Contra (NES)

Learn About the Game Contra (NES)

I still remember booting up my NES back in the day, slapping in that Contra cartridge, and feeling a jolt of excitement as the title screen flickered to life. From the moment you’re dropped into the first jungle stage, it’s pure, unrelenting action. You and a friend can tag team hordes of alien soldiers, crazy machines, and giant bosses, all with that unmistakable run-and-gun style that made Contra legendary. There’s something so satisfying about blasting through walls, grabbing a new weapon power-up, and mowing down enemies at breakneck speed.

What really set Contra apart was how simple it felt to pick up but how brutally challenging it became almost immediately. Those spread guns and laser rifles could turn an impossible horde into a chase sequence in seconds, but mess up once and you’d watch your last life vanish. And let’s not even talk about the infamous warp code—yeah, that little trick that lets you skip straight to later levels once you’ve memorized it. It was practically a rite of passage to share that sequence with friends, especially when you both needed every advantage to tackle those relentless alien forts.

One of my favorite memories is crouching behind cover in the closing stages of the game, trading fire with a massive alien plant boss that looked like it had been ripped straight out of a sci-fi horror flick. The music would ramp up, your heart would start racing, and suddenly you realized you were in the thick of one of the most intense boss battles you’d ever faced on an 8-bit console. Then, when the credits finally rolled after that last showdown, it felt like a real victory—like you and your buddy had saved the entire world in pixel form.

Even now, decades later, I still fire up Contra to relive that adrenaline rush. It’s a reminder of a time when games were all about precision, reflexes, and just plain grit. Sure, modern titles have fancy graphics and complex narratives, but there’s something timeless about that stripped-down, action-packed experience Contra delivers. Whenever I hit the start button, I know I’m signing up for a challenge, and honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.