't cause ear pain. What's more, it gives the right tone for every major encounter.

However, the sounds can already hurt.

There are a lot of explosions here, as well as a continuous sound of shooting and hitting opponents (which sounds like a screech of unknown origin). Somewhere in the middle of the game you want to throw your headphones and computer out the window.

A rather strange and twisted story doesn't help.

We will not experience any dialogues, introductions or any other form of text - until the end of the game (where there are congratulations text and a list of creators). We get to know the whole story from the environment.

When fighting one of the bosses, there are Nazi hawks on the floor. The next boss is composed, among other things, of the robotic heads of Nazi officers. Then we find the boss, which is a spaceship. And at the very end - we fight with a huge alien and his heart. Putting it together, it can be said that the Nazis (named in the game as "Red Falcon") discovered an alien life form and wanted to use it as a weapon. Which is partly in line with the official canon of the series (we learn the official story in the game manual).

Contra's strongest side is the gameplay.

Difficult, damn difficult game. Each opponent (except bosses of course) dies after one hit. However, this also applies to the player. One bullet - one life less. And, as I mentioned earlier, there are only three lives. The opportunity to restart a given round comes to the rescue. But this is also limited to the three attempts.

If you can not handle it, start the game again.

Thanks to this, Contra doesn't let you breathe for even a moment. There is always something happening on the screen - you have to constantly avoid deadly bullets and you still have to push forward. Through eight levels.

The perfect game to polish reflex and patience.

It's time for a small summary.

Contra is doing well.

Despite the repeatability in many aspects, despite the need for great patience, despite the short time of the game (it took me less than an hour and a half to complete the game, but any death can extend the game many times) - Contra really is doing well.

I'm not saying that there are no better games on the market. Comparing it to present times, Contra is very poor and unattractive.

But remembering that this is one of the best games from the past - it's still great!